Music

Thrice singer resigns as pastor at controversial Christian megachurch

by Mark Teo

While screamo powerhouse Thrice were never an explicitly religious band—and, in fact, toured with genre heavies like Thursday, Coheed and Cambria, and Hot Water Music—the California quartet has always been, well, spiritual. Songs like “Image of the Invisible” hinted at the band’s religious leanings, and while the foursome never explicitly labelled themselves Christian, leader Dustin Kensrue has never hid his evangelical leanings. Thrice were, perhaps, not a Christian band, but Christians in a band.

Regardless, Kensrue was serious about his religion: While he says he questioned his faith in his 20s, he returned to it in full force, eventually becoming a pastor and worship leader at Mars Hill, a Washington-based megachurch who, at their apex, had upwards of 15 branches around the U.S.

If that name sounds familiar, it should: Mars Hill has been making news for all the wrong reasons thanks to its star pastor—and co-founder—Mark Driscoll. While Driscoll’s career has been marred with controversy (he was accused of being homophobic, plagiarizing work, and using dishonest marketing tactics to land a book on the New York Times best-seller list), his actions caught fire in earnest last week. Patheos blogger Libby Anne discovered a message-board quip Driscoll wrote in 2001, which exposed his true perspective on women.

And it was horrifying.

Yes, you read that correctly. He believes that your dick ain’t your dick. It’s God’s dick. And he goes on.

Of course, he says the men should still maintain their new “home.”

Yecccch. The Internet exploded with rightful outrage over the comment, and in the last few days, the church has been reeling: It closed three locations, with a fourth supposedly coming. Driscoll stepped back, and nine pastors have since been fired.

Which leads us back to ole Dustin Kensrue. He wasn’t only a worship leader of the church—“at one point I apparently told my wife I’d never be a worship leader,” he told the church, “but obviously God had different plans”—but he was also one of their brightest musical lights. He released The Water & The Blood through Mars Hill Music, which the church described as “faith-filled lyrics that are exciting, theologically sound, and easy to digest.” Here’s one of his more explicitly Christian songs.

So, what of Kensrue? He did the smart thing. Instead of being associated with Driscoll’s near-hateful words, he resigned from the church. As Property of Zack notes, he wrote this long note explaining his departure.

Here’s what he wrote in full.

“I would encourage you to not muddy the issues by engaging in personal attacks and becoming bitter. I honestly believe that the EE and the BOAA want good for the people of MH. I honestly believe that they love you, and that they love Jesus. But I also believe that they are blind to what is really going on, and blind to what the roots of the problems are. I believe that they are treating the media as their conscience, rather than heeding the voice of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the elders.

So speak boldly, but speak in love. Mars Hill is not on a good trajectory. All signs would point to the probability that Jesus is “removing the lamp-stand” just as he warned the church of Ephesus he would do to them in the book of Revelation. The way to prevent this is not simply to ‘return to the love we had at first,’ but first to repent! (Rev 2:5)

If Mars Hill is to survive even another six months it needs to be a place of radical repentance: repentance of pride, deception, domineering attitudes, lazy and self-serving hermeneutics, and a slew of other sins. If you are going to stay, I pray that you would be bold yet loving in your confrontation of these sins and your demand for repentance, because the church of Christ deserves nothing less.

-With love for the people of Mars Hill and for the glory of the name of Jesus, Former Pastor Dustin Kensrue.”

Smart move, Kensrue.