Tag: Mars Hill Church

Former Pastor: Mars Hill Church Has Entered Mediation Process with Twenty Former Pastors

On March 17, Dave Kraft and Kyle Firstenberg sent a letter to Mars Hill’s executive elders requesting mediation on behalf of themselves and 18 other former pastors. Yesterday, Dave Kraft posted an update on the process on his blog. After describing the process, Kraft wrote:

I am glad to report that the process described above is now underway. A reputable professional team, experienced in matters of significant conflict in churches, has been retained by the BOAA. This team is doing initial interviews and getting the lay of the land regarding what has transpired over the last seven years or so at Mars Hill Church. This will be a long process, so patience will be the need of the hour. Once the team has done its initial round of interviews, recommendations will be given to the BOAA as to next steps.

So the news part of this post is that Mars Hill leaders have entered into talks with twenty former pastors with a mediation team.
Kraft says he is cautiously optimistic. However, in my opinion, it is fair to point out that events of recent weeks strain optimism. Mars Hill continues to dismiss staff when they question leadership or decline to sign a non-compete clause. Instead of transparency, Mars Hill leaders stealthily change information on their website without explanation. Reasonable requests for accountability are ignored, and Mark Driscoll preached recently that the cycle that has been taking place is normal and biblical. In other words, some of the same issues the pastors wanted to talk about seem to remain the same.
Kraft acknowledges in his post that the process may not work out. However, the fact that the executive elders and Board of Advisors and Accountability have entered the process seems to recognize that there is conflict which must be addressed.
 

Is What's Going On At Mars Hill Church Normal?

Of late, I have been covering the many goings on at Mars Hill Church. Since November 2013, I posted about plagiarism, ghostwriting, dreams of other people’s sins, mischief at Mars Hill Orange County, mischief involving Mars Hill Global, elders being fired and resigning, non-disclosure agreements, non-compete clauses, and several other issues. If that is normal, then give me abnormal. However, in the Jesus Made Mistakes sermon of May 4 (posted on the Mars Hill website on May 18), Mark Driscoll seemed to chalk everything up to a normal cycle, spirit empowered even. You can watch it here and read the transcript as well.

So I’ve been doing this eighteen years, and here’s what I see, and I want to share it with you to encourage you. If you’re a leader, I want you to see this. If you’re new to Christianity or new to our church, I want you to see this. There are normal rhythms and cycles that churches go through as people go through. Here’s the Spirit-empowered church cycle. We just looked at it in Acts 6.


Here is Driscoll’s description of the cycle:

1. PREACH JESUS

Number one, preach Jesus. First things first, preach Jesus. Christianity got started, Peter’s standing up, preach Jesus, preach Jesus, preach Jesus. He’s God become a man. He lived without sin. He died on the cross in our place for our sins. He rose from death. He conquers our enemies of Satan, sin, death, hell, and wrath. He ascended into heaven. He’s worshiped by angels. He’s coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and with him he will bring a kingdom that never ends. Everyone will get out of their grave. They’ll stand before him, they’ll give an account to him, and they’ll be judged by him for eternal life or death. It all comes down to Jesus, amen? Preach Jesus.

2. GROW

Number two, the church grows. The Holy Spirit who wrote the Scriptures blesses its preaching, wants people to know and love Jesus. People become Christians, the church grows.
Mars Hill, we’ve had some amazing surges of growth. It’s crazy. I mean, at this point in the book of Acts, the entire population of Christianity on the earth is around the same size as Mars Hill Church. So if you’re reading Acts and you’re like, “I can’t believe that God did that,” I can’t believe that God still does that, and he’s done it with us.

3. FAIL AND BE PUBLICLY CRITICIZED

Number three—OK, let me just say, number three’s not my favorite one, OK? Fail and be publicly criticized. We just saw it in Acts 6. Failure, public criticism. It happens. I’ve been doing this long enough. I know that it’s happened before, it’ll happen again, and I’m sure it’ll be my fault. Number three, fail and be publicly criticized.

