The Real Reason Behind Mark Driscoll's Resignation

By Timothy Yap Oct 23, 2014 05:49 AM EDT

A few days after submitting his resignation letter, Seattle's megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll showed up at the Gateway Leadership & Worship Conference on Monday. Originally scheduled as the conference's keynote speaker before he had to step aside, Driscoll came up on stage for a few minutes to talk about his recent resignation at the invitation of Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris.

Accoding to Driscoll, he was forced to resign because death threats were being fired at him and his family. "We've moved three times for safety issues," Driscoll told the audience. "People arrested at our home, death threats, [threats] posted online. ... more recently it's gotten very severe."

After he, his wife and their five children - who are all between the ages of 8 and 17 - decided to leave town for a few days to get away from the chaos, they returned to face yet another terrifying incident. Driscoll said that his children insisted one night in camping out in the yard. Despite his hesitation, he said he complied and stayed in the tent with them, but what happened early the next morning forced him to call the police.

"Huge rocks about the size of baseballs come flying at my kids," he said. "Call the police, flee into the house for their safety."

These details in mind, Driscoll asked his fellow conference attendees to pray for his family, describing the issues he has faced in recent months as "a very trying season."

"I've cried a lot lately," he admitted, adding that he had come to the conference to "sing, to pray, to learn, to grow, to repent [and] to heal.