Famed Christian Pastor Reportedly Quits Social Media

An open letter attributed to Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Wash., quotes the preacher as pledging to quit social media for the remainder of the year, while also apologizing to parishioners and admitting he has made mistakes in his ministry.

The letter emerged in the wake of negative media attention surrounding a controversial book-buying strategy Driscoll used -- and after critics accused him of plagiarism last year.

A version of the letter has been circulating online, though a church spokesperson would not confirm in an email to TheBlaze whether the text is an exact copy of a note Driscoll sent to his church community. Mars Hill has also declined to release the pastor's official letter.

In a supposed copy of the text that was posted by Renue Magazine, the pastor is quoted as saying he will refrain from social media in an effort to "reset" his life.

"To reset my life, I will not be on social media for at least the remainder of the year. The distractions it can cause for my family and our church family are not fruitful or helpful at this time," the letter attributed to Driscoll states. "At the end of the year, I will consider if and when to reappear on social media, and I will seek the counsel of my pastors on this matter."

A screen shot from Mark Driscoll's Twitter account.

While Driscoll plans to step away from platforms like Twitter, where he has more than 466,000 followers, and Facebook, where he has attracted 253,000 "likes," the letter says that the Mars Hill and Resurgence websites will continue to post sermons, blogs and podcasts.

While these could be promoted from his accounts, Driscoll reportedly won't be tweeting and Facebooking himself. His active Twitter and Facebook accounts have been completely quiet since March 12.

Much of the lengthy letter focuses on the pastor's purported admission that he has made past mistakes and that both he and the church needed to "mature."

The text goes on to say that Driscoll has met one-on-one over the past year with individuals whom he has hurt in an effort to apologize and reach reconciliation.

"In the last year or two, I have been deeply convicted by God that my angry-young-prophet days are over, to be replaced by a helpful, Bible-teaching spiritual father," the letter states. "Those closest to me have said they recognize a deep change, which has been encouraging because I hope to continually be sanctified by God’s grace."

A screen shot from Mark Driscoll's Facebook account.

The note also addressed the book-buying controversy that recently landed Driscoll in the headlines -- one that Mars Hill also officially addressed earlier this month.

"My understanding of the ResultSource marketing strategy was to maximize book sales, so that we could reach more people with the message and help grow our church. In retrospect, I no longer see it that way," it reads. "Instead, I now see it as manipulating a book sales reporting system, which is wrong. I am sorry that I used this strategy, and will never use it again."

Read the note in its entirety here.