4. REORGANIZE TO FIX THE FAILURES

But number four, reorganize to fix the failures. That’s what they did. This ain’t working. It used to work, but now it’s too big. Right, how many of you ladies—right now, you got two kids. You’re like, “I know how to raise kids.” What if you were pregnant with seventy-two children? You’re like, “I would need a different plan.” Yes you would. “I would need a bigger car, a bigger fridge, a better husband. I need a lot of things,” right?
As a family grows, it has to reorganize. And what used to work doesn’t work anymore because we got more kids and they’re getting older. So it is with the family of God. So what do you do? You reorganize to fix the failures. That’s what they did, that’s what we do by the grace of God.

5. KEEP PREACHING JESUS

Step five, keep preaching Jesus, keep talking about Jesus, keep pointing to Jesus, keep, in every way, maintaining Jesus as the center of everything.

6. REPEAT STEPS 1–4

And then step fix, repeat steps one through five.
Do you see that? Because what are they going to do? They’re going to fix their problems, the church is going to grow, and you know what? They’re going to have another problem, and then they’re going to have to fix it.
This is not just the cycle of church life, this is the cycle of your life, right? Meet Jesus, learn about Jesus, grow in Jesus, fail, have some people unhappy with you, repent of your sins, fix your mistakes by the grace of God, keep walking with Jesus, and grow some more until you fail again. Give grace to one another. Give grace to the whole church.
Mars Hill, this is normal, prototypical, historical, biblical Christianity, OK?

What is everybody all upset about? All of this stuff is just normal, biblical Christianity. “Mistakes were made” and need to be fixed. In fairness, Driscoll adds repentance to the description in step six, but the emphasis in the prior steps seems to be on mistakes as if the problems which have brought on public criticism to Mars Hill were just mistakes that require some tweaking to fix. And after all, even Jesus Made Mistakes.

They preached and grew, and made mistakes and worked on it, and preached some more and grew some more and made different mistakes and worked on it. And it’s like the seasons of nature—prune, harvest, prune, harvest, prune, harvest, prune, harvest. Harvesting is more fun than pruning, but there’s no harvesting apart from pruning.

I have it on good authority that attendance is down at Mars Hill and it is certain that popular elders have resigned or been dismissed. However, as they did in 2007, the executive elders may just see this as pruning. The dead wood leaves (or gets tossed under the bus) and you move on to the harvesting.
One hopes that this will not be Rev. Driscoll’s primary perspective in the upcoming mediation process.

Zach Bolen Resigns from Mars Hill Ballard (UPDATED)

Elder and worship leader Zach Bolen has resigned from Mars Hill Ballard.
Bolen, a high profile elder at Mars Hill, is the leader of Citizens, a popular band which has become well known outside of Mars Hill circles. The band’s first album, the eponymous disc Citizens, was released in March 2013 and has enjoyed critical and commercial success. Bolen served at Mars Hill University District prior to coming to Ballard in February of this year. Bolen was one of the most popular and accomplished worship leaders at Mars Hill.
Bolen’s resignation comes amid significant staff changes at Mars Hill Ballard. Recently, popular biblical living pastor Phil Smidt was fired and then this week pastor Aaron Mead and elder candidate Tim Klassen resigned. In recent months, elders Nate Burke, Jon Krombein, and Mike Wilkerson also left Mars Hill Ballard.
The UK Christian music magazine Crossrhythms raved about Bolen and Citizens, saying:

Clearly Citizens have a bright future ahead of them. As Breathecast commented, “Musically, Citizens have created a patented type of indie rock that flutters with the electronic beat of Switchfoot, yet shimmers with the emotional intensity of Hillsong United. Above all, Bolen sings with a sense of honest gravitas; it is as if leading worship is more than just a day job. Rather, he sings with a deep-seated passion that can only come from a man who knows grace.”

