I am very grieved with what has been happening at Mars Hill. I met my wife there in December of 2012 when I was interning at Ballard. We ended up getting married 6 months later and have a baby and still are grateful for everything that we got out of Mars Hill. I am a former CG coach, RG leader and Intern. I felt very at home at Ballard, a lot of the leadership had been there for a long time and were very wise. When I first started going to MH they placed at Ballard and I help a lot with CG and planning events, I also wanted to serve in every way possible and I did from cleaning the building to volunteering at different events. I learned a lot. We ended up moving to Spokane the following year and were going to go to Mars Hill here as it was planted. But, then I heard all of these people were leaving and that I respected. Pastor Bill was the first to leave and left while I was still there. Then I heard Pastor Mike resigned and then Lin and then that there were questions about the global fund and the pastor salaries and then the final straw that proved that there is a problem was when Pastor Phil was fired for questioning the elders. This has caused me to think a lot! I used to love listening to Mark and was following along online a year before I went to intern. I was surprised that there wasnt a lot of staff members and that everything was volunteer run. I thought it was great though. I could see that we were stewarding the money well. Then when I found out about Mark using the tithe money to become a best seller it made me so angry. In being an intern I wasnt paid, I worked a full time job and then I worked 20-30 hours a week as an intern. I felt that God called me into ministry and that I was going to eventually be hired on as a staff member and then eventually plant a church ether Mars Hill or Acts 29. Pastor Mark ended up officially transferring to Bellevue from Ballard. Bellevue had just got a building and many people had started attending. I was approached by a couple pastors on moving over there to help out with structure and getting things running smoothly. So I went... When I was there I worked on a few big projects with Sunday service teams and helping create a new structure for Sunday welcome teams. I also oversaw the cleaning teams and the maintenance teams. This was at a time I was unemployed looking for work while I was engaged. I worked my butt off and though it might not be a popular thing to do in a church that is big I volunteers, I asked if I could be paid. The XP told me that the executive pastors would not allow any new hires. It was tough, and I know people were neglected. When I got married I moved back to Ballard because we werent getting what we needed and I wasnt going to be able to give as much time to the church as I had. Its really disheartening knowing that people get let go at different times because of funds, they shouldnt be! And that other people are burdened with a huge responsibility to do things that they cant physically do. Then to hear that the XPs use tithe money for things that it shouldnt be used for, or the Global fund on things that arent global. As an intern and newly married couple I had to leave Seattle because I couldnt afford to live there and support my family. It didnt make sense to me that I gave blood sweat and tears and still got no where. I even had talked to Pastor Bill before he left about being a lead pastor and he had me be his assistant on Sundays. I applied for the lead pastor residency and didnt even make it past the application (The application asked basic things about how long you were in ministry, which I have been now for ten years including as an associate pastor and a youth pastor, and how you became a Christian) To be honest I didnt think I would make it all the way through the about 10 step process but I thought I would at least make it through the first step. I even asked about it and was rebuked for my questions. I decided I would just work harder. Now I am in Spokane and work at Starbucks, not at all evolved in ministry or even church. I feel hurt about all the unresolved conflict with other people and unanswered questions. I want to get involved again at a church and have tried, its just hard.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 23:27:46 +0000
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