Mars Hill Church
1401 NW Leary Way
Seattle, WA 98107 (206) 706-6641
30 Reviews for Mars Hill Church
I have a secret. I used to go to this Church! On Sundays, I would walk on over after a night of good old hetero loving with the bf at the time (which I was a good gf, and did as I was told), and get into the sermons that good old pastor Mark would tell. I kinda sat in the back like a good obedient woman, not talking to the the other church goers. I would leave once the service was over, head down, not as to make eye contact with anyone to discuss said sermon. I would walk back to the bf's place, do as I was told, and all was right in the world....
Then I woke up.
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I haven't been to Mars Hill church, but I have read articles and listened to sermons from their website. My understanding is that when you go to one of their churches, you're usually going to see a sermon broadcast on video anyway.
So, while there are probably nuances I'm missing by not actually going to the church building, I think I get the jist enough to state with confidence that the following personal opinion is in fact based on "a consumer interaction with this business" (although I remain uncertain of exactly what product one normally "consumes" from a religious institution) and therefore if you're about to flag this review again for that reason you can feel free to quit it.
In the course of the consumer interactions described above, I have noted distinct similarities between the philosophy of this church and that of a fictional theocratic dystopia involving handmaidens.
I hope this personal opinion is useful to those who are either seeking a church which resembles a fictional theocratic dystopia, or those who wish to avoid the same.
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The place is not bad. With a church population in Seattle, being lackluster, this seemed to be a good fit for me. However, I can't seem to find anyone that responds to a hello, or a hand shake. If you enjoy getting lost in the back, then this place is great. No one says hi to you, no painful greetings or anxiety.
Why isn't this Church located on a hill on Mars?
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I hear they've got an awesome Jesus ride here!
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Been here a couple times and was turned off by the uber-glitz and the over-zealous fire-and-brimstone rants Driscoll droned on with.
I hear they are fans of female servitude, though, so that's pretty cool. Always wanted me some hot lady-slaves. Bow-chica wah-wow!
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The thing I could see people having trouble with this church is that Pastor Mark Driscoll tells you what you should know, whether you like it or not. This is what I LOVE about it.
I've been to many churches over my life, and I fall asleep in all of them. All they do is talk about how happy and flawless you will be for accepting Christ (which I believe is true, to an extent). What I've learned by going to Mars Hill Church is that the idea I have been taught all my life is that God will love me and save me a spot in Heaven just for accepting Him. You don't need to make any huge lifestyle changes, you don't need to do any more service than the cliché trip to Africa or Mexico, and you certainly don't have to beat yourself up for getting plastered at a Friday night party and having premarital sex with some girl you've been dating for a few months.
Since I began attending Mars Hill Church, I have realized how sinful myself and society as a whole has become. We feel okay with sinning, so long as we're sorry and "won't do it again." This isn't enough. We need to give ourselves up to Him completely, not picking and choosing what we think is "not specifically addressed in the Bible." You know it's wrong, SO DON'T DO IT. This is why I love Mars Hill Church so much because I feel it has challenged me to be Christ-like. I'm obviously not Christ-like, but with the help of Mars Hill and the great pastors there, I have made some dramatic lifestyle changes and have made great strides in the direction. You can't do this unless you are challenged and are given the reality check we all need.
Granted, I'm sure almost all of you have not been to my exact churches, but they are all fairly similar I'm sure. Nondenominational, Presbyterian, Free-Methodist are a few of the most recent. I am also sure that Mars Hill Church is not the only great church, but it is the only good one that I personally have attended out of 10+ "normal" churches.
My only advice is attend this church with an open mind, and allow yourself to be open to God's judgment as Pastor Driscoll speaks his powerful sermons.
The only "bad" thing about this church is that is focused towards the younger audience, the church of tomorrow. Luckily for me, and many of you Seattle-ites who are reading this, I am young and can appreciate the church to the fullest.
If you're going to give negative criticism, don't do it because the church is nicely decorated. What does it matter if there is a projector screen or there is only a small stage with a fold-up table. It is GOD we attend church for, the surroundings should not matter unless they truly distract you from connecting with Him.