A single, You Brought Me Back to Life, was released around Easter from an album slated to be completed by August.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nXlIZFE3_c[/youtube]
Although Bolen’s future in music and ministry looks bright, it will not include Mars Hill Church.
Additional note: I have been listening to more of Zach’s band and I like most of what I am hearing. For instance, this track:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smKwW0v4nj8[/youtube]
Another note: I wrote earlier that the new album would be released in August. I remembered one of the articles I read about Citizens incorrectly. The band hoped to have the album completed by August.
UPDATE (6/8): According to attenders at Mars Hill Ballard, Bolen’s resignation was announced this morning near the end of the service.

Mars Hill Global Helped Pay For Mars Hill Everett's Building

Now we know one thing that the donations to Mars Hill Global purchased.
In a post on the Mars Hill Church website, Mars Hill Everett franchise lead pastor Ryan Williams thanked Mars Hill Global for financial help with the down payment and restoration costs for the old Washington National Guard Armory building now occupied by the Everett church. Williams said:

Our people work super hard and are amazingly generous to the church, but we just did not have the income to fully fund our own down payment and renovation expenses.

According to this note, Mars Hill Global helped fund church planting efforts in Everett, WA.
Did anyone who gave to the Global Fund* during 2012-2013 know they were doing that? I doubt it.
However, according to the Mars Hill 2013 Annual Report, Mars Hill Global was a fund designed to help spread the Gospel internationally:

I wonder why Rev. Williams waited until now to thank Mars Hill Global. He could have thanked the Global Fund in the 2013 Annual Report. On the page devoted to reporting the accomplishments of Mars Hill Global in the report, nothing is said about Mars Hill Global providing funds to help Mars Hill Everett with a down payment and renovations. Instead, accomplishments in Ethiopia and India are featured.
However, the introduction to the thank you note from Everett lead pastor Ryan Williams says Mars Hill Global is not a destination for funds but a source of them:

Mars Hill Global is made up of 250,000 people around the world who tune in to the Mars Hill Church podcast on a weekly basis. You, our global audience, are praying and giving to Mars Hill Church to see more people meet Jesus, grow in him, and join his mission. One example of what your participation has done over the last year is the planting of Mars Hill Everett in their new home. This letter, from Everett’s lead pastor, Ryan Williams, outlines the specifics of the direct impact you are having on the church.

So what was/is Mars Hill Global? Is it how Mars Hill Church participates in international outreach? Or is it a large group of non-Seattle people who consume the media and donate on the website? Given the various descriptions of Mars Hill Global and Mars Hill Extended Family, I think it is easy to get confused.
Specific to the act of donating money, prior to May of this year, donors (wherever they were) were able to give to a specific Global Fund described above as an international effort. Now, donors can’t give to this fund since the option as been removed.
Prior to this message from Ryan Williams, I can’t find anything that linked Global to Everett. In the promotional video for Mars Hill Everett in October 2012, Mark Driscoll lays out the financial need to the people of the church in Everett and asks them to give toward the goals. There is no mention in the video of help from Mars Hill Global.

 
On the page describing the need for Everett’s move into the Armory, members were invited to give to the effort in a fund designated for that purpose:

According to the Herald Business article, the building’s purchase price was $1.275 million.

The property was ultimately purchased for $1.275 million not long after Mars Hill Church purchased the 104-year-old First Congregational Church building in Tacoma for about $1.9 million. The organization is not shy about handling restorations of historic properties.

When the church first bought the building, the story was that the people attending were going to fund the purchase and renovations.  According to an October 27, 2012 Everett Herald article, the leaders wanted the people to “own” the move to the new building:

Church members will be asked to help pay for the extensive remodel. “We really want our people to own what Jesus is doing here in Everett,” Mitchell said. “About $300,000 moves us in. We could do services there. We’re hoping and praying to be in there by Easter.”

In July 2013, executive pastor Sutton Turner told the church in an email that Everett was raising funds for their building with a report on the progress.

