Can a megachurch survive the departure of its megastar pastor?

For Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, it’s an open question.

For many megachurches, a pastor can become larger than the church itself — particularly for multi-site churches whose disparate congregations are connected by little more than a pastor’s sermon and a satellite feed. Before his resignation, the name “Mark Driscoll” was more widely known than “Mars Hill.” The dueling brands sometimes clashed.

Some say Driscoll once told staff members, “I am the brand.”

According to Mars Hill leaders, by the start of 2015, locations within the Mars Hill network will either become independent, self-governing churches, merge with another church or disband.

Mars Hill’s church properties will be sold or the loans on the individual properties will be assumed by the newly independent churches. Central staff in Seattle will be laid off as the formal Mars Hill organization dissolves.

Megachurches across the country have faced similar dips in attendance once a popular pastor left, a problem that can plague any church but one that can be exacerbated in a megabrand context. If the chief executive of McDonald’s left, for instance, the company would face fewer questions about its survival than “The Colbert Report” will when its star leaves.

“It’s not uncommon for CEOs to say the first agenda item is to talk about ‘What happens when I’m not here anymore?’ ” said William Vanderbloemen, co-author of “Next: Pastoral Succession That Works.” “The key is to have an emergency succession plan.”

Every megachurch pastor wrestles with challenges of brand and leadership, said Mark DeMoss, who handled some public relations for Mars Hill before Driscoll resigned. “If the pastor is the best communicator and preacher and pastor in that local context, I think you can make a good case for that’s who ought to be up there,” he said. “The dangers are sometimes in succession.”

Not all churches with large followings have a drop in attendance after a pastor’s departure. After Joel Osteen’s father died, following a heart attack in 1999, his Lakewood Church in Houston grew from 5,000 to more than 50,000 today.

Attendance at Jerry Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., was about 4,000 when he died. Under his son, Jonathan Falwell, the church has a congregation of about 10,000.

Similarly, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., founded by the Rev. D. James Kennedy, an icon of the religious right, had an attendance of about 1,000 (and a broadcast reach of about 3 million) when he died in 2007. After some turmoil during the transition — under Tullian Tchividjian, Billy Graham’s grandson and a popular pastor in his own right — the church’s membership is about 2,400.

Driscoll’s fall from grace came after growing scrutiny of church finances, plagiarism allegations concerning his books and comments he made under an online pseudonym. Much of the criticism came from bloggers and on social media from people who did not attend the church.

Could Driscoll make a comeback at another church or ministry? For an evangelical movement that values forgiveness, redemption and second chances, anything is possible.

For one, Driscoll’s resignation did not reach the scandalous level of Jim Bakker’s or Jimmy Swaggart’s in the 1980s. Bakker was accused of fraud related to time shares; Swaggart was accused of adultery. Both remain active in the ministry but aren’t seen much beyond late-night cable TV.

Other high-profile pastors have stepped down and then attempted comebacks with varied success.

After allegations of gay sex and drug use were made by a male escort, Ted Haggard stepped down from his Colorado Springs church and as head of the National Association of Evangelicals. But he has since started another church.

In 2011, Sovereign Grace Ministries founder C.J. Mahaney took a leave of absence from his church-planting network amid charges of “various expressions of pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment and hypocrisy.” Mahaney was reinstated after a year, and he is now pastor of a church in Louisville.

In 2010, John Piper took an eight-month leave from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, explaining that his soul, marriage, family and ministry pattern needed “a reality check from the Holy Spirit.” He returned for a few years before retiring.

“If [Driscoll] can continue to draw people in and have a successful ministry, then his authority — even if it has been questioned — will still rest on what he’s producing,” said Scott Thumma, a megachurch expert at Hartford Seminary.

Some critique evangelicalism as a tradition that encourages a drive for more and more numbers, regardless of the costs. Wendy Alsup, who attended Mars Hill from 2002 to 2008, said she sees a growing movement of evangelicals asking whether bigger actually is better.

“There’s a big reaction among some to identify with something that has longevity,” Alsup said. “They’re rejecting fast growth and going back to the slow, methodical structure.”