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I listened to some of Pastor Mark Driscoll's sermons and it seems like he is unusually locked in on sex, sexuality and gender.
For example, in a sermon about 4 different flavors of something called the Emergent/Emerging Church movement, he criticizes a liberal branch of that movement for calling into question "many Christian doctrines that should not be questioned" - which presumably would be the canonical stuff, the absolute deal-breakers. He then alludes to those "deal-breaker" doctrinal points that shouldn't be questioned. But one of them doesn't seem on par with the others. See if you can spot the one that doesn't quite belong:
1. Is Jesus fully God?
2. Did he die on the cross in our place for our sins?
3. Is anybody really going to hell?
4. Do you need Jesus to go to heaven?
5. Is sex outside of marriage, including homosexuality, sinful?
You can see this here http://www.youtube.com..., at around the 4:20 mark. You can also see the official version here: http://www.marshillchu....
I think plenty of people here have expressed their concerns about the gender/sexuality issues from a political/personal point of view, but there's also a troubling matter from a Christian perspective. Perhaps it's best expressed by C.S. Lewis in "The Screwtape Letters." In it, a senior-level demon writes a series of missives to a junior level demon on how to prevent someone (referred to as "your patient") from adopting Christianity. In one letter, it writes (and remember, since it is written from a hellish point of view, one should read this in moral reverse):
"The real trouble about the set your patient is living in is that it is merely Christian. They all have individual interests, of course, but the bond remains mere Christianity. What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call "Christianity And". You know--Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform. If they must be Christians let them at least be Christians with a difference. Substitute for the faith itself some Fashion with a Christian colouring. Work on their horror of the Same Old Thing."
It's not fair to categorize Mars Hill Church in the far extreme, as merely a "Fashion with a Christian colouring" - the fact that Pastor Driscoll raises items 1-4 above as unquestionables raises the church to more than that. However, judging from Pastor Driscoll's own sermons, I think it's fair to say that he definitely waters down the gospel by espousing a "Christianity and Gender/Sex/Sexuality."
I give 2 stars because I believe there is some value here. But I hope that Pastor Driscoll will move away from "Christianity And" towards "mere Christianity."
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A star grudgingly given, since zero (or negative) stars are not an option. And this review isn't a comment on the religious aspects of this place, since (a) I am a Richard Dawkins loving atheist and think all religion is delusional thinking and (b) I haven't actually attended services at this church.
All I want to say is that these people are RUDE. Well - a lot of them are. Before I moved out of Ballard I lived in a house a few blocks from the old location - not their huge new building down by Fred Meyer, but the small church deep in a residential neighborhood further to the west.
Every freaking Sunday, the streets would swarm with people headed to services at Mars Hill, and every freaking Sunday they would just park anywhere they damned well pleased. Right up to the edge of the entrance to your driveway, so there was no way to get out without clipping a Mars Hill member's car. Flagrantly, in local parking lots which were clearly (and plaintively) posted "Please No Mars Hill Parking!" All the way to the corner on every block, crammed in illegally, just so as not to have to walk a couple more blocks to church.
It drove everyone in the neighborhood crazy. Businesses went so far as to get professionally made sandwich board signs - which must've cost some money - just to prevent Mars Hill members from swarming around like an out-take from "The Birds" and clogging up their parking lots so that actual customers couldn't get in.
Small? Petty? I dunno. Seems like CHURCH GOING folks ought not to be so rude and selfish and greedy. But hey. Who am I to judge?
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I was on my usual Sunday drive to Cash n' Carry and Fred Meyer when I saw a couple of dudes wearing a
mars hill security shirt.
Black shirt.
Cracker letters.
They were escorting some guy that appeared to be homeless. They had walked him about five blocks east of the "church" and were trying to send him on his way. Do I need to say that they were wearing headsets and reporting to "?".The best part was when I youtubed mars hill and got Marc Driscoll's speech about there is no black and white. And how Jesus would hang with the drunks and sinners because they actually needed help. http://www.youtube.com...
Fuck this shit.
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When I lived in Seattle and still went to church, Mars Hill was mine. I started going when it was still in a tiny old church building further north in Ballard. It was great. It was small and intimate and as a fairly naive college student Mark Driscoll was really charismatic and seemingly progressive.
The church started growing and there were tons of small services and they eventually relocated to that remodeled building on Leary that they're in now.
Now, I prefer small churches, but you know, they have a ton of small groups to encourage community and if the message is awesome, then looking past the growing size of church should be feasible.
Then I realized the message wasn't that awesome. I grew up in church and have heard many many pastors in my life. Mark is excitable and passionate and clearly able to inspire many people in their faith, and part of me thinks that if his methods work, then so be it. He's not preaching anything new. It's not crazy and cultish (well, depending on your ideas about religion, I suppose) it's actually really conservative and old school but because he speaks candidly about sex and politics, and drinking and smoking aren't taboo, the hugely young congregation finds it appealing.
And that's what I find so surprising. And why I left the church. It's something that I think plagues our culture, honestly. It's this faux progressive attitude that people use to express super outdated bullshit ideas.
Like any crappy stand-up comedian who makes super off-color jokes that they think are (or should be) making fun of people who are racist or misogynistic, or what have you, the jokes come off just being racist and misogynistic. These are the idiots who call themselves "politically incorrect." Hi-lar-ious.
Or like any hipster-y advertising (American Apparel clearly comes to mind) that's totally cooool that uses sex in a "subversive" way to make you think it's not just selling you sex like advertising has been doing for the last billion years. Tricky.
Religion, granted, is a completely different story. These beliefs and moral values are theoretically supposed to stay the same regardless of what's happening in society, which I respect. What I don't respect is the "we're young and hip and drink beer and I tell funny jokes and we can talk about our sex lives" facade thinly veiling the ultra-conservative values of this church. People talk about it being sexist and homophobic and it is. I used to sit in services fearing the next joke he'd make at the expense of women's lib or gay anything.
And it has nothing to do with Christianity in general. There are tons of churches and denominations who do NOT think this way, but Mars Hill does. And I can't believe that the smart cool people I know go here and eat it up. It's not very encouraging. But clearly it's just not what I believe.
The music's pretty good.
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A little background: I was not raised in a religious setting. I recently started dating a guy who was raised in a Christian household. I decided that if we were going to get super serious and start talking about getting married and whatnot, I should probably learn about his belief system since it is such an integral part of his life.
I went to Mars Hill a few times with my boyfriend's mom and left feeling super excited. I had been to church loads of times growing up...always with friends. Christian, Lutheran, Mormon, etc.
This was my first time stepping into a church and feeling like I was having a conversation with the Pastor instead of being talked to by the Pastor. It was a great experience.
I have gone each and every week for the past two months, and feel so good about it. I am learning so much.
I am excited about what else Pastor Marc Driscoll has to teach me. Right now we are in a teaching series called THE DOCTRINE. It is about all of the closed-handed issues that all Christians should believe. (aka: the basics.)
Please do not take other people's comments about Mars Hill on Yelp seriously - go try out Mars Hill for yourself. Marc had amazing things to say about the Woman's role in creation, in life, and in relationships this past Sunday (4/20/08)....It was fantastic.
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I've only been to actual services couple of times, but Mars Hill does a good job at posting a lot of resources (like Sunday sermons) on their website.
I understand that a lot of people wrote bad reviews because of Pastor Mark and his style of speaking. I admit that sometimes his humour is too much for me, but the content of his messages are solid. He teaches biblically. His messages are challenging and He speaks the truth on topics which others churches may be afraid to talk about.
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I hesitated a bit before writing this review, afraid that Pastor Mark Driscoll would send his goon squad after me to take out my kneecaps with a Jesus Baton(tm) , but then I remembered that I am a woman, therefore not worthwhile enough to bother with. I mean, its pretty amazing that I even possess the motor skills to type words at all, if you think about it.
To see how it ends, save yourself the time and just rent the PBS Jonestown documentary from Netflix.
Spirituality is beautiful. Zealotry is not. Stay away.
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Mars Hill is very careful and calculated in it's aesthetic. Every detail of the very modern, urban dwelling is dripping with smart design, high art and music which appeals to Seattle's youth, malcontents and indie culture.
