Nine Mars Hill Church Elders Took a Bold Stand and Now Eight Are Gone

Add four more to the growing fraternity of ex-pastors after yesterday’s layoffs at Mars Hill Church.
According to reliable sources, Drew Hensley (University District), Ryan Welsh (Pastor of Theology and Leadership), Ryan Kearns (Director of Community Groups), and Cliff Ellis (Director of Biblical Living/Redemption Groups) were all let go yesterday.
Three of these pastors were directors, meaning they were responsible for ministries across Mars Hill Church and not just at one campus. All four signed the infamous letter that called for Mark Driscoll to step down and enter an elder directed restoration process. These pastors join Dustin Kensrue, Adams Ramsey, Gary Shavey (all three resigned their paid positions) and Mark Dunford (relieved of his volunteer elder status) in the ranks of ex-elders who signed the letter. James Rose, who is a volunteer at Ballard, appears to remain in place.
It is noteworthy that Mars Hill laid off key ministry leaders. The ministry directors were responsible for generating and leading much of the ministry programs (e.g., community groups, student ministry, biblical counseling, etc.) across all of the Mars Hill locations. At the same time, the church has spared the executive pastors who are largely seen as administrators of the franchise locations.  It also seems to be likely that laying off Kearns, Ellis, Hensley and Welsh related to their signatures on the letter calling on Driscoll to step down. Case in point: Matthias Haeuser’s Downtown Seattle campus was closed but he will have opportunity for a role at Ballard’s campus. Drew Hensley’s (a letter signer) University District location was shut down and he will be laid off.
One source (a current elder) tells me that executive elders’ salaries are not on the table for discussion. However, the 30-40 (unconfirmed reports tell me the number was higher) people laid off may not get severance pay and don’t have unemployment. The lack of comment from the executive elders about how they personally are going to help is louder than any amended statements could be.
The signers and their status:

Dustin Kensrue – Director of Worship / Worship Pastor at Mars Hill Bellevue (RESIGNED)

Drew Hensley – Lead Pastor at Mars Hill U-District Pastor (LAID OFF)

Mark Dunford – Pastor at Mars Hill Portland (ELDERSHIP REMOVED)

Ryan Kearns – Director of Community Groups/Pastor at Mars Hill Bellevue (LAID OFF)

Ryan Welsh – Pastor of Theology and Discipleship (LAID OFF)

Adam Ramsey – Director of Student Ministry / Pastor at Mars Hill Bellevue (RESIGNED)

Cliff Ellis – Director of Biblical Living / Pastor at Mars Hill West Seattle (LAID OFF)

Gary Shavey – Pastor of Biblical Living at Mars Hill Bellevue (RESIGNED)

James Rose – Pastor at Mars Hill Ballard (REMAINS IN SAME POSITION)

In this post, I provided twitter contact information for these pastors, I encourage Mars Hill stakeholders to contact them for their perspectives.

Additional notes: Cliff Ellis may remain as an unpaid volunteer elder for now. Drew Hensley is still active because he will stay until U-District closes down in October.

 

Mars Hill Church Announces More Layoffs; Blames People For Lack of Giving (UPDATED)

Today, on the church website, Mars Hill Church leaders announced additional layoffs. On a page titled simply, “Financial Challenges,” church leaders said:

Two weeks ago we shared in The Weekly some of the financial challenges we are facing at Mars Hill Church. While our church has been financially healthy for many years, we are now facing the most serious budget challenge in our history. Church budgeting is really a simple process in one respect: we are able to provide the level of staff and ministry programs that those who attend our church provide the resources for. In other words, it is ultimately our people, not our leaders, who determine how much “church” we are able to provide.

This announcement probably doesn’t help the leaders. This comes across as a rebuke to the people who are left in the pews. The “we-they” divide is clear. We (church leaders) can’t provide church if they (the non-leaders) don’t give more money. The implication of this notice is the layoffs are the fault of the people in the pews. This statement demonstrates no recognition of the reasons why fewer people are attending, or why the giving is down. The leaders here take no responsibility for providing the people in the pews with reasons to question what is going on among those who “provide” church (NYTs bestseller fiasco, secrecy surrounding finances, Global Fund, formal charges from current and former pastors, etc.).

The last sentence in the paragraph above completely glosses over the fact that the leaders decide how to spend the money they get from the people. The people have no input and very little knowledge.

Let’s review: the members of Mars Hill Church are not members for the purposes of participating in governance or helping to determine (or even knowing) how resources are spent. They are members for giving, volunteering, and obeying the leaders. Until just recently, the members were not allowed to see the bylaws, they are not able to know specifics about how their gifts are spent, and they are not allowed to know how much the senior leadership is compensated. Lack of knowledge and input might make people wonder if they are getting the church they have been paying for, to use the Mars Hill Church leader’s way of thinking.

The two largest expense items in almost any organization’s budget are facilities and personnel costs. Sadly, we now find ourselves in a situation where we cannot sustain our current staffing levels across the Mars Hill network of churches and must move forward with further reduction of paid staff. This will, unfortunately, also result in a decrease in the number of ministry programs we are able to provide beyond our weekly church services.

The notice expresses sorrow over the layoffs but insists the church must live within “economic reality.” There is another reality that I think the leaders must face. Beating the remaining sheep might have worked in the old days of Mars Hill but today is a new day and I suspect the sheep are tired of it.

UPDATE: Several hours after the original statement was posted, the following paragraph appeared on the Mars Hill website:

This update was published earlier in an effort to communicate this news to the Mars Hill community in a timely way. However, in our effort to communicate efficiently we were, perhaps, less clear than we intended to be. While it is true that the generous giving of our members funds the various ministries of Mars Hill Church, the original post below failed to acknowledge that the reason for much of the decrease in attendance and giving falls to us, the leadership of Mars Hill. We shoulder the responsibility for our past sins and mistakes—which has caused many to leave. As we continue to repent, learn, and grow in this season, we also bear the responsibility to lead differently as we move forward—for God’s glory and the good of his church. 

Well, that’s better, but can it be trusted? Clearly, each reader will have to decide what this is about and what shouldering the responsibility would look like.

Seattle Times: First Mars Hill Will Close Churches, Then Layoff Staff

There is one cost cutting move I didn’t see in this article. See if you can figure it out.
On the eve of what will probably be a sad day at Mars Hill, the church revealed to the Seattle Times that layoffs are coming. According to the Times report, the church will cut between 30-40 staff on the heels of today’s church closings.
Justin Dean acknowledged that attendance is way down to between 8-9,000 per Sunday.
 

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.