Pastor Mark Driscoll’s Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, has purchased a new property valued at $15.5 million as the congregation continues to grow nearly a decade after the ministry was launched.
Driscoll, who started Trinity Church in 2016 following his departure from Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, said the congregation — which now draws roughly 5,000 attendees to each worship service — has outgrown its current meeting space.
Announcing the development on the church’s website, Driscoll described the purchase as a milestone in the ministry’s journey. “This is the moment. Since our beginning as a Bible study in 2016, the mission of Trinity Church has remained the same: We open our Bibles to learn. We open our lives to love. So that lives and legacies are transformed,” he recently announced on his church’s website. “God has richly blessed this mission, and our church family has completely outgrown our home. So we prayed, and God answered.”
In a video accompanying the announcement, Driscoll outlined how the new facility will significantly increase the church’s capacity and resources.
“we’ve purchased a big building right off the Shea [Boulevard] and the [Loop] 101. Five times the parking, four times the square footage, three times the kids' space, two times the seating, all under one roof.”
Local reporting from the Scottsdale Progress states that Trinity Church finalized the purchase of the property at 10001 North 92nd St. on Jan. 5. The transaction totaled $15.5 million and included a $2,765,000 down payment, while the remaining $12,735,000 was financed through AG Financial Solutions, a mission-focused financial services organization affiliated with the General Council of the Assemblies of God.
The building itself is a two-story structure originally constructed in 1997. The property includes approximately 116,200 square feet of space and provides 378 parking spaces. According to LoopNet, the facility previously operated as an office complex and included amenities such as a fitness center and conference space.
Driscoll’s return to pastoral leadership followed his controversial departure from Mars Hill Church in Seattle in 2014, a once-fast-growing megachurch that eventually dissolved after leadership disputes and criticism surrounding Driscoll’s ministry style.
In a tearful 2015 interview with Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston, Driscoll said he had not initially intended to resign from Mars Hill but felt spiritually compelled to step down.
He also acknowledged that his leadership had become the subject of criticism, including concerns about his strong leadership style, his views on women’s roles in the church and past online remarks that resurfaced.
Reflecting on that period in the 2015 interview, Driscoll admitted that he had made mistakes while leading the church he founded at age 25.
“I've made a lot of mistakes, and one of them was going too fast. There's the Lord's calling and then there's the Lord's timing,” he said in the 2015 interview. “And I should have waited longer; I should have been under godly spiritual authority — for Grace and I to be under a godly couple that was senior pastor, so that we can learn and grow. My character was not caught up with my gifting and I did start too young.”
After leaving Mars Hill, Driscoll said he and his wife spent a lot of time with older, more experienced spiritual leaders and saw many ways in which he could improve the way he did ministry.
“I hope whatever the Lord has for me in the future is that I will draw people and not drive people,” he said. “My empathy level will increase.”
