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Author Topic: Questions about Evergreen / Rock the Church  (Read 11263 times)
lissie9824
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« on: March 21, 2017, 06:01:32 pm »

Hello all,

I am completely new to this forum and this is my first post (not 100% where this should go!) but I would like to ask members of Evergreen / The Rock (or any of the associated churches) about their experiences within the movement, particularly if they were close to Mark Darling. My parents were heavily involved in the ministry of Evergreen, we left when I was in elementary school, and now, years later I am trying to make sense of my family history and the impact that this church had on my upbringing and my family. Please reach out if you had any experience with Evergreen or Rock either through this forum or feel free to contact me directly. I would like to gain a better understanding of the history and culture of the church, and have talked about it with my parents extensively but had no idea that other people also had similar experiences and I have been trying to better understand the ministry that my parents were so heavily involved in for 10+ years.



« Last Edit: March 21, 2017, 06:06:59 pm by lissie9824 » Logged
marie
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« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2017, 10:25:28 pm »

I would be interested in how many people have been personally treated in a shunning, shaming way. Have felt controlled or had boundaries crossed by Mark Darling.

I know many people that have personally been shamed or disrespected by him.  I have personally had interactions with him that have been hurtful, and his influence in some other peoples life that personally hurt me. One example is that a person I was close to told me that " they were on a Mission for God, and did not feel like they could spend as much time with me and another person that he had previously been close to."
 This person was closely being mentored by Mark, and was encouraged by Mark to specifically spend less time with us. I know this, because the person later apologized to me and shared the scripture that was shared with him to pull away and not be as involved in my life.  He was repentent and asked my forgiveness, and shared the turmoil he felt in following that direction. 
 
  I have talked specifically to Mark about some of those issues-  One time, in a small leadership meeting we had, Mark was joking around and to me he seemed inappropriate, coarse and disrespectful in the leadership meeting. 
  I approached him in private, after the meeting to express to him that I felt that he had joked inappropriately, and seemed coarse and disrespectful in some things he had said.   His response to me was somewhat mocking in his tone- He stated " I am sorry ( My name) you feel that way."no further apology or conversation occurred- End of conversation. He did not want to understand were I was coming from or why I felt that way.   
He would probably never remember this incident, but to me I felt very belittled.
 God knows the situation, and the heart.  Sadly I have to many other incidents of Mark's pride which was disrespectful to myself and others.
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Angel
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« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2017, 10:25:36 am »

"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
He should not do that as a leader.
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margaret
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« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2017, 03:59:56 pm »

What bothers me so much is knowing that Hopler is informed of all of this--Mark Darling's behavior, and the destruction and hurt that follow.  But he continues to turn a deaf ear to it, and make lousy excuses.  Shame on you John Hopler! While Mark Darling is the chief culprit, there are several others that keep getting a pass, and causing so much hurt in their path.
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Linda
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« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2017, 07:08:08 am »

lissie9824, welcome.

We were at ECC for 10 years (1995 -2005) and quite heavily involved (music, Sunday School, small group leaders). We have a lot of friends who were and are in leadership and care about them and their families.

The thing I keep coming back to is that they were "educated" under McCotter or his disciples and therefore are kind of clueless about some basic theological issues. For many years, we gave people "passes" on odd things that were said, since we knew them and assumed they misspoke. As it turns out, you should never give anyone a pass on bad theology. People who truly misspeak will want to correct their error publicly and if a person is truly in error, you will want to know that asap so you can get out of Dodge.

They have never corrected the many errors of the McCotter teaching. They still revere McCotter and they still list Dennis Clark as a board member emeritus. They have never distanced themselves from the errors of the McCotter/Clark Leadership book, so as far as I'm concerned, they are not interested in correcting error, they are just interested in looking good.

I think there are many going around after ECC thinking, "What was that all about?" I know I learned a lot.

Our experience was not really "personal" in the sense that we didn't have any issues with individuals. Our issues were with what was being taught. Specifically, obedience to elders and commitment for life to Great Commission Churches which was taught by Mark Darling at an HSLT in Colorado that our high school daughter attended. When that happened, our eyes were suddenly opened and we had to leave.

It was painful to leave friends and it was painful that friends did not ask us why we left. We later learned that they were told not to ask us why we left.

Anyway, welcome. I'm glad you're here. I'm Linda Dugan. Not sure if I know you, but feel free to PM me.

« Last Edit: March 25, 2017, 07:14:17 am by Linda » Logged

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
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« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2017, 02:26:14 pm »

lissie9824, I did not attend Evergreen but being across the border in Eau Claire I had obviously heard of the amazing Mark Darling.  We have listened to some of his teachings online, and doing so would probably give you an idea of what was influencing your parents for so long.  But good luck, he's hard to listen to Wink
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GodisFaithful
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« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2018, 02:43:01 pm »

Here is an example of how Mark Darling has treated people in his church as recently as 2017. 

Doesn't seem like his MO has changed much from 20-25 years ago, in the time frame of the recent allegations from Scout of spiritual and sexual abuse.  I would say this is an example of classic spiritual abuse. 
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