It's a very pretty package filled with poison.
Pastor Mark Driscoll knows what he is doing. He is building a huge conglomerate based on controversy, hype and the lemming-like buzz of people who are empty inside and desperately searching acceptance.
Once again, Christians have blown Christ's teachings out of perspective and ruined the whole damn thing for everyone. Churches should be, by definition, a place for the lost, for the poor, for the hungry, for the sick. Mars Hill, like any other huge, bloated, white church in Amercia, is not.
Not to mention the known fact that Pastor Mark is very candid about his opinion of women and homosexuals. Remember that whole Ted Haggard scandal? Pastor Mark wrote an article about it and made these comments:
- "Churches should consider returning to heterosexual male assistants who are like Timothy and Titus to serve alongside pastors. Too often the pastor's assistant is a woman who, if not sexually involved, becomes too emotionally involved with the pastor as a sort of emotional and practical second wife. I have been blessed with a trustworthy heterosexual male assistant who can travel with me, meet with me, etc., without the fear of any temptations or even false allegations since we have beautiful wives and eight children between us."
- "Most pastors I know do not have satisfying, free, sexual conversations and liberties with their wives. At the risk of being even more widely despised than I currently am, I will lean over the plate and take one for the team on this. It is not uncommon to meet pastors' wives who really let themselves go; they sometimes feel that because their husband is a pastor, he is therefore trapped into fidelity, which gives them cause for laziness. A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband's sin, but she may not be helping him either."
I have been to Mars Hill twice, and I have several friends who are members. I still think it's scary, elitist and definitely does nothing to lift the name of Jesus Christ.
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Home to ultra-conservative values dressed up in the skin of a young hipster. I really do need to attend and be horrified.
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I had no idea this kind of place was around in real life!! If you hate women, are easily influenced, or would like to join a cult... Mars Hill is your place to be.
If you are normal... find another church.
What kind of a church has security guards?
What kind of church buys old nightclubs (in downtown Seattle, no less) with no windows?
What kind of church encourages men to mistreat women?
What kind of church encourages people to be sexist, homophobic, and close minded?
Not my kind of church!
I also find it strange that the "pastor" would take so much time in his "sermon" to put down those who critize him, and to waste his time complaining about gays and women. I also find it strange that all the review with 4 or 5 stars on this church are by people who only reviewe the church
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Not wanting to add to the fray...who am I kidding...of course I want to add to the fray! I'll try not to repeat anyone else's cogent observations though.
Faith and I came to God's Own Country in 2000 with a firm belief in the Christian ethic and having been church members in some pretty outward evangelical churches in Sydney and Melbourne. Imagine our surprise when we came to the US and couldn't find a church that didn't make us want to eat our own spleen.
We eventually went to a church for a while which was all right, but on the journey went to Mars Hill. We gave it a chance. We gave it several chances. OK, we went about 5 times. Each time I found myself more and more appalled -- the attitude to women and homosexuality, natch, but also the "cooler than thou, and holier too" that I observed. The music is not good, the sermons are formulaic and distasteful, there's not much going for this place at all.
Sure the people are nice enough, but once you're in the room with the kool aid everyone tends to be anyway.
As it stands, you couldn't get me back in the door of this place on a dare. Well, if you told me it was a choice between death, Mars Hill, and going to City Church, then I would reconsider.
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This is one of the scariest places in Seattle. These mindless drones that attend are all wanna-be-hipsters who blindly listen to any a-hole with a little used-car salesman charm.
The thought that a church still preaches anti-gay, anti-women messages is beyond me. It is also beyond me how so many young people can fall into this and loose their free-thinking selves.
Lining your pockets with money and trying to convert more for your little army needs to be investigated and seriously scrutinized Pastor Mark.
Please people open your eyes and realize this is nothing more than a large cult similar to that of Jim Jones and others. It is just as dangerous and just as threatening. Lets put a stop to this. Take back your brains and your free-thought. Wake up!
