Mars Hill grew dramatically in 2012, and it seemed like nothing could stop the church’s ever-widening expansion. Pastor Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage released that January, hit The New York Times Best Seller list, and launched a book tour and a series of television appearances that brought him into countless new homes and churches. But in the next two years, the church would experience endless controversy, turn over almost all of their staff, and discover that no efforts at PR or spin could hide the rot of a deeply dysfunctional culture of leadership. The second-to-last episode of this series is a two-and-a-half-hour look at those final two years, especially between October 2013 and October 2014, to look at exactly what brought down one of America’s fastest-growing churches, and how some of the characters whose lives we’ve followed in this series weathered the turmoil. “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity Today Executive Producer: Erik Petrik Producer, Writer, Editor, Host, and Mix Engineer: Mike Cosper Additional Editing: Resonate Recordings and Matt Linder Associate Producer: Joy Beth Smith Music and Sound Design: Kate Siefker Graphic Design: Bryan Todd Social Media: Morgan Lee and Kara Bettis Editorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant Dilley Editor in Chief: Timothy Dalrymple Special thanks to Ben Vandermeer Theme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings Kaleidoscope Closing song: “O How the Mighty Have Fallen” by The Choir Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices