I can’t quite put into words what I felt when I looked at this picture from the Mars Hill Bellevue Facebook page, but I will try. I felt I was looking at a National Geographic story in pictures. I had to stop at this one and look at the many books still on the shelves. They seem like museum pieces now dated and out of place with a meaning different in the present than when they were first placed on the shelves. I can’t tell if the man on the floor is collecting good buys or is reminiscing or is boxing up some of the books because the bookstore will soon close.
Tag: Bellevue Church
Bellevue Church to Establish Controls for Accountability in Governance
A little while ago, Pastor Jason Skelton posted this update on the City:
Follow Up from the Eastside Vision Meeting
Pastor Jason Skelton Shared
Eastside Family,
We had a great day yesterday at our Eastside Vision Meeting, where we joined in partnership with our friends from Sammamish about what the Lord is laying on our hearts for the future of this church. For those who were unable to attend, we want to provide a brief synopsis of what we covered.
First, we desire for this new church to function from a place of shared leadership, deference, and trust. We are working hard, and seeking wise counsel from godly leaders, to understand how we can best structure the church in such a manner that would encourage trust, mutual submission, and deference among the elder team and ultimately among the whole church family. We’re sorry that, particularly in recent months, significant conflict has resulted in an inability to trust the leadership of the church. We have played a part in that, and ask for your forgiveness and also your prayers, as we seek to establish a new church moving forward.
Second, we are actively and prayerfully searching for a new Lead Pastor for this new church. We have some options that we are excited to share with you soon, as right now we are prayerfully assessing character and reviewing references in order to ensure that the man that we would bring before you is not only competent in his skill, but is a man who is marked by godly character. We are seeking to find someone who would help us to retain the best of our previous church (strong preaching, great worship services, etc) while helping us to grow in areas where we have been weaker in recent years, particularly in discipleship and missional engagement.
Third, the new church structure that we will establish will include controls for accountability. While we are still prayerfully considering how this will be written into our governance, we desire that the members of the church would have an active voice into the future by allowing them to affirm elements such as the slate of elders, and the implementation of new budgets. We hold to the conviction that the church, according to Scriptures, should be led by qualified elders who would appoint qualified elders. But we also desire to have accountability to the members of the church in such a manner that would allow their voices to be more readily heard. In addition, we are prayerfully considering how we can best partner with other networks or churches.
Fourth, we are presently working from some values as a church, as interim values while searching for our new Lead Pastor. Becauset we have been loved by Jesus:
We love one another
We grow together
We celebrate redemption
We serve joyfully
We never lose hope
Many have asked: how can I help during this time? You can help in several ways:
Pray. We are planting a new church on a very expedited timeline. We need your prayers and great favor from Jesus as we attempt to move forward.
Attend Interest meetings. We will be hosting interest meetings every Sunday in the cafe between now and the end of the year at 12:30p on Sundays. These meetings will be an opportunity to meet the elders, ask questions, and learn more about the future.
Ask Questions. We not only are open to your feedback, but we truly desire it. Please let us know your hopes, dreams, and questions about how this new church will come together.
Lastly, and most importantly, it is our utmost desire that this would be a church that loves Jesus, preaches the Word of God, and is a place that families would desire to attend – yours, mine, and others. We believe that the way for this to become a reality is to live our lives as one of an outpouring of love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13. This would mean that our church would be marked by patience, kindness, humility, truth, trust, and perseverance, among a host of other characteristics. We understand that we have at times operated in a manner that has not encouraged these characteristics, and in so doing, have brought much strife on the inside and criticism from the outside. On behalf of the elders at Bellevue, we extend to you our repentance and our genuine desire to move forward as a church that would be marked by authentic love, as rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our commitment to you to continue to pour ourselves out in sacrificial service—the Gospel demands no less.
On Behalf of the Bellevue Elders,
Pastor Jason
This is actually a refreshing message. I still don’t know how you extend repentance to an entire group of people but it seems like progress that the note contains that sentiment without any obvious messages to give money.
I hope some of the people attending the vision meeting will ask questions, as invited, about the amount of money the church plans to give to the Ethiopian and Indian church planters when the church folds.
Source: Mars Hill Bellevue Negotiating to Hire Preaching Pastor
A current Mars Hill pastor informed me that Bellevue Church (Mars Hill Bellevue) has been in intense negotiations with an individual to become preaching pastor of the church. These talks were taking place yesterday. Initially, the elders there (led by Matt Rogers) offered the job to current executive elder Dave Bruskas. Bruskas may do some preaching at Bellevue in the next few weeks, but his future is in Albuquerque where he has taken the same position at his old church.
While it may be a coincidence, there is some speculation around Bellevue that Mark Driscoll may be involved in the process of securing a preaching pastor. According to a trusted source, Driscoll was spotted at Bellevue yesterday with his assistant Frank Park.
In any event, Bellevue’s choice will provide a glimpse into the direction of a location closely following the Mars Hill legacy. For awhile, Bellevue’s moves will be of interest to those who want to follow the fall out of Mars Hill’s implosion. More broadly, this situation provides a rare opportunity to study the effects of the demise of a large multi-site church. Will the DNA of Mars Hill be replicated in the legacy churches or will they find their own identity?
Mars Hill Sammamish In Merger Talks With Bellevue Church
Mars Hill Sammamish meets in a building that must be sold to satisfy debt and thus has no place to meet as of December 31. Currently, despite resistance from some involved, leaders at Sammamish are in talks with Bellevue Church to merge. Today, lead pastor Alex Ghioni posted this on The City:
From Pastor Alex Ghioni:
Last week the news was released that Mars Hill Church will be dissolving as an organization by December 31, 2014. Each of the Mars Hill local churches will have the opportunity to become an independent church in the area where they are meeting. As you already know, our building is being sold and we will no longer have access to meet here after December 31, 2014.