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I hated Mars Hill before I was saved there. A friend(now my husband) took me a few times and I didn't care to much for the pastor. I had no relationship with God and was self righteous and completely lost. I think the message is lost on you if you don't have a spiritual experience. You can't have it through your head/intellect, though. It comes from your heart. Once I had the spiritual experience Marc's(the pastor) words became crystal clear to me.
It's pretty sad to hear all the misconceptions about Mars Hill Church. Particularly the stuff about women!!!!
Most of the things said in the negative reviews is completely irrelevant. Nobody even mentions Jesus or the Bible.
Mars Hill is about loving Jesus and the Bible. If you don't then you are not going to like Mars Hill.
The people and community, the facilities and the music are all great for those of you who are believers and are looking for a great place to worship.
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A friend of mine was visiting from out of town and wanted to check this place out. I'd only read reviews of it on Yelp and knew it wasn't popular among my peers, but decided to go anyway. I'm not much of a church-goer, but I have an open mind and wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
As a visitor to the church, I did not feel welcome. Driscoll's sermon was full of inside jokes and jabs at those who have criticized him personally or in the media. Before I arrived at Mars Hill I had no idea there was so much controversy surrounding Driscoll. I was there to learn something or to feel uplifted (I thought that's what church is all about), but instead I felt nothing but negativity.
If Driscoll had talked less about himself and his own personal trials, I wouldn't have walked away feeling like that church is all about him, not about the community. It must be hard being a public figure, so I'll give the guy that much. But, he needs to remember that people are walking into his church knowing nothing about him and his beliefs. They don't want to hear about how he gets 500 mean emails every day he has to have his assistants delete. #1: Why do so many people dislike you? #2: Why do you have to mention your entourage? It makes you sound pretentious.
Aside from Driscoll, this church probably wouldn't be a good fit for me anyway. The rock and roll music felt a little out of place and the slide show before the sermon left a bad taste in my mouth. One slide said, "Get Dunked! Email xxxx@xxxxx if you're interested in being baptized."
Two stars because I'm afraid I will go to hell for just giving one.
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Two girlfriends and I decided to see what all the buzz was about. We went to go see Mars Hill for ourselves...
As we approached the church (which looks like a big club --- it's almost like a warehouse space), we first noticed that the church-goers weren't as hip as everyone had made them out to be. A lot of them looked pretty normal and all-American --- but the crowd was way, way younger than your average church service. We saw a few more tattooed hipster types once inside, but the church was hardly filled with Betty Page-banged mamas and indie rocker helmeted boys.
We walked into the main chapel and --- whoa. It felt like a big theater or club. Super stylish lighting hung from the ceiling. A half-dozen enormous flat panel monitors were suspended all over the place. The coloring was impeccably stylish and well-designed. I tried to put my finger one what I was being reminded of ... the brushed stainless steel san-serif signs, the matching soap dispensers ... what is it? Wait a minute. Holy fuck, the church reminded me of a dotcom! Dare I say, a Godcom? This church, after all, has podcasts and a blogging pastor. It is totally tech-savvy and totally moderne. It felt like Amazon crossed with a nightclub, but with a big stylized cross on the wall.
Eventually, it was time for the show --- I'm sorry, service to begin. A band came out and started playing a heavy, indie rockish melody as the lyrics appeared on the big screen monitors. But what was really remarkable to me was the sound system, which had seriously booming bass. This was not a rinky-dink set-up. This was a system to rival most clubs. Weird. Where did all this money come from if the church-goers are all so young?
After some singing about the blood of Christ (complete with lyrics displayed on a blood-splattered background on the overhead monitors), the charismatic 35-year-old leader of the church came out to speak. Evidently, "Pastor Mark" has been teaching The Corinthians for most of the year, and he was down to some of the last lines of the section. The topics addressed in the sermon were: 1. Speaking in tongues 2. Prophesies 3. Women in church. And basically the summary was: 1. Only a one person at a time should speak in tongues, someone should translate, and never more than two or three tonguers total. 2. Prophesies should be made carefully so that nut-jobs don't make everyone else look stupid. 3. Women shouldn't speak in church and if they behave poorly their husbands are accountable.
