Update on the Status of the Mars Hill Locations

On the Mars Hill website, an update has been posted about the direction of each of the locations. Where appropriate, I will interrupt the narrative to add any information I have on the location.

Mars Hill,

As Mars Hill Church closes its doors at the end of the year, and each of the churches plan for what the new year will bring, your local elder teams will work through decisions related to their location. Each church is unique and each elder team has unique decisions in front of them. They will be updating you over the next eight weeks about their upcoming steps.

Several churches have already made announcements this week and have held members meetings to explain where they are feeling led. Below is an update on the next steps of these churches. As we learn more about the future for each church, we will continue to update you.

ALBUQUERQUE

Albuquerque announced this past Sunday that they have invited Pastor Dave Bruskas to return, and he has accepted the position as their teaching pastor. Pastor Dave will stay to serve Mars Hill Church in the current transition until December 31, including continuing to preach from the Bellevue church until they find a new Lead Pastor.

Read here and here for more on Albuquerque. A reliable source has informed me that Al Lobaina has resigned as pastor but will remain with the church.

BELLEVUE & SAMMAMISH

On the Eastside of Seattle it was announced that the Bellevue and Sammamish locations will be partnering together to form a single new church. They’ll plant the new church in the new year, with a core group of over 1,000 people! This new Eastside church will retain the best of Mars Hill Church, but will be a different church with new leadership and structures. Your elders are currently praying about how best to structure and lead this church moving forward and they need your ideas, suggestions and prayer as they consider this.

I have information on this merger herehere and here. Sammamish leaders were conflicted over the move to Bellevue and explored other options before deciding to merge. Initually, lead pastor Alex Ghioni told his congregation that the church was going to try to preserve the building, but as it turns out, the building (which was donated to the church by the former congregation – Evergreen Christian Fellowship) will be sold to help pay off debt.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

Huntington Beach announced that it will not continue as an independent church. Pastor Matt Wallace is pursuing opportunities with like-minded churches in the area from whom he and his family can be sent out to plant at a later time. Pastor AJ Hamilton, who was working towards planting Mars Hill Church Los Angeles, is praying with his family about pursuing other opportunities.

Huntington Beach was on the bubble due to the leaders assessment that giving needed to improve. Giving had not improved which left the church in a questionable position. Then Matt Wallace indicated that he would not lead the new church to independent status.

BALLARD

Ballard has announced that they will continue as a new independent church. Pastor Matthias Haeusel will serve as the Lead Pastor and he and the local elders are working hard to find a new name and the best place to meet each Sunday starting in January. Pastor Scott Harris will be stepping down as Lead Pastor while staying on as an elder and pursuing work in Seattle in order to remain at the church.

Just today, I posted information about Ballard from a trusted source. Ballard’s building has been on the market for awhile, initially with hopes that a buyer would lease it back to the church. This looks less promising now. At one point, church spokesperson Justin Dean said Ballard had been growing in attendance but he later retracted that impression.

EVERETT

Everett has also announced that they will continue as an independent church called Foundation Church, with Pastor Ryan Williams remaining as Lead Pastor. The Everett elders are working towards continuing in their current location.

Click here to read about Everett’s one-page summary of their plans for Foundation Church. Everett’s pastor Ryan Williams famously thanked Mars Hill Global years after the money from the Global Fund supposedly (and secretly) had been given. Now Mars Hill pastors refuse to give an accounting of the Global Fund.

RAINIER VALLEY

Pastor Ed Choi has said he will continue to lead the people of Rainier Valley, and together with the congregation they have chosen Rainier Valley Church as their new name.

SHORELINE

Shoreline will continue under the leadership of Pastor Aaron Gray. He and his elder team will be announcing their new name soon, and they are working towards trying to secure the same location they are in now to meet on Sundays.

TACOMA

Tacoma will continue under the leadership of Pastor Bubba Jennings and the current elders. They have chosen the name Resurrection Church and are working towards staying in their current location. The leadership team in Tacoma is spending time in prayer and seeking Jesus’ wisdom, guidance and discernment for the new plant. They are excited to keep loving Jesus, preaching the Bible and making disciples while learning what it means to be a new independent church.

Tacoma (soon Resurrection Church), like some of the others, has a major issue with the debt on their building. There is some optimism among the churches but most are starting out with lots of debt and very little experience in running a free standing operation.

