Showing posts with label West Seattle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label West Seattle. Show all posts

Shawn Preston 2007-14

Your Name

Shawn Preston

Gender

Male

Which describes your role at Mars Hill?

Member, Staff

What Mars Hill location(s) did you attend?

West Seattle

What years were you involved / attending?

2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

How did you first hear about Mars Hill?

A friend was attending and suggested I check it out.

What was the circumstance of your first time attending Mars HIll?

Christmas Eve service with some friends.

What were your first impressions?

I was a non Christian who didn't want anything to do with Jesus. I was not in a good place in life and some friends that I trusted had been going so I started to attend and was blown away at how Pastor Mark made the bible make sense to me.

Why was Mars Hill your church home?

I was being fed. I met some great men along the way. My life was changed.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a positive impact on you?

All of it.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a negative impact on you?

I wasn't affected negatively.

What would you like to have changed about Mars Hill?

Maybe slow down a bit.

Which describes you?

I stayed at Mars Hill through closure.

Please describe why you stayed at Mars Hill and what that experience was like.

I stayed because it was my home. My experience was sadness. Seeing good friends leave. Seeing broken people being broken. I was blown away at all the negative talk that was happening.

How would you describe the reason for Mars Hill's closure to an outsider.

I tell people that even your pastor is broken and needs Jesus.

What's changed for you since your time at Mars Hill came to an end?

I still attend at the same location. I must admit that I'm having a hard time adjusting. Not feeling as excited as I did during my time at Mars Hill. I miss it.

Denise - Ballard, West Seattle 2006-14

Your Name

Denise

Gender

Female

Which describes your role at Mars Hill?

Group Leader (any leadership role)

What Mars Hill location(s) did you attend?

Ballard, West Seattle

What years were you involved / attending?

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

How did you first hear about Mars Hill?

A friend I trusted enjoyed going so i wanted to come.

What was the circumstance of your first time attending Mars HIll?

If I recall, I came when my daughter was on spring break from college and we both wanted to check it out along with a friend.

What were your first impressions?

I liked it. I thought the teaching was more transparent and redeeming. I liked that M.D. talked honestly to young men.

Why was Mars Hill your church home?

Again, I like the leaching and it was closer to home that my previous church. It did not seem quite as "religious'.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a positive impact on you?

It encouraged relationship and community and weekly midweek gatherings.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a negative impact on you?

I was getting concerned when we kept purchasing/opening new locations. My general thought is that a slow and steady growth is more 'real'.
I also, at the end of learning of M.D.'s earnings, was/am seriously disturbed. I don't care how much  lead pastors around the country make, a pastor does not need that much. We work very hard for our salary and that was abuse.

What would you like to have changed about Mars Hill?

I would have liked to see the lead pastors at each location have more authority to make each location about us, our 'personality' for our area  and let them preach more.  

Which describes you?

I stayed at Mars Hill through closure.

Please describe why you stayed at Mars Hill and what that experience was like.

I loved the believers I had been in community with and I don't think walking away is right, not for me. I wanted to stay the course. Pastor David and the rest of our pastors, Pastor Bill and Pastor Cliff, did an amazing job of guiding us through the process.

How would you describe the reason for Mars Hill's closure to an outsider.

Just that we had a lead preaching pastor, M.D. that preached and taught well but decided he was above what the word taught and what he taught out of the word. That is was very unfortunate, and that I am glad he is gone due to this. He is unrepentant.

What's changed for you since your time at Mars Hill came to an end?

Just that I feel like my home church, Trinity W.Seattle really is home and I think that through challenging times it strengthens a home/family/church.

Please write anything else you'd like to add.

I am concerned that M.D. is still in ministry, but can give that over to the Lord. I am seriously disappointed in the money and the waste. But I truly can rest that this is in the Lord's hands. I am sorry for those who were treated poorly. I pray they are recovering and forgiving.

Jonathan - Ballard, West Seattle 2006-09

Your Name

Jonathan

Gender

Male

Which describes your role at Mars Hill?

Member

What Mars Hill location(s) did you attend?

Ballard, West Seattle

What years were you involved / attending?

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

How did you first hear about Mars Hill?

I had just gotten out of the military and was looking for a church.  I had a friend that was attending the Ballard campus and started going with him.

What was the circumstance of your first time attending Mars HIll?

I attended the evening service.  I can't remember which one exactly, but I think it was either the 5pm or the 7pm.  I continued that routine for most of the time that I attended Mars Hill.  I think I sat somewhere near the middle.  

What were your first impressions?

I knew that Seattle was (and still is) a pretty liberal city, so it was heartening to hear a preacher speak the truth so freely about possibly sensitive subjects like sexuality, cohabitation, the emasculation of the American church, etc.  Sadly, I don't remember the exact sermon.  I grew up going to a smaller church, so the mere size of the place was a little overwhelming.  I liked the music.  I think the first band I heard was Red Letter, but can't be certain about that.  There were a lot of young people at that service.  This was a big draw for me as a young man just out of the military (I was 26 at the time).   

