Ex-Mars Hill Leader Mark Driscoll Launching New Church in Phoenix

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Former Mars Hill Pastor has confirmed he’s starting a new megachurch in Arizona.

Just over a year after his previous Church was shut down, Mark Driscoll is now looking forward to start a new church called The Trinity Church in Arizona. The new church is supposed to be a “Bible-based Christian church” which will be headed by Mark Driscoll with the help of two other directors. The new entity in Phoenix, Arizona has been recently incorporated in Phoenix and will be using the same correspondence address as Mark Driscoll Ministries.

Ex-Mars Hill Leader Mark Driscoll Launching New Church in Phoenix[/tweetthis]

According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, there are presently 10 megachurches in Phoenix, which have congregations of more than 2,000. According to the Institute, the Phoenix First Assembly of God, with around 21,000 members is the largest of its kind in the region.

Mark Driscoll was a senior pastor in the now-defunct Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Driscoll started a megachurch with a congregation that began in his home back in 1996. The megachurch generated controversy after resorting to using rock music, blunt talks about sex, sermons with uncomfortable subject matter as well as for decrying homosexuality and alleging that America was turning into a “Pussified nation.”

However, he resigned from the church in October 2014 after 21 former elders and pastors alleged that he was domineering, abusive and had an unhealthy ego. That, combined with the revelation that the church had paid a huge fee to a firm to increase the sales of Driscoll's book Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship, and Life Together led to the dissolution of Mars Hill towards the end of 2014.

2015 Megachurches Report

According to sources, Mark Driscoll had accepted in his resignation letter that his leadership style may have proven divisive in the Church and that he was leaving as he did not want to compromise the Church's mission of developing people's relationship with Jesus Christ. The pastor had received heavy criticism for returning to public ministry after leaving Mars Hill Church, a move that was seen as too soon right after his misdoings were revealed to the public.

Around half a year after the closure of Mars Hill, Mark Driscoll announced to his followers that he and his family were starting a “new adventure” by moving to Phoenix. At that time, he had said that there were no “concrete plans” for the local ministry and although that is what he desires, he does not want to rush into it.

In an interview, Driscoll had said that he hopes to improve his empathy and avoid the mistakes that he had committed in the past.

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