Month: September 2014

Mars Hill Church to Close Three Locations; Another on Hold (UPDATED)

DowntownMHCAccording to sources last evening and in church this morning, Mars Hill pastors at four locations told their congregations that their church location would be closed or possibly closed in the near future.
Mars Hill Downtown Seattle, and University of Washington District will be closed and asked to join Mars Hill Ballard. Mars Hill Phoenix, AZ will close at the end of September while Huntington Beach, CA will remain open for awhile pending giving increases. If there is a turnaround, the Huntington Beach location might survive.
The church has been facing loss of attenders and a decline in giving. Blaming negative media attention, Mars Hill executive pastors issued a warning last week. Once billed as one of America’s fastest growing churches, Mars Hill has been losing ground rapidly through a tumultuous 2014.
UPDATE: This was just posted on Mars Hill Church’s website:

Mars Hill,

In last week’s Weekly blog post we shared about the tough financial position we find ourselves in. As we have been seeking to operate within our current means, we have come to the regrettable conclusion that we must consolidate some of our church locations, and close or transition others.

DOWNTOWN SEATTLE & U-DISTRICT

Throughout the day today our pastors at Downtown Seattle and U-District are informing those churches that they will be soon be consolidating with Mars Hill Church Ballard. The first Sunday that all three churches will meet together at Mars Hill Ballard will be October 12.

PHOENIX

Mars Hill Church Phoenix is announcing today that their last service as a Mars Hill church will be Sunday, September 28th. We are exploring opportunities for Pastor Tim Birdwell to continue the church in a different form and how we can best support that possible effort.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

Additionally, our pastors in Huntington Beach are sharing with the church today that they too are in jeopardy of having to close their doors if they are not able to increase giving by the end of the year. We have also ceased any further development of a Los Angeles church plant.

Please pray for the people attending these churches. If you attend one of these churches, we are deeply sorry, and we hope you are able to make one of the services at Mars Hill Ballard work for you and your family, or if you are in Phoenix that we can work together to best support future opportunities. Your pastors love you and want to help make this as easy for you as possible, so please reach out to them with any questions and needs. I also want you to know we take this very seriously, your pastors grieve over this, and we have made these decisions with great care, and after much prayer.

SPOKANE

Even as we are forced to make some hard decisions regarding some of our locations, we are dedicated to planting new churches so that we can lead more people to Jesus. We will explore opportunities as they are presented and as sufficient funding is available. We will continue with our plans to plant Mars Hill Church Spokane, which currently has a strong core group, a location that we believe is sustainable, and a fiscally responsible plan for needed improvements.

While it’s with a heavy heart that I have to deliver this news, I am very thankful for a regional network of churches that can work together as a family. I hope you will join me in praying for these churches and all of those affected by these changes.

Pastor Dave

Additional thoughts:
Oh the irony. Hat tip to Wenatchee the Hatchet for pointing out this video of Mark Driscoll less than a year ago driving a hearse up to a once dead church. That church would be U-District which is closing. Watch:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/CdxPgNwGV4Y[/youtube]
Mars Hill reportedly offered $1.25 million on the old First Covenant Church building in Spokane earlier this year. Apparently Mars Hill Global Fund is helping with the remodeling. Even though, the church is not meeting yet and the sale of the building has not been recorded with the county, the project remains alive.  I don’t know where the purchase is at present but since it has not been recorded, it would be interesting to find out if the church could back out but decided not to do so.
Becky Garrison just posted a summary of Mars Hill Church property holdings.
Wenatchee the Hatchet uses one of Mark Driscoll’s books to identify the stage of church development Mars Hill is in now. The diagnosis is not favorable but treatment is possible. Will Mars do it?
 

