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May 31, 2012

Three Prominent Evangelical Leaders Announce Departures

Richard Mouw will retire from Fuller seminary; Shane Hipps will leave Mars Hill; and Darren Whitehead will leave Willow Creek.

Jeremy Weber

Three evangelical leaders have recently announced departures from prominent ministries.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary for the past two decades, will retire at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year. Mouw, who recently released a much-discussed book on evangelical engagement with Mormons, plans to take a year-long study leave and then continue teaching at the Pasadena seminary.

Shane Hipps, teaching pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church, will leave once the Grand Rapids church selects a replacement. Church elders, seeking to shore up Mars Hill in the wake of celebrity pastor Rob Bell's departure to Los Angeles after releasing the controversial Love Wins, wants the teaching pastor to preach 40 Sundays a year and report to the church's executive director; Hipps explained that he "knew instantly my internal shape did not fit the role they created" because it would "dramatically reduce my service to the broader church which is an integral part of my sense of call." Hipps has two new books in production and plans to start a leadership development company.

Darren Whitehead, teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, will leave the suburban Chicago megachurch by the end of the year because he feels called elsewhere. The announcement was made during the May 19th and 20th services.

Mouw and Hipps have regularly appeared in Christianity Today's pages.

posted by Jeremy Weber | Comments (1)

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Shane Hipps, evangelical? No, unless the definition of "evangelical" has become so broad as to lose all meaning. Does working for a church with the word "Bible" in its name make one an evangelical?

The (sad) truth is, the only "evangelical" convictions he seems to possess -- based on his public teaching -- are a zeal to tell others about his beliefs (which, by the way, do not conform to orthodox Christianity) and a faith which he appropriated -- nay, defined -- for himself. Fidelity to Scripture? No. A conviction that Jesus is the only way of salvation? No.

So the man does not believe in or teach the orthodox Christian faith, yet because he is employed by a church with the word "Bible" in its name he is an evangelical?

Please explain.

Posted By: Stephen | June 2, 2012 8:07 PM

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