The married lead pastor of a mega-church in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert has been forced to resign after church leaders discovered that he has been engaging in multiple extramarital affairs with women from his congregation…
Mark Connelly admitted to his sins and resigned as lead pastor of Mission Community Church on December 30 after being confronted about the affairs and asked to leave. Connelly and his wife, Kay, have been married for 29 years and have two children, Luke and Naomi, together.

An estimated 6,000 people attend services at the Arizona church every weekend and members received news of Connelly’s misdemeanor at worship on Jan. 4 and 5.
‘We are committed to helping Mark rebuild his marriage and we have offered all of the mercy and counseling resources of our church to help him and his family through this time,’ said Executive Pastor of Ministries Gary Sutliff, who has been named interim lead pastor. ‘In addition, we have offered the same resources to the women involved. Our priority right now is helping all those involved, including the people of our church, heal from this.’
Just last year Connelly had hosted a seminar on what makes a successful marriage at the Buckhead Church in Atlanta. ‘Their past struggles and present challenges put Mark in a unique position to encourage us all,’ stated the event’s invite.
The church started in 1995 as Superstition Springs Community Church and held its first public service in a high school cafeteria. The congregation will choose a permanent replacement from among the leadership.