Why was Mars Hill your church home?

In the beginning, it was the easiest and most obvious option. I lived overseas for 3 years and the thought of going through some sort of vetting process was daunting.  My friends went there.  I went there.  Very simple.  

Once I left the Ballard campus to go to the West Seattle campus, though, I found a group of people that I cared about. Mars Hill became for me, at least for a short while, a very tight-knit community of believers.  

I stayed because of those people, even when I knew better.  

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a positive impact on you?

The thing that I remember with the most fondness are just the times I spent with my old community group just "doing life together" as they used to say.  I really hated that saying, but I really did live very closely with a bunch of other Christians for about a year and a half.

There was a period when I saw them 3-4 nights a week and it was more than just having a good time with my buddies.  There was an intimacy and a closeness that I sometimes wish I could replicate with other Christians.  I remember just playing games at people's apartments, watching the show "Lost" together every week, having picnics at Lincoln Park, etc.  It was really a very sweet part of my life and I don't regret that part, in spite of how it ended.  

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a negative impact on you?

I don't want to go on for too long about this and some of the negative things were things that you'd find in any church.  But I will mention a couple.  

1. The thing that hurt the most was the way my community group treated me when I left and the way they still look at me when I see them in West Seattle.  This is hard to put into words because nothing explicit happened.  There weren't any scenes or fights.  Their love for me just seemed to die one day, without notice.  
I walked into community group one night and there were ten or so people sitting in the living room, people that I had spent so much time with, people that I thought loved me.  Not one of them even looked up at me or acknowledged my presence.  And it wasn't that moment that did it for me; I just sensed that our sense of "community" had died.  What hurt the most wasn't that it had died.  What hurt was that they didn't seem to care that it had.  It still hurts.  Was it that easy for them to shun me?  
I still purposely don't go to certain places in West Seattle because I know that I might see one of them.  I've worked really hard to forgive them over the last few years, but part of me still hurts when I think about them.  Sometimes I get sad.  Sometimes I get angry.  But what's different is that I always bring it to Jesus.  I've only been able to forgive because of Him.  I still would like some sort of acknowledgement, though, that they were mean to me.  "Jon, we gossiped about you.  Jon, we should have been more loving to you."  I don't put my hope in getting this sort of reconciliation.  My hope is in God.  But I can't help but wish for something like this.  

2. I told my community group leader in 2008 that I wanted to leave Mars Hill.  I had prayed about the decision and really felt like God wanted me to move on to another church.  What he told me was that I needed to get approval from the campus pastor.  This was shocking.  There was this sentiment that the church had the ultimate call about all of my life decisions.  It felt like they were trying to replace the role of the Holy Spirit in my life.  I left anyway, but this was a very concerning development.  There was a definite culture of fear at MH and this is when I first realized it.  

3. The MH "brand".  They operated too much like a business.  There were moments when I was watching my pastor on a screen in front of me, recorded the week before and realized that it felt a little disingenuous.  That aspect didn't always bother me.  It just brought up the general attitude of Mark and his small group of elders that they weren't going to give up control.  What I would have liked to see is Mark give up one or two of his campuses to one of the campus pastors.  Mark talked about Jesus and seemed to say all the right things, but it really seemed like he was trying to create his own kingdom, rather than add to God's kingdom.  

4. Too much emphasis put on the numbers.  Mark was constantly beating his chest about the number of people saved in his churches, the number of members and the number of campuses.  Frankly, that kind of talk was downright unbiblical.  

What would you like to have changed about Mars Hill?

In no particular order of importance:

Mark talked about money too much.  I would have liked it if he didn't have whole sermons dedicated to the lack of tithing.  I think there were three Sundays in a row where he ranted about how people weren't giving enough money.  

The Redemption Groups had good intentions, but there wasn't enough oversight.  I heard some scary stories that sounded eerily like a cult-like meeting in a basement with some power-hungry leader filled with power on a sin hunt.  I was never involved with them personally, so my opinion here isn't as strong as others, I understand.  But from what I heard, leaders of these groups were able to do and say almost anything they wanted.  Looking back, Redemption Groups probably should have been avoided altogether.  Community groups/Bible studies should be enough.

Which describes you?

I left Mars Hill prior to closure.

Please describe why you left Mars Hill and what that experience was like.

I had been accepted to UW and after some prayer, I really felt like God wanted me to go to another church (partly because I was moving closer to the UW campus).  It took me a while because I felt pretty close to my community group and the thought of a new church was a little scary.  

How would you describe the reason for Mars Hill's closure to an outsider.

I prayed about it and felt led by the Holy Spirit to find another congregation.  

What's changed for you since your time at Mars Hill came to an end?

I'm happy to say that I'm closer to God and even though I have less relationships, the ones I do have are deep.  I'm less angry and less worried.  In the end, I saw that me leaving Mars Hill was God trying to get me in a quiet place so he could show me more of himself.  There was bad stuff at Mars Hill, but God wanted to deal with my selfishness when I left.  I'm happy to say that He is the most important person to me.  