This was where it got deeply weird. The pastor read from the bible, and then explained that it didn't mean God-fearing women shouldn't speak --- really, the passage only applied to "feminist women with an agenda." He went on for quite some time about how awful feminism is --- it's not worth recounting, other than the part where he said "Women say they want to be treated like men, but then when we actually treat them like men they cry." Everyone laughed. It was awful.
He went on to talk about how wives should relate to their husbands. He made some weird allusions to theology and sex, basically saying that if a woman has a question about the bible, she should ask her husband for answers, and husbands: you better know your bible cuz otherwise your wife is going to go elsewhere to get her theological satisfaction from someone else, and you don't want that! He also mentioned "theological foreplay," which included talking about the bible in bed with his wife and kissing her on the forehead. It was really bizarre. He briefly mentioned his critics, and said he didn't have time to argue with them because "I'm too busy loving my wife."
I spent most of the service with my mouth literally hanging open. Here, in this deeply stylish club-like room, with its bistro lighting and young, educated parishioners, was a pastor espousing some of the most conservative regressive gender theory I'd ever heard, and everyone was eating it up. Why? Because the packaging is so dang slick and stylish. And Pastor Mark is a great public speaker.
It was fascinating for me to see --- I'm no theologian, but I do love my social-psychology and sociological perspectives. And I related to the psychological drive for structure and community and focus --- we all seek those things. But I'm firm in my faith that Mars Hill isn't hiding the answers. I'll take my community and focus from the forest dance floors and camping trips and long rambling conversations with loved ones. No tinfoil hat necessary --- the pastor's terrifyingly literal interpretation of the bible was all the deterrence I need. I'm really glad I went, however. I think it's too easy to just dismiss someone without witnessing what they're doing first-hand. And I did gain some insight into why Seattleites are flocking to this church.
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It always surprises me when "churches" like these pop up in a gentrified urban area like Ballard... In this specific case, it disappoints me to know that people in my neighborhood actually attend a place that preaches women should be subservient to men and that gays shouldn't exist. Oh, and masturbating is a sin and if you and your husband watch porn together - well, then you're known as a female whore.
Fun, huh!
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Mars Hill is a lightning rod. You will either love it or despise it depending on the inclination of your heart. That being said; arrive at least twenty-minutes early to get a good seat (up front and near a Communion line) and to claim parking because it is severally lacking on the surrounding side streets and overflow lot two blocks away. Have some coffee and check out some art(?), come as you are but try to leave your assumptions at the door. It is a multi-denominational, missional Christian church so expect to hear the Bible being preached and some mention of "that Jesus guy". If you are old, the music will be too loud, deal.
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The word of God in it's most true form as presented by Mark Driscoll - one of the nations prolific speakers. Ranked #15 as one of "America's Most Influential Churches" Mars Hill minister's to every man, woman, and child around the Puget Sound.
Interdenominational church in a contemporary setting. Show up in you pajamas if you wish... Mars Hill is just happy to have you.
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Wow... what a show. Other reviewers have described the church pretty accurately, so I won't bother with that.
Like Ariel S., two girlfriends and I (after having seen tons of people coming to this church every Sunday) decided to pop in for a look-see....
It was slightly disconcerting when I noticed security people at all the entrances of the church. Weird.
I don't know if it's like this every Sunday, but my friends and I didn't really hear much about how to be a better Christian or how best to serve God.... the focus appeared to be directed more towards growing Mars Hill, and getting more church members.
I'll be the first to admit that Pastor Mark is pretty darned charismatic. At one point in his sermon, he was talking about how he and all church members need to be very aware of what and how they say things so as not to be misconstrued.... then he went off into a story about how a grandmotherly type woman approached him and his 3 year old at Lowe's the other day, and proceeded to tell him in front of his kid that in her opinion, he was one of the worst things that could happen to the Seattle Christian community. (har harrr..). All good and well, but if I were him, I would have ended the story with something along the lines of "...and then I told her I was sorry she felt that way and my daughter and I walked away." ... instead of telling his congregation that he felt like sucker punching granny in the throat. Hmmmm.. gave us a chuckle, but not so sure you should be telling your congregation your violent fantasies.
