Rob Bell—whose Love Wins book stirred up a controversy on universalism and hell that led to national media appearances—has resigned from his pastorate at Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Mich.

In a posting on the church’s website, the elder team, ministry leadership team and church staff announced Bell’s soon departure, though he is preaching this Sunday.

“Feeling the call from God to pursue a growing number of strategic opportunities, our founding pastor, Rob Bell, has decided to leave Mars Hill in order to devote his full energy to sharing the message of God’s love with a broader audience,” the Web posting reads.

The church also acknowledges the “variety of avenues in which Rob’s voice and the message of God’s tremendous love has traveled over the past 12 years” and looks for “increasing opportunity to extend the heartbeat of that message to our world in new and creative ways.”

Published by HarperOne in March, Love Wins became a New York Times best-seller. The controversial book also spawned a rash of response books, including Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle’s Erasing Hell (David C. Cook) and Mark Galli’s God Wins (Tyndale House Publishers).

Bell’s previous titles, including Sex God and Velvet Elvis, were published by Zondervan.

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