Things must be terrible for Mars Hill Church right now. First, Pastor Mark Driscoll urged his flock to stay off the internet so they would avoid negative news about Mars Hill. Then they laid off staff, possibly due to fundraising difficulties.

And now it's gotten so bad that Mark Driscoll released a half-hour-long video on the Mars Hill website addressing this time as a "learning season" that he's calling an "overwhelming and a bit confusing" time in his church's life.

Warren Throckmorton summarizes the video at Patheos:

Pastor Mark Driscoll
  • Mars Hill Church
  • Pastor Mark Driscoll
Driscoll referred to the times of organizational change during 2006-2007 and 2011-2012. He said those changes were made in response to church growth but added that he now believes that he could have handled those changes in a more “sympathetic” manner. He said the changes had some “adverse personal implications for the people and the leaders who were involved.” Some people “were hurt,” Driscoll said...Driscoll said that in the future the church would be using Bible based covenants with pastors and staff rather non-compete and non-disclosure agreements. While this sounds like a departure or improvement, without being able to see what is in the “covenants” it is hard to evaluate whether or not this is a sign of change.

Although Mars Hill has moved to remove fair use of their video materials from You Tube, Driscoll indicated that he was glad we live in a nation with freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Ha ha ha ha. Generally, whenever someone has to say they're glad they live in a nation with freedom of speech, they're so deep in an avalanche of shit that they need a snorkel. You should watch the video; this is the closest to "humbled" I've ever seen Driscoll. And you should read Throckmorton's account of the video, too, because he explains all the topics that Driscoll purposefully avoids. This video isn't going to resolve any of Mars Hill's problems, but it is at least an admission that they have a problem, which definitely counts as progress. Two years ago, Mark Driscoll wouldn't have publicly admitted that ice cream melts in his mouth; now he's forced to talk about some of his many failings in public. This must be torture for him.