Even though Mars Hill Church is no longer doing business, the church’s social media platform, The City, remains operation and is being used by at least of the new churches – Doxa Church in Bellevue. I obtained a screen cap of this communication from Jeff Vanderstelt via emails sent as a notification that content was available on the website.
The entire communication is below:
As we enter into a new year we are also entering into a new beginning as a church. This Sunday marks the beginning of our first official gathering together as Doxa Church. I am excited to lead us through our very first series entitled: Foundations – Building a New God Glorifying Church Together.
We will begin the New Year with two new gathering times starting this Sunday: 9am and 11am.
During our Foundations series we will walk through each of the building blocks for establishing a church that exists to see God glorified through all of us everyday and in every place. Each week we will address a key building block followed with opportunities for discussion in groups during the week around each topic. I will also give you Scripture to read to prepare you for the next week’s message. This Sunday I will address Doxa’s Vision.
If you would like to read ahead, take some time to read Ephesians 1 and 2 Corinthians 3-4.
At the end of this series each of us will have the opportunity to commit to be a member of our new church. In order to commit with integrity, you will need to hear each message. So, if you are not able to attend all of our gatherings for this series, please make sure you watch or listen to a recording.
During this time, we will do our best to keep you aware of all that is happening from week to week. While we are still establishing our new communication hub, we will continue using The City to communicate to one another. We hope to have a new system for communication in place by February.
Many of you have also asked how you can give to the new church. We are building avenues for online giving which should be available soon. Until then, we will have to go ‘old school’. Please plan on giving with a check or cash during one of our gathering times on Sunday.
As some of us processed through the messiness of new beginnings I reminded them – as I want to remind you – building a new church is messy. We are at the beginning of laying a new foundation. Not everything will be perfectly in place from day one. That’s OK. That’s what beginnings are like. If you’ve ever begun a new job, moved to a new house, got married or started a family, you know. New is messy. And yet together, we all get to create something new together. It’s the beginning of a new work and all of us get to shape the future together. I’m excited to witness with you what Jesus wants to bring about as he continues to build His church through us in this new season!
So, please come join us in the mess of building a new foundation with Jesus as our cornerstone.
May he be glorified in us, through us and throughout the Eastside!
While Doxa is a new name and there is a new pastor, the church also has several elders from Mars Hill, at least one of whom was and presumably still is on the Board of Advisors and Accountability (Matt Rogers). Rogers, who recently tweeted that he was grateful for every minute of something to do with Mars Hill (his time there or the last service, can’t tell), has never publicly addressed the conflicting statements of the BoAA. For that matter, none of the lead pastors have addressed the discrepancies between the lead pastor’s public statements about Mark Driscoll and those coming from the BoAA.
