Shamed Megachurch Pastor Mark Driscoll Accused of Fraud and Racketeering in New Lawsuit
LatestExtra-manly megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll, who championed a brand of Christianity that focused a whole lot on being incredibly sexist and anti-gay, is being sued by former members of Mars Hill, the church he founded. The suit accuses Driscoll of fraud and racketeering, claiming he misappropriated church funds to try to make his book Real Marriage a success.
The lawsuit, which we saw via our friends at Christian Nightmares, also names John Sutton Turner as a defendant, a former executive pastor at Mars Hill. It was filed, as the Seattle Times reports, by two married couples, Brian and Connie Jacobsen and Ryan and Arica Kildea, who all previously belonged to Mars Hill. They allege that Turner and Driscoll took money meant for church-planting and international missions and used it to flog his marriage advice book. The two, the lawsuit alleges, “brought to ruin a once thriving church by fraudulently exploiting the trust, generosity, and sense of community of thousands of people.”
Mars Hill, based in Seattle, imploded in 2014; Driscoll was asked to step down as pastor and from the board of Acts 29, a church-planting organization. In a letter, Acts 29 told Driscoll they felt he was guilty of “ungodly and disqualifying behavior.”