Comments

1
I think he's made a deal with Smokey Joe from Down Below to be growing so fast... it's suspicious to say the least.

Ah well, the harder they come, the harder they fall.
One and all.
2
Could be true, most likely is bullshit. Scientology claimed absurdly high growth figures for so many years that people started pointing out that for their numbers to be true some absurdly high (and obviously false) percent ofof the country would have to be a Scientologist.
3
Remember: Mark Driscoll is the brother of famed Seattle punk/art/rock band Purdins' lead singer Tony Driscoll. It makes much more sense than you may think.
4
i always find it interesting that their fundy xtian church is named for the roman god of war. (and/or his alleged "hill".)
5
Sung Yun Moon just died, so maybe there are an excess of cultists looking for a new home.
7
I think it's important to note that Mars Hill is not continuing to capture larger percentages of a single community, as that would indicate growing acceptance of message and influence; instead, they're growing by reaching out into multiple communities. So their message appeals to a fringe element (say, less than 0.05% of any given population). Absent Mark Driscoll, those people would probably flock to any number of other big-mouthed whack jobs.
8
It's just post-punk quiverfull/promisekeepers bullshit. Their long term strategy is to outbreed the heathens. Of course they're going to grow.
9
Still waiting for their cult leader to be caught with an underage hooker.

Oh, you know it's gonna happen.
10
He's tapping into male insecurity, plain and simple. It's not even political so much as cultural. We've succeeded in raising a generation of scared little cowards, and they're all looking for something to make them feel Big and Strong.

So along comes Driscoll and the macho bully Christ he's invented. And he promises that all the bad feelings will go away if we just shun the queers and put the women in their place, then we can all be Big Strong Important Men. Apparently it's a very effective outreach.
12
@4 my guess is buried somewhere is a reference to an actual "mars hill" that would have been present in Roman/post-Roman times. It's certainly no accident at the masculine nature of the name, though.
13
The Areopagus or Areios Pagos is the "Rock of Ares," north-west of the Acropolis, later referred to by the Romans as "Mars Hill." It functioned in classical times as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagus
14
...and more to the point,
...it was from this location, drawing from the potential significance of the Athenian altar to the Unknown God, that the Apostle Paul is said to have delivered the famous speech, "Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."
Driscoll flatters himself exceedingly.
15
Hate and misogeny sells.
16
#2 for the win. I just read a history about Scientology and that cult made all sorts of grand claims; and still does.

I expect Mars Hill to go Jonestown at some point in the next 10 years.
17
He's obviously tapping into something in the culture—I'm guessing a backlash against the gains made by women and gays in mainstream politics has something to do with it.


I'd guess that many people drawn to the church either don't care about rights for gays and women one way or another, or they come in spite of Driscoll's views. The church's main draws are a charismatic pastor and a ready made community.
18
"Fastest growing" is always the preferred metric of wing-nuts. If I get one person to do as I say—doubling the amount of people who listen to me in a single day—then I'll be the fastest growing church in America.
19
@13: More importantly, St. Paul delivered a rather gloomy sermon there.
20
Many people, love, love, LOVE to be told what to do.

Life is messy and confusing. Churches like Mars Hill promise to clean up that mess by providing a rules-driven formula for life. Just follow the rules (very closely, and the elders will be watching) and be happy!
21
Terrifying.
22
@17,

If you read anything about their recruiting practices, you'll see that's exactly it, especially the ready made community part. The recruiters specifically seek out and prey upon young lonely people. And, in Seattle, young lonely people are thick on the ground. They present them with a ready made community, with dozens of new best friends. Best friends who think you're just great, who want to be around you all the time, who want to help you out with your problems, and all of the advice comes straight from Driscoll's point of view of course.

Once they get those poor saps entrenched in that community, they make it impossible to leave. Challenge church authority or dogma in any way? Refuse to get married and have babies like a good Christian soldier? Say goodbye to all your dozens of best friends.
23
Please just ignore Mr. Koresh, and maybe he will go away by himself.
24
We've seen this movie before. It's going to end in a tearful video confession, off-shore accounts, embezzlement, meth, under-age sex, maybe a dead hooker or two.
25
A cursory look at the demographic that attends his churches suggests to me too that the group drawn to him also wants the fellowship of being part of a Christian church without having to be around all those yucky elderly, or even middle-aged, people who go to other churches.
26
@25: I've never understood why so many people prefer to interact almost exclusively with others in their age cohort/race/social class. I mean, I understand that it's more comfortable, but cutting yourself off from the POV of people who aren't exactly like you is a recipe for an incredibly parochial worldview.
27
@22 - Do they have a group that plays Pinochle regularly? I might be able to put up with all the other bullshit for that.
28
@27: Yeah, but the rules are different. Marriages are fine, but queens around is sinful.
29
*snerk*
30
The clock is ticking on the strange fruit Mark Driscoll.

Come out Mark, come out now, come out wherever you are. You aren't fooling anyone with your charades. Hiding behind your beard wife & family - 5 kids ...while simultaneously railing against THE GAYS - not to mention THE WOMENS ...hmmm, sounds a lot like Ted Haggard. Your time will come .Until then, keep the weirdness a-comin'!

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.