Please write anything else you'd like to add.

For anyone who is struggling with what happened, I'd like to say that God is so good and He loves you!  Don't lose hope and don't get trapped in cycles of self-imposed guilt.  It may be painful, but God will work all of this to your benefit.  

For anyone that thinks nothing bad was happening at MH, please read these stories.  Pray about what God wants you to do.  Ask for humble hearts and ability to listen.

Member - West Seattle 2008-13

Gender

Female

Which describes your role at Mars Hill?

Member, Group Leader (any leadership role)

What Mars Hill location(s) did you attend?

West Seattle

What years were you involved / attending?

2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

How did you first hear about Mars Hill?

I'd moved to Seattle from Bellingham and knew someone up there who was part of an Acts 29 church and admired Mars Hill/visited it when he was in Seattle. So I'd heard about the church from him, but didn't know much of anything about it, it's culture, or even who Mark was.

What was the circumstance of your first time attending Mars HIll?

After moving here for a job, I was looking for a church home and community, drive by MH West Seattle on my way to work one day and it jogged my memory of having heard of it before. So, I decided to go alone the following Sunday and check it out.

What were your first impressions?

I thought the satellite/screen message was really weird...but I liked the message a lot (came during the religion saves series) and felt like the demographic was made up of people similar to me. I was drawn in by the materials, decor, music and general "coolness" of it and I decided to stick around longer and try to meet people and get connected.

Why was Mars Hill your church home?

It started out that I felt connected and was around like minded people. It was an exciting atmosphere!  I was learning a lot and liked the teaching. I made a lot of friends, met and married my husband, etc. It became central to everything in my life. Over time as I had concerns, staying there became entwined with my fear people, of feeling worried about people's' perception of me leaving and if I'd lose friends were I to leave (I did) and about trying to 'stick it out' and be faithful.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a positive impact on you?

I learned so much about the Bible and about the character of God...things I didn't know much about before.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a negative impact on you?

I have a background of abuse at the hands of my father and already struggled with fear of domineering men. I was under the tutelage of and close to a pastor who was truly harsh, domineering and verbally abusive/manipulative. I witnessed a lot of this in a Community Group (CG) setting as well as Redemption Groups (RG) and it caused me a lot of confusion, fear and anxiety about even going to church/CG/RG. I felt manipulated into doing things such as serving in various capacities and complied at the risk of being told I was in sin (a common refrain). I feel that I was both consciously and unconsciously indoctrinated that women just aren't supposed to be 'heard' as much as men. My husband was often asked to speak for us in various circumstances and I didn't understand why I couldn't speak my own mind or even have a different opinion than him.This has had a lasting impact and is hard to untangle as I move forward at a new church home. I also felt that we weren't thoroughly/properly trained in various capacities such as RG leader, CG leader, youth leader. This caused strain on us/those serving and was a disservice to those we were leading.

What would you like to have changed about Mars Hill?

Much of the culture felt like it was surrounding appearances of being hip and cutting edge...the charm of this wore off and I felt like resources and time could have been better spent elsewhere. Leaders were fast tracked into roles, far too often and then would burn out. My first inklings of concern began in 2008/09 with the incredibly high turnover of leaders at West Seattle and the constant lay-offs. I began to learn over time that MH was perhaps far too concerned with numbers and was running much like a business. I would definitely change that.

Which describes you?

I left Mars Hill prior to closure.

Please describe why you left Mars Hill and what that experience was like.

We left in March of 2013. We began to hear of things that we simply couldn't abide by and support...such as the Real Marriage book issue, the many stories of people feeling used and spit out, and or own observations of abuse of power and the church being run like a business. It was disheartening and sad. When we left it was the culmination of us giving ourselves a year of praying and deciding if we were to leave (meaning, we had began discussions about leaving a year prior). It was incredibly hard to go. At the time we knew no one personally who had left and. We felt judged and shunned by some when we shared that we were going. Others were supportive. We lost a few friends who simply couldn't understand and it drove a wedge between us. We met with the campus pastors twice  and explained our feelings and let them know we were going. They were mostly kind and understanding.

How would you describe the reason for Mars Hill's closure to an outsider.

The leaders lost their vision and grew greedy in a number of ways...for growth, for reputation, for being on the cutting edge...and it ruined them. They took their eyes off Jesus, even if just a little and for that many suffered. It's very sad that the pulpit from which it was often declared 'what matters is that you end well'...MH went out with a disastrous bang and certainly didn't end well at all.

What's changed for you since your time at Mars Hill came to an end?

I have had a harder time trusting the church and diving right in as I did before. Yet, I see some of my own sin in this whole thing and that had been good. I made my identity, at least in part, about Mars Hill rather than solely Jesus and being His. I felt puffed up about how 'cool' our church was and how good the teaching was. It was a sobering and humbling experience when it all fell apart and caused me to see where I myself had let my gaze stray from Jesus and Jesus alone.