GoFundMe Account Set Up For Resigning Mars Hill Pastors

A GofundMe account has been set up for Adam Ramsey, Gary Shavey and Dustin Kensrue.  These three were part of the nine Mars Hill Church pastors who called on Mark Driscoll to submit to an elder directed restoration process.  A group of supporters have now set up a fund to help them with the transition after resigning this week.
The website gives more explanation for the effort:

To date one of the volunteer elders was dismissed from his role at the church. The remaining elders have been given a choice on how to proceed according to the these guidelines: When asked if the letter would be discussed the answer was ‘no’. If the elders wanted to stay they would have to champion change within current leadership structure by voicing concerns/issues through proper chain of command, which also means they are not able to talk with elders from other churches or skip levels of command. This is essentially a siloed format in order to keep control. If the elders would not abide by the current chain of command then they were asked to resign. The elders holding to the convictions in which they put in the August 22nd letter that the leadership structure was dysfunctional and not walking in the light could not in good conscience remain in Mars Hill Church. Three men, so far, have determined that they cannot abide by this request and have elected to resign their jobs, elderships, and memberships at Mars Hill. These men are Adam Ramsey (former student ministries pastor), Dustin Kensrue (former Bellevue Worship Pastor) and Gary Shavey (former Bellevue Biblical Living pastor). We believe that these are only the first and that more will follow—likely more than even the remaining elders from the original nine who signed the letter.

As I post this, the site has raised over $10k. Not bad for an hour.

Mark Dunford Explains Dismissal from Mars Hill Church and Much More

Mark Dunford was one of the nine elders who called on Mars Hill Church lead pastor Mark Driscoll to submit to an elder directed restoration plan. Dunford was relieved of his status as an elder at Mars Hill Portland by Tim Smith, lead pastor at Mars Hill’s Portland franchise. It has been assumed that Dunford was relieved of his elder status (he was an unpaid elder) due to his participation in the letter. Now, the rest of the story from his vantage point is available in a statement he just released with his wife and linked to on Facebook (full statement is at this link).
According to Dunford, he was informed of no problems with his status until after the nine elders sent their letter to the Full Council of Elders on August 22. The reaction of the Portland elders surprised him.

Several of them said that they felt “personally betrayed” by me. It was called “immature.” It was even called a “coup d’etat.” Unlike a coup d’etat however, our aim was to restore the leader currently in place, not permanently remove him. Sunday morning was awkward at best, and of course, that is the morning where Mark Driscoll stepped aside for six weeks. This, after the Executive Elders (of which he is one) added three additional members to the board that would adjudicate his charges and having created/restored the Board of Elders to investigate those charges. I want to be clear that the elders themselves are not involved with selecting who would serve on those boards. Again, it was the EE who made those decisions.

Regarding his dismissal, it came from the local elders at Portland:

On Wednesday, August 27th, I was called to a meeting with Portland Elder Tim Smith and a second Portland elder (who has asked not to have his name used). Tim made it clear that the Portland elders felt betrayed and were unwilling to work with me. In his words, he was able to “choose his team,” and was thus able to dismiss me. He made it clear that I had not disqualified myself and therefore, there were no formal charges. They simply did not trust me.

According to Dunford, rumors were spread that the reason for the dismissal related to his marriage. In this letter, Dunford make it clear that the rumors are false but unfortunately not uncommon in relationship to people who leave the church. Such rumors and insinuations have been used about others to give cover for dismissal. You can read the whole unfortunate experience in his statement.
Like Dustin Kensrue’s resignation letter, this statement pulls back the curtain for stakeholders to get a glimpse of the inner workings from the perspective of one former insider. There is much pertaining to the inside perspective on what externally was portrayed differently.
Full text of Mark Dunford’s statement.

Mark Driscoll No Longer Teaching at Corban University?

