Mars Hill Church
Encyclopedia
Mars Hill Church is a Reformed
Christian
megachurch
located in Seattle
, Washington. Services are offered at multiple locations in the city; the church podcasts content of weekend services, as well as conferences on the Internet with more than 100,000 downloads every week. In 2008 approximately 7,500 people attended services at Mars Hill Church every week (23% more than in 2007).
, (at that time he was 25 years old), Lief Moi and Mike Gunn. The church started at the apartment of Driscoll and his wife Grace with the blessing of Antioch Bible Church and the exodus of about 30 of its students. They outgrew the apartment and started meeting in the youth rooms of another church. The church had its first official service October 1996, with 160 people attending; attendance quickly fell to around 60 because of discussions about the visions and mission of the church.
In the spring of 1997 the church expanded to two evening services. The transition to two different congregations resulted in some anxiety and stir by members who didn't want the church to grow bigger, but it resulted in growing attendance. Later that same year Mark Driscoll was invited to speak at a pastors' conference in California. The speech Driscoll made inspired many and had great influence on the emerging church movement and changed the focus from reaching Generation X
, to reaching the postmodern
world. The speech resulted in overwhelming media coverage of Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll, and put Driscoll in connection with Leadership Network
.
, and a complementarian view on women in ministry. The church installed the first team of elders and they took over much of the work teaching classes, counseling and training new leaders. Furthermore the church started a course for new members, called the Gospel Class, to ensure that members were focused on the mission of the church and that they agreed with the central doctrinal statements of the church. The class has been running every quarter since. In the fall of 1999 the church had grown to 350 in attendance every week and was able to pay Driscoll full time.
As a result of the large growth of the church, their bylaws, which outline how the church is organised, have been rewritten on a few occasions. The outcome of this process in November 2007 led to changes in leadership organization. The new bylaws installed Lead pastor Jamie Munson and preaching pastor Mark Driscoll and pastors Scott Thomas and Tim Beltz as "executive pastors" who lead the objectives of the church "under the authority of the Board of Directors" on which the executive pastors also serve as directors. The change precipitated the firing of two pastors.
Some have criticized the church for its harshness in dealing with dissent within its leadership. Citing as an example an incident in 2007 during the church reorganization in 2007 where two elders criticized the plan as consolidating power in the hands of Driscoll and his closest aides. When one of the elders refused to repent he was subjected to church discipline according to Mars Hill Church's biblical convictions. Additionally, members who have openly questioned or dissented with Mars Hill leaders have been asked to leave the church if they do not trust their leaders and pastors judgements. This policy of church discipline was discussed during a lecture given on April 20, 2009 by Mark Driscoll for The Gospel Coalition.
neighborhood of Seattle. In 2006, in an effort to reduce the overcrowding at its services, Mars Hill opened its first satellite campus in Shoreline. This change also marked their transition to a multi-site church
, using video sermons as well as other multimedia improvements to the church's web site to connect the campuses. Later in 2006, Mars Hill acquired two new properties, in West Seattle and Wedgwood
which later became their West Seattle and Lake City campuses. After less than three years of operation, the Lake City campus announced it will be closing as of July 2010 and its members encouraged to scatter to other campuses because the Lake City campus did not produce enough funds to justify its continued existence. Pastor James became the executive pastor for Mars Hill shoreline.
New locations of Mars Hill have been added using multi-campus "meta-church" structure connecting via high-definition video
to the remote campuses during weekly worship services. This format has allowed each location to retain local ministries while benefiting from the programs afforded to them by the larger body - all under the leadership of the main campus. A fourth, and then a fifth, campus opened in 2007 and in 2008, a sixth location was added in downtown Seattle. A seventh campus, in Olympia, Washington, opened in Fall 2008 and an eighth campus, the first outside of Washington state, opened in Albuquerque
, New Mexico in Fall 2009.
In 2008 the church launched an online community-building network, called The City, to improve communication on all levels in the church. It was such a success that The City was purchased by the Christian publishing brand, Zondervan
, before Christmas 2008.
, Shoreline
, West Seattle
, Bellevue, Downtown
, Olympia
, U-District, Federal Way, and Albuquerque, NM
) with a total of twenty-five services each Sunday.
.
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...
located in Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington. Services are offered at multiple locations in the city; the church podcasts content of weekend services, as well as conferences on the Internet with more than 100,000 downloads every week. In 2008 approximately 7,500 people attended services at Mars Hill Church every week (23% more than in 2007).