PORTLAND

Pastor Tim Smith has put together a transition team of elders and deacons who will lead the people of Mars Hill Portland in a new church plant starting in January. They are working towards choosing a new name and assuming the loan for their current building.

Last Sunday a transition team was announced (see here). Portland rivals Bellevue for being the church most nostalgic for Driscoll. This coming Sunday, the church will have a camera set up for people to record their good wishes to send to the Driscolls.

From Deacon Kevin Kelly:

Hey There PDX!

I hope that you are all trying to stay warm and dry at the beginning of a threatened winter storm in our area.  Please be safe when traveling and plan ahead today.

I wanted to make you aware of a small project that some members have requested.  They wish to record short video testimonials, to send to Pastor Mark and his family.

This Sunday, Nov 16th, after second service (and only if you are interested), we will be set up for you to sit and record a brief message of thanks or encouragement for Pastor Mark and his family.

SPOKANE

Pastor Miles Rohde is continuing his work in Spokane to start a new church in the heart of downtown. Together with a core team of around 120 people they are moving forward with launching a new church in the new year, named Redemption Spokane.

Spokane was one of the first church’s to file papers of incorporation.

OLYMPIA

Pastor Seth Winterhalter, along with his pastoral team, will be planting a new church in Olympia called Harbor Church that he says will be “a safe harbor for the broken, hurting, and hopeless people of our region introducing them to their Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.”

I have written twice about Olympia, but don’t have much to add to this description.

WEST SEATTLE

Pastor David Fairchild will also continue leading the charge for a new church plant in West Seattle, called Trinity West Seattle. They have 3 elders and 5 elder candidates who will soon be installed to help lead the church. Together they are working out the details of keeping their current location.

David Fairchild is one of the few Mars Hill pastors who has interacted with me since the decision to close the church. He doesn’t disclose much but seems willing to discuss issues with people on the blog. However, when asked about Global Fund, the investigation of Driscoll, and other hard issues, he quiets down.

PHOENIX

As an update on Phoenix, which was the first to transition to its own independent church, they are doing well under the leadership of Pastor Tim Birdwell. Now the Phoenix Bible Church, they continue to see growth and many new people meeting Jesus.

Phoenix was the trail blazer and went independent as Phoenix Bible Church when Mars Hill announced it was closing three locations.


In addition to updates on The City, you can continue to follow updates on each church’s Facebook and Twitter through the end of the year, when those accounts will be renamed and transitioned to the individual churches.

We are excited for these new church plants. People will continue to have Bible-believing church homes where they are served and loved, and where they can serve and love others, and that’s something to celebrate. In areas where churches are closing or have closed, we know there are plenty of Bible-believing churches in those areas and we are helping families stay connected in community with other believers.

Our hope and prayer is that these new churches will flourish in connecting people to Jesus in some of the least churched regions of the country. Please continue to pray for each church and their leaders, as they still have a lot of decisions and lot of planning ahead of them.

I will add information to this post as it becomes available.

Mars Hill Ballard Moves Toward Independence Amid Unanswered Questions

Last night, a trusted source attended an organizational meeting at Mars Hill Ballard. Several changes were announced with information provided about the move toward becoming an independent church.

According to the source:

Scott Harris is stepping down as lead pastor. It was announced that he plans to find employment and stay on at the church as a lay elder. The preaching pastor will be Matthias Haeusel. Adam Christiansen (paid) and Kirby Langley (lay) will remain as elders. Cam Huxford will remain as worship pastor. Anthony Ianniciello was described as “very tired” and will thus step down. He will continue as a church member and lead a community group. Joe Stengele feels called elsewhere.

The elders gave out paper to use to suggest church names. However, Harris said that the elders will choose the name. As the papers were distributed, the elders promoted “Seven Hills” Church. Seven was described as a “contextualization” specific to Seattle with Hills paying deliberate homage to the old Mars Hill name.

The church will probably not remain in the current location. The building hasn’t sold and the lease-back provision from the listing has been removed. They expect to take between 3 months to a year to find a suitable location. It was disclosed that the Ballard and Sammamish buildings are being liquidated to cover Mars Hill’s debts. The seed money then will be given to the different churches according to the location’s former budget and their attendance throughout this last year. Some locations will get cash, and others will get an improved equity position in their building.

The leaders promised that the new church will be “elder led, congregationally informed.”