Tacoma & Everett Fundraising
Tacoma and Everett continue to make progress raising money for their buildings. Tacoma has $132,000 left to raise, and Everett needs another $360,000. Both churches are praying to finish fundraising and full occupy their new buildings by January 1.

On September 11, 2013, Pastor Ryan Williams asked the congregation to give more:

  • A big fundraising push: I am asking that everyone who calls Mars Hill Everett home to go back and see if there is anywhere in your budget you could trim in this next season and increase your Armory giving until we’re holding services in the building.

In October 2013, Mark Driscoll told the congregation that the people of Everett had been generous but that more gifts were needed. Nothing was mentioned about people giving to the Global Fund were helping pay for Mars Hill Everett. Driscoll wrote:

The people of Mars Hill Everett have been very faithful. Over 90% of the members have given to the fund. Since September 2012, we have collected 50% above and beyond our annual budget. (Mars Hill Everett brings in about $900,000 a year, and we are close to bringing in an additional $450,000 in the past 13 months.)
We don’t have deep pockets, or big givers. What we have are a lot of faithful givers doing what they can every month.What we need now, Mars Hill, is some help from the rest of you in order to finish making this home for the Everett church ready. We’re almost there, but we’ve still got a little ways to go. Everett is trying to raise $750,000 to get the building ready, and we’ve got $316,000 left to complete this project. As the people of Mars Hill Everett have demonstrated, all it takes is enough people giving a little bit together to make things happen.
We have amazingly generous people in Everett. They are all in. Will you help them move into their new home?

So at the end of the day, who paid the costs for Mars Hill Everett’s relaunch in the Armory? Most likely both the Mars Hill Global Fund and donations from Everett members actually paid those big bills. Global Fund givers might or might not mind that the donations they thought were going to Ethiopia and India (according to the 2013 Annual Report) went at least in part to buy and renovate a building in Everett. This arrangement certainly seems to run afoul of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability’s guidelines; but maybe they don’t care now. It’s all water under the bridge now, right?
Even though the money is spent, it might be interesting to find out what else Mars Hill Global purchased. Perhaps more thank you notes are coming.
*Mars Hill’s use of the term Mars Hill Global is inconsistent. Sometimes they seem to refer to it as the source of funds, as in our “global audience” or “Mars Hill Extended Family.” Other times such as in the 2013 Annual Report, Mars Hill Global refers to the destination of the funds, as in funding international mission work to Ethiopia and India. Sometimes, it appears that they mean both at the same time as in the international audience is helping to fund mission efforts with local Mars Hill church planting and international efforts. The real issue according to the ECFA is donor intent. A key question is are the funds going where the receiver implied they are going and the donor intended. In this case, giving to a Global Fund would naturally create the impression that the funds were going to international use. These are the funds that I am interested in knowing more about. Were the funds given to the global funds used for international purposes? The source of the funds doesn’t matter that much. It is the intent of the donor that matters.
For all posts on Mars Hill Global, click the link.
 

Based on Mark Driscoll's Missing Video, Christianity Today Asks Theologians "Did Jesus Make Mistakes?"

Beyond the implausible explanation from Mars Hill Church leaders about why the Mark Driscoll’s sermon was edited, Christianity Today wanted to know what some theologians thought about the accuracy of the missing material.  So CT’s Kevin Emmert asked for opinions and reported six. Emmert started with a theologian who largely agreed with Driscoll’s missing six minutes and ended with someone who did not. Since he started at one end, I’ll get you started at the other:

“We can distinguish between mistakes and sins. Suppose I write about Jane Austin on social media. My friend corrects me: ‘It’s Austen, not Austin.’ I made a mistake, yet no sin was committed, surely. However, sin involves a mistake of some sort—failing to meet the mark. Jesus could not sin, because God cannot sin, and he is God incarnate (Hab. 1:13; Heb. 4:15). His divine nature is perfect, and a perfect being cannot make mistakes. So Christ the God-man could not make mistakes.”
~ Oliver Crisp, professor of systematic theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

Go read the whole thing at CT.