Our elder team has been working tirelessly to explore other options in light of these circumstances. Currently we are in discussions with the pastors in Bellevue exploring an opportunity for our two churches to join together and establish one new independent church on the Eastside. We want to take the helpful things we learned from our years at Mars Hill and leave behind what was broken, ineffective, and ungodly. We believe the Eastside has room for another solid gospel church, that holds to a high view of the scriptures, supports the bold preaching of the gospel, reformed theology, missional mindset, and loving community. This could be one of the great redemptive works that God brings about from our current difficult circumstances. The elders want to enlist you to pray along with us that God “…may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified…” (2 Thess 1:11-12 ESV). We’ll be communicating our progress as quickly as we have new information.
We realize that others of you will perhaps be looking for a church closer to where you live. The elders want to help you and pray for you as you make those plans and decisions. We love you and want God’s best for you and your family.
In any event, we are hoping that we will remain together as a family until the end of the year. God has done great things in our lives individually and collectively. It makes sense that we take the time together to remember and celebrate his work in and through our church. We hope you’ll stick with us as we honor Jesus and encourage one another over the next 8 weeks.
Toward that end, we have decided that for the duration of the year we are going combine our services into one Sunday morning service at 10am. The heart behind this change is to give some additional time for you to connect and enjoy the relationships that God has built throughout our church family here in Sammamish. I look forward to seeing you and celebrating our Savior together with you in the weeks to come as we wait for what God has for us next.
With the affection of Jesus,
Pastor Alex
The building Sammamish is meeting in was given to Mars Hill by the former church owners. I wonder if they ever imagined that their building would help pay for severance pay for the executive elders of Mars Hill Church.
Dave Bruskas to Become Interim Preaching Pastor at Bellevue Church
Looks like Bellevue Church wants to be the Mars Hill legacy church. This just came out:
On Becoming a New Church
From Pastor Matt Rogers:Yesterday we honored Thomas Hurst who made the decision to step aside as the Lead Pastor of the Bellevue church. We also touched on the future for our church family and where we believe the Lord is leading us. As your elders look toward a new beginning, we have tremendous hope and confidence that a great future is ahead for us as we proclaim and live the gospel of Jesus Christ together as a church family!
Pastor Thomas and Angela have walked through incredibly difficult trials of cancer and losing a son while being faithful examples of trusting the Lord in suffering. They have poured themselves out for this church family in the midst of those trials because they love you and they love Jesus very much. The Hurst family will continue as members of our church as they pray through what God has for them in the future. Pastor Thomas has been great pastor, a great friend and a great encouragement to us. Please take a moment to send Thomas and Angela a note of thanks and keep them in your prayers. As his last official act as Lead Pastor Thomas declared himself the head of our Greeting team, his first day in his new position will be this coming Sunday!
A New Eastside Church
As Pastor Dave shared last week Mars Hill will transition to fully independent locally governed churches January 2015. Based on overwhelmingly strong support from leaders across our Bellevue church your elders are committed that Mars Hill Bellevue will become one of these new churches on January 1 2015.
We have been through too much together not to stay together.
We have celebrated hundreds of people meeting Jesus and being baptized, we have grown as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have walked through very difficult trials—together as a church family. The greatest fruit in our relationships comes over time, staying together, growing together, and seeing more of Jesus together.
Bellevue is a large financially healthy church and we have every reason to believe we can be a healthy and strong church based on the Eastside for many years to come. Pastor Dave Bruskas has agreed to serve as our interim preaching pastor here in Bellevue while we search for a permanent Lead Pastor. This Bellevue church is known around the world for the way you have served and loved one another and the broader church of Jesus Christ. We have already been contacted by several highly gifted and qualified pastors. We are committed to continuing bold Bible preaching that lifts up the gospel as Jesus Christ as the great hope for our city and the world.
Some Things Will Never Change
As a new independent church some things will be different. All ministry direction, production, staffing, and governance will be done together as a local church. We are establishing a new 501©3 corporate entity, creating new bylaws, selecting a new name, establishing a new structure and setting up new financial accounts. With all of us working together we will bring the best of Mars Hill while learning from our past to build a great new church.
After discussing a transition with dozens of leaders around the church you have our commitment that some things will never change. Your elders are absolutely committed to ensuring we are under Bible focused preaching that boldly proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will never compromise the truth of God’s word, and we will serve our good King with excellence!
For the next few weeks we will be seeking input from leaders from around the church, working through transition details, and look forward to having a lot more to share with you at our first Vision Meeting Sunday November 16 at 12:30.
This morning I woke up thinking about Ephesians 3:20-21 and believe this is an important reminder for our church family. In the last several months the Lord has brought much repentance, much growth and we are stronger and more dependent on Jesus than we have ever been. I am grateful for that work in my own life and in the hearts of the people in this church. He has used all of this for his glory and our good to make us into a church more reflective of our savior.
Together let’s proceed forward with confidence that the gospel will continue to change lives in this city and this church! Let’s pray to celebrate thousands more people meeting Jesus, to dedicate our lives to the forward progress of that gospel and growing together as disciples of Jesus Christ! Please be praying, please dream big about what God will do and let’s join together to build a new church with our hope firmly rooted in our savior Jesus Christ!
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
(Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)
For more on Thomas Hurst’s resignation, see this.
How long before Mark Driscoll comes back as a guest speaker?