Note: This video was published in September 2013. I am not saying he is talking about Mars Hill Church. He is talking about church in general. I think the present situation will give Soma and Rev. Vanderstelt an opportunity to apply this teaching which came long before now.
Vanderstelt, who was named yesterday as pastor of Mars Hill Bellevue (soon to be Bellevue Church), has some good things to say about why people are turned off from church. I think he missed other reasons equally as important (e.g., anti-science, culture war mentality, etc.). However, his second reason — hypocrisy — is one which seems especially relevant as Mars Hill Church runs out the clock on public accountability.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/nofEHVP9WZ4[/youtube]
The church which is being called a “plant” already has 12 elders. Six of those elders are holdovers from Mars Hill. One of them — Matt Rogers — as a member of the Board of Advisors and Accountability has a lot of unfinished business to address. The allegations from the group of nine pastors about the BoAA are still out there uninvestigated, despite a promise from then Mars Hill spokesman Mark DeMoss that they would be. The allegations were serious and involve matters of trust and integrity. However, they have been swept under the rug with the clock running out.
Lots of Christianese is being spoken; but will anything change with these new developments? As Vanderstelt seems to be aware, people are watching and want to know if the Gospel means anything in the way the church does business.
Tag: Mars Hill Church
Jeff Vanderstelt Selected as Lead Teaching Pastor at (Mars Hill) Bellevue Church
This was announced earlier today via The City:
From Pastor Jason Skelton:
On behalf of the elders of Soma Tacoma and Bellevue Church, it is our privilege to share with you today the news that Jeff Vanderstelt has been selected as the Lead Teaching Pastor of Bellevue Church in Bellevue, WA.
Over the last six weeks, the elders of Bellevue Church and Soma Tacoma have been praying together to seek the Lord and know His will in this important decision. It has been our desire to create as many opportunities as possible to allow the congregation to speak into the process. This has included multiple public gatherings from Q&A in Bellevue, Sammamish, and Soma Tacoma, as well as Jeff preaching at Bellevue Church on November 23rd and December 7th. With a remarkable spirit of unity from both congregations, that we take as a sign of confirmation from the Holy Spirit, we now move forward with confidence in presenting this decision to you.
Today at the Soma Tacoma gathering, Jeff has resigned his eldership, and formally accepted the role as Lead Teaching Pastor of Bellevue Church. He will be publicly welcomed on December 21st when he will be present to preach that day as well in Bellevue. His first official day will be January 1st, 2015, which signifies the beginning of planting a new church.
From Jeff:
“Jayne and I are blessed to be clearly led by the Spirit in conjunction with the affirmation of Soma Tacoma and Bellevue Church to step into this new adventure. We are confident that Jesus is leading us into this and eager to serve Him as he continues to build his body on the Eastside. We can not do this without Him nor without the prayers of his people. In light of that, we earnestly ask that you lift us up in your prayers as we make this difficult transition from a church family that we dearly love to one that we are already growing in love for and anticipate loving in ever increasing ways over the coming months and years. We are eager to see the glory of Jesus fill the Eastside through his body the church as the waters cover the sea!”
With this decision, Bellevue Church will seek to become a member of the Soma Family of Churches, though the timeline for this has not been determined.
Our prayer, and our vision, is that the good news of Jesus would saturate the Eastside so that every man, woman, and child would have a daily encounter with Jesus in word and deed.
In Christ,
Soma Tacoma Elders
Don Crook
Justin Kuravackal
Abe Meysenburg
Mark Tilden
Jeff Wall
Randy Sheets
Bellevue Church Elders
Dave Cox
Alex Ghioni
Roger Molvar
Tim Patton
Matt Rogers
Jason Skelton
After the news from Bellevue recently about new staff, it was unclear that Soma was still involved.
Barring any legal complications, Bellevue Church is in line to receive what could be a substantial amount of money from the dissolution of Mars Hill Church. Initially, there were high hopes that the involvement of Vanderstelt and Soma would bring in a new era of transparency. However, up to now, those representing Soma Church have ignored questions from the public and from Soma members about the transition of Bellevue from Mars Hill Church to Soma.
Eastside Church (Was Mars Hill Bellevue) Chooses New Staff; Is Soma Still Involved?
This came out earlier today.
Sounds like business as usual with no mention of Soma or Jeff Vanderstelt.