The early years
Mars Hill Church was founded in spring 1996 by Mark DriscollMark Driscoll
Mark A. Driscoll is an American pastor and author. He is the founder and preaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, he co-founded the Acts 29 Network and Churches Helping Churches, and has contributed to the "Faith and Values" section of the Seattle Times and the "On Faith"...
, (at that time he was 25 years old), Lief Moi and Mike Gunn. The church started at the apartment of Driscoll and his wife Grace with the blessing of Antioch Bible Church and the exodus of about 30 of its students. They outgrew the apartment and started meeting in the youth rooms of another church. The church had its first official service October 1996, with 160 people attending; attendance quickly fell to around 60 because of discussions about the visions and mission of the church.
In the spring of 1997 the church expanded to two evening services. The transition to two different congregations resulted in some anxiety and stir by members who didn't want the church to grow bigger, but it resulted in growing attendance. Later that same year Mark Driscoll was invited to speak at a pastors' conference in California. The speech Driscoll made inspired many and had great influence on the emerging church movement and changed the focus from reaching Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
, to reaching the postmodern
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
world. The speech resulted in overwhelming media coverage of Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll, and put Driscoll in connection with Leadership Network
Leadership Network
Leadership Network is a nonprofit that helps innovative Christian leaders increase their impact. Leadership Network's main office is located in Dallas, Texas...
.
Structure and organization
The church continued growing and it became obvious that the church needed organization and leadership. Inspired by Alan Roxburgh, Driscoll settled on an emerging and missional ecclesiologyEcclesiology
Today, ecclesiology usually refers to the theological study of the Christian church. However when the word was coined in the late 1830s, it was defined as the science of the building and decoration of churches and it is still, though rarely, used in this sense.In its theological sense, ecclesiology...
, and a complementarian view on women in ministry. The church installed the first team of elders and they took over much of the work teaching classes, counseling and training new leaders. Furthermore the church started a course for new members, called the Gospel Class, to ensure that members were focused on the mission of the church and that they agreed with the central doctrinal statements of the church. The class has been running every quarter since. In the fall of 1999 the church had grown to 350 in attendance every week and was able to pay Driscoll full time.
As a result of the large growth of the church, their bylaws, which outline how the church is organised, have been rewritten on a few occasions. The outcome of this process in November 2007 led to changes in leadership organization. The new bylaws installed Lead pastor Jamie Munson and preaching pastor Mark Driscoll and pastors Scott Thomas and Tim Beltz as "executive pastors" who lead the objectives of the church "under the authority of the Board of Directors" on which the executive pastors also serve as directors. The change precipitated the firing of two pastors.
"Mars Hill leaders said in forum postings that one fired pastor was removed, in part, for "displaying an unhealthy distrust in the senior leadership." They said the other was removed for "disregarding the accepted elder protocol for the bylaw deliberation period" and "verbally attacking the lead pastor" — charges the fired pastor denied, the leaders added."
Some have criticized the church for its harshness in dealing with dissent within its leadership. Citing as an example an incident in 2007 during the church reorganization in 2007 where two elders criticized the plan as consolidating power in the hands of Driscoll and his closest aides. When one of the elders refused to repent he was subjected to church discipline according to Mars Hill Church's biblical convictions. Additionally, members who have openly questioned or dissented with Mars Hill leaders have been asked to leave the church if they do not trust their leaders and pastors judgements. This policy of church discipline was discussed during a lecture given on April 20, 2009 by Mark Driscoll for The Gospel Coalition.
Multisite church
In 2003 Mars Hill Church moved into a renovated hardware store in the BallardBallard, Seattle, Washington
Ballard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s...
neighborhood of Seattle. In 2006, in an effort to reduce the overcrowding at its services, Mars Hill opened its first satellite campus in Shoreline. This change also marked their transition to a multi-site church
Multi-site church
A multi-site church is one church that meets at multiple locations. Churches began to use the multi-site church model in the mid 1980s...
, using video sermons as well as other multimedia improvements to the church's web site to connect the campuses. Later in 2006, Mars Hill acquired two new properties, in West Seattle and Wedgwood
Wedgwood, Seattle, Washington
Wedgwood is a middle class residential neighborhood of northeast Seattle, Washington, with a modest commercial strip. Wedgwood is located about two miles north, and slightly east, of the University of Washington; it is about six miles northeast of Downtown...
which later became their West Seattle and Lake City campuses. After less than three years of operation, the Lake City campus announced it will be closing as of July 2010 and its members encouraged to scatter to other campuses because the Lake City campus did not produce enough funds to justify its continued existence. Pastor James became the executive pastor for Mars Hill shoreline.