Finally, the service concluded with more music. The guy singing actually had quite a nice voice, but we got bored after the third or fourth song started, so we left.
On the up side, Pastor Mark says he is A-ok with women knowing how to read. So, ummm... that's good.
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There's a free coffee shop in the church.
HD screens everywhere show you who's talking.
Today on the way to the fabric store, I realized, 'hey, it's Sunday Morning!', right as I passed the church, so I stopped in.
Today's sermon was about how Christianity thrives in urban settings, traditionally, and how it's 'our' responsibility to be a city within a city, and go spread the gospel of Jesus around our city.
The pastor spent half an hour spouting off statistics about how Washington and Oregon states have the least amount of churches per capita than any other state in the country. Talked about the high number of churches that close each year, and how the Evangelical Christian population in WA is only 8%. frankly it surprises me that it's that high.
I went to this church in part to find out a little more about Jesus. I learned nothing about Jesus, only that I should declare my allegiance to him, and go tell everyone I meet about that allegiance.
The sermon was almost okay, right up until the part where the pastor started talking passive-aggressive shit. In his example of how they 'could' get the message across: They 'could' say that homosexuality is bad, that Liberals are bad, that the 'other' is to blame for the wrongs in the world, but they *won't*, becuase part of serving jesus is in being somewhat accountable, and though those people (the gays and the liberals) *are* in fact, sinning their collective heretic asses off, so are we all in our own ways, and we can't cast stones. What, you Would say that? You just did.
And then in the closing prayer, while the band (!) was setting up, he lost me when he talked about homosexuality being one of the biggest sins and how they are praying for it to be obliterated. At this point I stood up to go stand in the back in case I burst into flames, with all my liberal, feminist, pro-happiness-whatever-that-means-to-you ways.
Same old conservative, misogynist, polarizing bigoted message, in a tattooed, 'hip' way.
Also, any church who calls hip-hop a cluster of sin, is NOT okay in my book.
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It saddens me to hear so many people who have come to Mars Hill Church on just a Sunday and feel they walked away with a complete and accurate picture of who we are.
If your first experience is in the craziness that is one of the many Sunday services, you're bound to feel overwhelmed. If however, you've come in through friends, which is how I and many others have, you see that community is a very high priority, not Mark.
Of course above all priorities is Jesus, and His work in each of our lives.
Sure, I'm biased, but, by the Holy Ghost leading the Elders of Mars Hill, I've experienced a community like none other, I've experienced change like never before.
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A blight on my otherwise awesome neighborhood of Seattle.....
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Mars Hill Church. Everyone has something to say about the coffee, the band, the parking, the lighting, the jokes, the building (yes, it used to be a warehouse), how packed it is, how they can't see a stage, they didn't hear what they wanted to hear, how fundamentalist they are, how thy are too liberal, it's too hot, it's too cold, and anything else there could be to complain about. So it's not to my surprise that Mars Hill has gotten low marks by Seattlites thus far. After all, it's a big Christian church in Seattle and lets be honest, Jesus isn't exactly "cool" here.
You can't please everyone so there's always going to be someone with a complaint. Often times people will come in with a pre-conceived notion of what Mars Hill is about (I did) and they view the message in light of that bias. When I actually began to listen to what was being said rather than manipulating it to suit my bias and agenda is when I realized there was truth behind the words. They actually had a point! I realized that it wasn't what the pastor was saying that was impinging on me, but it was because God was bringing me to Himself. Why do I go to Mars Hill? Because it's where God has me to serve, to grow and to learn more about Him. I can go as I am, be myself, and not feel like I'm going to be kicked out for cussing or having multiple questions. It's not the band or the building or Mark Driscoll that keeps me coming, but because this is where I need to be. They are theologically solid, care about the city and ALL its people, and want to see Jesus glorified in all things. iLoveit.
Overall, Mars Hill is one of the most solid churches in the area. They aren't solid because they're a Mega Church, they grew into a Mega Church by the grace of God. God has brought many people to Himself through them and He continues to do so, no matter if you hate or love them. Mars Hill isn't for everyone but thankfully Jesus is. Love, follow, and live for Jesus and do whatever you want.
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