Some Good News Heading Into 2015
Pastor Jason Skelton
Eastside Family,
As we soon close out 2014 and head into the New Year as a new church, we wanted you to be aware of some good news for 2015.
Staff Selection
We have been prayerfully considering a number of hires for the new church staff. By God’s grace and your generosity, we are able to support a great team to serve and equip you for ministry in 2015. There are a number of conversations still in process, but we wanted you to be aware of a few of the team members:
- Jim Franks will serve as the Director of Operations equipping and supporting our volunteer teams, Sunday services and daily operations of the church
- Tim Patton will serve as the Director of Administration stewarding the finances and business obligations of the new church. Tim will also serve as one of the elders.
- Alex Ghioni will serve as the Pastor of Biblical Counseling leading our Redemption Group ministries, marriage counseling, etc. Alex will also serve as one of the elders.
- Adrian Kilgore will serve as the Director of Media and Production equipping our production volunteers and overseeing technology as well as communications
We are in ongoing conversations regarding the hire of a Director of Youth Ministry to lead Kids and Student Ministry. We have much more to share with you about these ministries soon, as well as determination of our Director of Community Groups. We’ll share more information with you in the coming weeks.
New Service Times
The elders have been prayerfully considering what service time schedule would be serve the Eastside. After talking with many members of the congregation, we have made the decision that we will change our service times to 9a and 11a, beginning in January 2015. This will allow us to focus our efforts on Sunday morning services, as well as utilizing the remainder of the day for additional training and equipping opportunities, particularly allowing those driving from a further distance to not be required to come into Downtown Bellevue on multiple days per week. It’s our prayer that this will also help our volunteer teams who have served sacrificially these past few months.
Student Ministry Date and Time
In 2015, we will also be changing the date and time of our Student Ministry. We have been meeting on Wednesday evenings, but in January 2015 will change to meet on Sunday evenings at 5pm. We believe this will better serve our families and will better steward our resources (when we already have paid for the parking in the church lot on Sundays). In making this change, it’s our goal that we will not only be able to accommodate Student Ministry on Sunday nights, but offer training opportunities for parents at the same time.
Supporting the New Church Plant
Many have asked about ACH giving and how to set this up for the new church. We would ask that you continue to give faithfully, generously, and sacrificially to Mars Hill Church through the remainder of 2014, and in 2015 we will share how you can set up giving to the new church. You have been incredibly generous, and we are grateful for the way that your giving will allow us to complete the plan that we outlined in October of launching many new independent churches out of our former church.
Location of the New Church
After prayerfully considering numerous options, we have determined that we will stay in our current facility in Downtown Bellevue, in the John Danz Building. We’re currently finalizing the lease with our landlords, with whom the relationship has remained very strong and we’re grateful for their partnership. The Lord opened numerous doors for us to stay in this building, allowing us to make a decision that we believe to be wise in regard to both location and finances. We will share more about this in the coming weeks, but wanted to share the good news that we will be able to continue to meet in the building that many have called home for the last several years. To our friends from the Sammamish Plateau, we understand that this location may require additional commute time, but look forward to sharing the vision of how the church building can become an equipping center in order that you are better prepared for ministry throughout the week.
We understand that change can be unsettling, and thus we share these things knowing that it’s important to communicate with you as clearly as possible moving into the future. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out directly to any of the staff members listed above, or any of the elders. It’s our goal and desire to communicate in a way that honors you as members of the church, and equips you for fruitful ministry by sharing opportunities to pray and serve.
Thanks for your continued partnership in the Gospel. We look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we continue our “Jesus: Gift of God” series at 8:30a, 10:30a, and 4:00p.
In Christ,
Pastor Jason
Mars Hill Military Mission and Mars Hill Global: When Two Became One
When the two became one account, that is.
As Mars Hill Church winds down, I am looking back through my notes and materials to see what other information might be relevant to the big picture. One part of the Mars Hill story that I haven’t spent much time looking at is the Mars Hill Military Mission. I did some research on it months ago but didn’t write about it. However, writing about Global earlier today reminded me of a connection between Mars Hill Global and the Military Mission. The Military Mission was folded into Mars Hill Global in early 2012. Up to that time, people were giving specifically so Mars Hill books and resources could be shipped to service members. Mark Driscoll A Mars Hill staffer* discussed the combination of the Military Mission into what was called “Global Ministries” in a now deleted update on the Mars Hill website.