The question mark in the title is because I was unable to get anyone from Mars Hill Church or Corban University to confirm the meaning of what is now on Corban’s website regarding the course in Apologetics Mark Driscoll was supposed to teach during this academic year. Classes have started but apparently Mark Driscoll isn’t at the head of the class at Corban. Another executive elder Dave Bruskas has also been removed. The course was slated to be led by Driscoll at Mars Hill Church but now the course has been moved to next semester with (TBA – to be announced) listed where the instructor’s name should be. Before: CorbanUnivScheduleOld Now: CorbanUnivScheduleNew Calls to Mars Hill Schools, and Corban University were not returned. Perhaps Driscoll could still be announced next semester; no one wants to announce anything at present. You can read more about the joint program here. For more on the Mars Hill partnerships with Corban and Western Seminary, see Becky Garrison’s reporting in this post.

More Mars Hill Pastor Resignations: Adam Ramsey and Gary Shavey

Two more of the nine pastors who directed Mark Driscoll to step down and enter a restoration plan have resigned from Mars Hill Church. Adam Ramsey, director of student ministries for Mars Hill (youth ministries), and Gary Shavey, biblical living pastor at Bellevue have resigned and issued brief statements. Both signed the letter which expressed dismay over the ministry culture at Mars Hill and called for significant changes in the executive leadership.
On his Facebook page, and in an email to me last evening, Shavey said:

Many have asked if it is true that I resigned from Mars Hill Church. The short answer is yes I have. But going to MH the last 18 years and being a pastor for over 14 years it is hard to put all my thoughts together. I will post more soon, appreciate your patience and have loved all those I have worked with, ministered to and have been ministered by.

Ramsey issued a statement on his website (click through to read the entire post):

We love the people who make up Mars Hill Church and wouldn’t trade the past couple of years we’ve had serving them and Jesus for anything. It has become clear to us over the past month however, that we will no longer be able to continue forward in good conscience under the current leadership structure and ministry culture.  So it was with a sad heart but a clear conscience that I handed in my resignation to Mars Hill yesterday morning, far earlier than we had ever hoped or anticipated. Because of the current work visa that I am on, that also means we will be required to leave the country by the end of this month.

One effect of Ramsey’s departure is the reduction of youth ministries.  Yesterday, the pastor of Mars Hill Sammamish, Alex Ghioni announced the closing of the student ministry there.

Update on Mars Hill Sammamish Student Ministry
Pastor Alex Ghioni
Dear Parents of our RED Students,
Tonight at the close of our Student Ministry I had to communicate some difficult news. We have just learned that Pastor Adam Ramsey has decided to transition out of his role as the Director and Teaching Pastor for Mars Hill student ministries. He has been a dear friend and great pastor that has blessed so many in his ministry here. He has plans to return to Australia with his family and plant a church there. There’s a second bit of news that hits us even deeper here at Mars Hill Sammamish. Deacon Josiah Diener has decided to step down from his leadership position here at our church. He shared with me that he has some personal convictions that would prevent him from continuing to lead in student ministry in good conscience. He intends to stay and worship with us but cannot lead in the way that is best for our students. I have appreciated Josiah’s willingness to serve Jesus and our students with passion and conviction. He too has been a great blessing that the Holy Spirit brought and used at our church.

Ghioni did not mention the fact that Ramsey’s departure was due to his disagreements with the leadership and culture at Mars Hill.
Even as Ghioni put the best face on Ramsey’s decision, he acknowledged that the church is “contracting.” Apparently, at this time, the student ministry position will not be filled due to lack of funds.

At a time where our church is contracting and we struggle to find godly ways to move forward we are faced with diminishing resources, leaders, and helpers in every one of our ministries. These circumstances leave us without a leader to shepherd our students or resources to hire additional staff. It is with great sorrow that I have to let you know that it was with a heavy heart that I announced to your students tonight that this would be our last student ministry meeting here at Mars Hill Sammamish for the short term. It is my fervent hope that we can and are dealing with the larger issues that have brought us to this point. I believe that what emerges will be a more godly, helpful, and healthy church that will bring glory to God and bless his people.

Sources tell me Josh Clayton, community groups pastor, can also be added to the list. Clayton was an unpaid, volunteer elder who stepped down from that position. However, I have not gotten direct confirmation from Clayton, although his Mars Hill profile now omits any mention of his role as an elder.