When loved ones gathered on Saturday, Aug. 23, to honor Bible teacher and Pastor John MacArthur, one speaker was son Mark MacArthur. But in video of the memorial service later posted online, Mark’s 15-minute tribute to his father, who died July 14 at age 86, is absent. Mark’s comments also are absent from footage posted on John MacArthur’s ministry website.
On social media, people pointed out the missing tribute and shared links to Mark MacArthur’s remarks. Some people emphasized that they had heard Mark’s message on the livestream of Saturday’s service but couldn’t find them in the posted version.
Instead, the footage jumps from comments by Matt MacArthur (Mark’s brother) to a musical performance. Mark’s name apparently wasn’t on the written program either.
John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, California, for 56 years, was a prolific author. He also served as president of The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS) and founded “Grace to You,” a nationally syndicated Bible teaching program. He and wife Patricia, married for 61 years, have four adult children—including sons Mark and Matt.
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Missing John MacArthur Memorial Footage Raises Questions
Gregory Fox, a former GCC member, speculated that a “family rift played out” during Saturday’s service for John MacArthur. “Matt MacArthur forbade his brother [Mark] from speaking at the memorial,” Fox posted on Aug. 24. “[Matt] told [Mark] that if [Mark] tried to go up on stage that [Mark] would have security remove him. [Sister Marcy] and Mark MacArthur were not made aware of this. The family was devastated.”
Fox added, “There have been many observations of this on social media that Mark’s speech was cut out on the replay.” Referring to Sharon Devol, a longtime GCC employee who posted that “good reasons” existed for the omission, Fox wrote, “She needs to stop the slander.”
Pastor Alistair Begg spoke at John MacArthur’s Aug. 23 memorial service, despite Begg’s recent controversial remarks about same-sex marriage. John Piper, the former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, also spoke at MacArthur’s service. Piper shared about his friendship with MacArthur and said, “I simply stood in awe of what he could do in the pulpit with a passage of Scripture.”
Mark MacArthur’s Tribute to Dad John MacArthur
In his 15-minute tribute that’s missing from the memorial video, son Mark MacArthur described what it was like “to be the son of John” MacArthur. The experience was fun, profound, inspiring, and defining, he said.
“It would be dishonest to say that my identity is somewhat part of him,” Mark explained. “I’d like to think that I was an independent thinker and had my own agency, but Dad is me, and I hope I’m Dad.”
While Mark was being treated for brain cancer at age 18, his father asked him, “Are you ready to die?” Mark told attendees he loved and had accepted Jesus but had never contemplated that question.