New locations of Mars Hill have been added using multi-campus "meta-church" structure connecting via high-definition video
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
to the remote campuses during weekly worship services. This format has allowed each location to retain local ministries while benefiting from the programs afforded to them by the larger body - all under the leadership of the main campus. A fourth, and then a fifth, campus opened in 2007 and in 2008, a sixth location was added in downtown Seattle. A seventh campus, in Olympia, Washington, opened in Fall 2008 and an eighth campus, the first outside of Washington state, opened in Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, New Mexico in Fall 2009.
In 2008 the church launched an online community-building network, called The City, to improve communication on all levels in the church. It was such a success that The City was purchased by the Christian publishing brand, Zondervan
Zondervan
Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association .- History :...
, before Christmas 2008.
Church Locations
Mars Hill Church currently meets at nine locations (BallardBallard, Seattle, Washington
Ballard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s...
, Shoreline
Shoreline, Washington
Shoreline is a city in King County, Washington, United States, north of Downtown Seattle bordering the northern Seattle city limits. As of the 2010 census, the population was 53,007, making it the 19th largest city in the state of Washington....
, West Seattle
West Seattle, Seattle, Washington
West Seattle comprises two of Seattle, Washington's thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an independent town in 1902 and was annexed by Seattle in 1907. Among the area's attractions are its saltwater beach parks...
, Bellevue, Downtown
Downtown Seattle
Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared to other city centers on the West Coast because of its geographical situation: hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by the Elliott Bay, and on the south by reclaimed land that was once...
, Olympia
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, U-District, Federal Way, and Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
) with a total of twenty-five services each Sunday.
- Ballard Main Church is led by Pastor Bill Clem and is where pastor Mark Driscoll preaches live. The preaching is sent electronically to the other campuses.
- Bellevue Church is led by pastor Thomas Hurst.
- Downtown Seattle Church is led by pastor Tim Gaydos and is located in what formerly housed the controversial Tabella Nightclub.
- Shoreline Church is led by pastor Steve Tompkins
- West Seattle Church is led by Pastor David Fairchild.
- Olympia Church is led by pastor Steven J Mulkey
- U-District Church is a plant of the Ballard campus and is led by Pastor Matt Jensen
- Federal Way Church is led by Pastor Samuel Choi at Sequoyah Middle School
- Albuquerque, NM Church is led by pastor A. J. Hamilton and is located in the historic Lobo TheaterLobo TheaterThe Lobo Theater is the oldest standing movie theater located along historic Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States of America...
- Orange County, California
- Everett Church is led by Pastor Scott Mitchell
Growth and influence
In 2007 Mars Hill Church was rated as the second most church planting church, the 9th most innovative church, and it was the 23rd fastest growing church in in the United States in 2007 with a growth in attendance of 38% in one year. A recent report that rate by relevance and influence concluded that Mars Hill Church is the eighth most influential church in the United States.Acts 29 Church Planting Network
Acts 29 Church Planting Network is a separate 501(c)(3) from Mars Hill Church but was founded by Mars Hill in 2001. It is an interdenominational network of pastors and churches from around the world whose focus is to assess and equip qualified leaders plant new churches and rejuvenate declining churches. The President of Acts 29 is Scott Thomas, one of the four Mars Hill executive pastors. In 2011 the network helped plant 162 churches with a total of more than 400 church plants through the history of the network.The Resurgence
TheResurgence.com is an outgrowth of the teaching ministry at Mars Hill Church. The intent of the ministry is to provide a large repository of free missional theology resources in hopes of serving the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ in culture. Additionally, Resurgence announced that starting in 2008 they began publishing a line of books called Re:Lit (Resurgence Literature) in partnership with CrosswayGood News Publishers
Good News Publishers is a not-for-profit Christian ministry that publishes and distributes gospel tracts. Good News Publishers is the parent company of Crossway Books, a publisher of evangelical Christian books. Good News/Crossway is headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois...
.
External links
- Mars Hill Church
- Mars Hill Global
- Pastor Dude's Mega-Church Draws Crowds - ABC Nightline story about Mars Hill Church
- Tempers Flare at Debate on the Devil - ABC Nightline debate at Mars Hill Church on the Devil