In 2014, the Mars Hill Board stated:
While not uncommon or illegal, this unwise strategy is not one we had used before or since, and not one we will use again. The true cost of this endeavor was much less than what has been reported, and to be clear, all of the books purchased through this campaign have been given away or sold through normal channels.
The content of “Real Marriage”—especially regarding submission, abuse, and toxic masculinity—also led to criticism from Christian and secular reviewers alike.
On the Twitter post about Trinity’s new billboards, some comments reference past controversies. One person writes, “It’s actually spelled G•I•L•E•A•D – but it’s pronounced “Mars Hill,” alluding to the dystopian setting of the series, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Another comment notes, “Oh geeze, ‘get a free book?’ This all looks eerily similar to the Real Marriage campaign, you know, where the church bought an insane amount of books to get him on the NYT best sellers list. Nothing to see here…”
ChurchLeaders has reached out to The Trinity Church for comment and will update this article in the event of a reply.