Questions were asked about severance pay for executives and the Mark Driscoll investigation. The elders claimed they didn’t know.

I find that hard to believe, but if true, it lends some credibility to a comment made by MHInsida on another post that seed money from sale of properties and any remaining tithes and offerings is conditioned on silence and lack of disclosure. Perhaps, the pastors don’t want to know. However, it is stunning to me that the elders could go before a group of people, ask for their support, and not have answers to those questions.

Another implication of the possibility that the elders don’t know what’s happening in their own church is that the Board of Advisors and Accountability is still in charge and desires to run out the clock on the questions that have arisen about the Global Fund, severance pay, the credibility of BoAA statements about Acts 29 and Paul Tripp, and the Driscoll investigation.

Mars Hill Ballard Building For Sale

Mars Hill Ballard is also for sale.


Earlier, I reported that Mars Hill Sammamish is on the market. The tweet above links to a listing for Mars Hill Ballard.
Tomorrow is the first day of the planned combination of Mars Hill University District (also for sale, although I have heard it sold), and Mars Hill Downtown with Mars Hill Ballard. They will be meeting in a building which is on the market.
The listing, like the Sammamish one, hopes for a buyer which will lease the building back to the church. The church clearly needs cash and is willing to give up assets in order to maintain the location. It may be that there are potential buyers who would prefer to own something for their money rather than simply donate it to Mars Hill Church.
The building is also on the market as a possible lease situation with another tenant using the building from Monday through Saturday.
According to the listing, Ballard has a new name — Ballard Big Box. In fact, none of the listings for Mars Hill properties have the church name on the listing.

James Rose No Longer Pastor at Mars Hill Ballard

In late August, a letter written by nine then-current Mars Hill Church pastors to their peers called on Mark Driscoll to step down as pastor and enter an elder directed restoration program. Currently, Mark Driscoll is nearing the end of his break and the nine pastors are now nine former pastors. Eight of the nine either resigned or were laid off early in September.
This Sunday at Ballard campus it was announced that the ninth, James Rose, is no longer a volunteer elder over community groups. He will be replaced by Matthias Haeusel, who was formerly lead pastor at the Downtown campus.
Earlier today, Rose confirmed that he was no longer in the Ballard position but declined to make a comment.
UPDATE: I have learned that Cliff Ellis, one of the nine, is no longer employed by Mars Hill, but continues to be a lay elder at Mars Hill West Seattle. Thus, I have changed the title to reflect the fact that Rose was replaced. All nine have lost or experienced changes in their positions since they took a stand.

Is Mars Hill Church in Ballard Growing?

Last week, the Ballard (WA) News-Tribune posted an article with reaction to the recent closing of Mars Hill locations in downtown Seattle and the University district. Mars Hill leaders hope that the people who attended the closed locations will move to the Ballard campus. In describing that campus to the Ballard paper, church spokesperson Justin Dean is quoted as saying:

The Ballard church has been growing and is in a strong position to support those coming in from other churches.

I say “quoted as saying” because it is hard to believe he was quoted properly.*
I have comments from several Ballard attenders and former leaders who tell me that attendance at Ballard has followed the downward trend of the other locations. Reports are consistent that attendance has gone from about 1,100 adults/week a year ago to around 450 adults/week this September thus far.
I asked Justin Dean for comment and/or attendance figures, but have not received a reply. I will post any information I get.
I want to add that Dean again placed the blame for the recent declines on the leadership of the church.

“Some of our churches can no longer support the ongoing costs associated with their buildings and paid staff. We acknowledge that the reason for much of the decrease in attendance and giving falls to us, the leadership of Mars Hill,” said spokesperson for Mars Hill, Justin Dean.

This statement could be a positive sign. However, it is unclear what the leadership is owning. Perhaps, they believe they have done a lousy PR job. Or perhaps they acknowledge the validity of various concerns which former members and leaders have raised.
The question about growth at Ballard is a case in point. Is the statement a factual one with public disclosure coming to back it up? Or is it spin? Or is it an unfortunate misquote? Mars Hill Church can show positive movement by a transparent explanation or signal business as usual by allowing the disconnect between rhetoric and reality hang out there without comment.
*I realized after I posted this that my wording implies that the reporter may have been in error. I have been assured by the writer of the newspaper article that Dean was indeed quoted correctly. I can also add that I never heard from Dean.