Former Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll recently put his Seattle home on the market for $650,000, and Zillow reported last week that a sale is already pending.
The 1920s residence has seven bedrooms and three baths, hardwood floors, and formal dining and living areas. Driscoll bought the home in 2005 for the same price.
Driscoll may be leaving the Seattle area after a very public resignation from the megachurch amidst allegations of bullying, misogyny, and intimidation.
Problems at Mars Hill began to appear last year, when Driscoll was accused of plagiarism and inflating book sales to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.
This spring, 20 former Mars Hill pastors levied complaints against Driscoll and in the summer, old chatroom posts written by Driscoll were discovered in which he used crude language to criticise "mama's boys," "feministed [sic] single mothers," and anyone who disagreed with him on the church-run website.
The pastor took a six-week leave of absence while he was under investigation, then resigned last month. The church's board of advisors emphasised that Driscoll had "been guilty of arrogance, responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading the staff and elders in a domineering manner," but had "never been charged with any immorality, illegality or heresy."
While accepting his resignation, the board expressed surprise at Driscoll's decision. "Most of the charges involved attitudes and behaviours reflected by a domineering style of leadership," they said in a statement.
Mars Hill, meanwhile, is dissolving, and dozens of people will be laid off by January. The church's 14 branches in five states have the option of taking over their property loans and can either merge or become self-governing. Attendance has reportedly declined from about 14,000 churchgoers per week to around 6,000.
