We haven’t had anything to say about the various controversies surrounding evangelical pastor Mark Driscoll partly because the rest of the internet has been say so much, and partly because we haven’t seen an Episcopal angle in any of his ongoing controversies.
However, the Rev. Erik Parker, who blogs as The Millennial Pastor, has written a column called Why Mark Driscoll Needs a Bishop that we think is worth a look.
He writes:
Mark Driscoll is just one of many pastor/church combos adrift in the sea of loosely affiliated Evangelical congregations. Congregations and pastors that become islands of theological, doctrinal, ethical and institutional accountability.
There is no 3rd party – outside of the congregational system – to whom both congregation and pastor are accountable to.
Like a Bishop.
Parker says mainline denominations would have seen Driscoll’s drama coming from a mile away and never ordained him.
Do you agree that bishops are necessary to instill accountability in the ecclesiastical system?