However, the amazing Wenatchee the Hatchet has a snippet of that deleted update where Mark Driscoll a Mars Hill staffer* talks about the combination of the Military Mission with Global ministries. Here it is:
… Because of the enormous growth of this ministry, we are needing to make some changes that will allow us to keep up with the great number of orders that are flowing in. The Military Mission will now become part of our new Global Ministries department. Because distribution is a large part of what Mars Hill Military Mission does, this strategic move will allow us to send out more resources at a quicker, less expensive, and more efficient rate. We have also combined Global Ministries and Military Mission’s financial contributions to one account. This will not only simplify our accounting processes but it will enable our ministries to have more of a global impact. Those of you who are currently giving specifically to the Military Mission might ask “Will my donations still be funding the Military Mission?” Our answer would be, “Yes—and then some.”
The date on this update is April 14, 2012. The church revealed that donors at one time gave specifically to the Military Mission. It was then disclosed that the donations would go to the new department with a “global impact.” Would the donations to the reconfigured Global Fund fund military missions? “Yes–and then some,” the update said. However, the Military Mission eventually went away in favor of an emphasis on branding Mars Hill Global as international missions work.
While this action was taken before Mars Hill Church became accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, the decision by the church to mix donations designation for military and missions use may not have been proper or in keeping with ECFA guidelines. Donor intent is supposed to guide non-profit spending. If donations were made to provide resources to the military but were then combined into a fund that the church is now saying went mostly to funding U.S. expansion of video locations, then those donations may not have been spent as intended.
Another take away from the Mars Hill update is that the Global ministries had its own account. Earlier today, I presented evidence which seems to confirm that. However, the official position of the church is that the Global Fund wasn’t considered a fund beginning in 2012. Clearly, Driscoll the staffer* said the two mission activities would be combined to one account.
Demise of the Military Mission
The Military Mission was the subject of some negative attention from Sutton Turner in his March 2012 middle of the night memo to Driscoll and Dave Bruskas were he told his fellow executive elders that the church was in a “big mess.” In a long list of financially unsustainable activities, Turner said:
16. Having ministries like Film and Theology and Military Missions is not sustainable.
Eventually, as the Mars Hill update said, the Military mission was folded into Global.
In a Spring 2012 memo about combining the Military Mission into the Global brand, the value of the military work was questioned:
Without the photos and stories, apparently the return on investment (ROI) just wasn’t enough for Mars Hill leaders. In time, they agreed with Turner that the Military Mission was not sustainable. The focus on the military waned once Mars Hill Global went into full swing.
As it turned out making a church into a business was not sustainable.
*The post originally said that Mark Driscoll authored the update about the Military Mission. However, Wenatchee the Hatchet informed me that a Mars Hill staffer authored the post. At the request of the staffer, the name is being withheld. However, the information was on the Mars Hill website as the position of the church.
Some Questions for Soma Church from Soma Members About the Mars Hill Bellevue Replant
In recent days, several members of Soma churches have written me with questions they have posed to either their local pastors or to the leaders at Soma Tacoma. The questions relate to the relationship between Soma and Mars Hill now and after the transition to independent churches. I don’t know the answers to these questions and have posed them to my contacts at Soma with no answer as yet. The members who wrote have not gotten answers either.
I am posting them here because I think if several people are asking, then many more would like to know. I also think some readers might know the answers and might then step forward either on the blog or via email. I have combined some similar questions into one category. Here they are:
1. Mars Hill Global Fund: Do you believe Soma has an obligation to get clarity on where the money went, and making sure what’s left gets to the right people?
2. Is Soma going to have any role in funding any Mars Hill severance pay? Will tithes from local Soma churches have any part in fulfilling Bellevue’s obligations?
3. Do you think MHC/Bellevue Church as part of Soma should have the existing leadership removed of their authority as elders and leaders? (Jeff Vanderstelt said they’d step down, now not the case) Do you think these leaders, if they knew of abusive climate but did nothing, should be disqualified?
4. What is you policy on shunning? Is this practice condemned at Soma?
5. Will former MHC leadership assume leadership positions in Soma Tacoma with national governance roles once Bellevue Church is brought into the Soma network?
6. If any of the former leaders at Bellevue are brought into the RICO lawsuit, will Soma help pay for their legal defense?
7. Has Soma checked in with Acts 29 for spiritual counsel? Has anyone from Soma discussed the move with former Mars Hill elders or Paul Tripp?
8. Will Soma benefit from the Mars Hill seed money?