I wasn't at all fazed to hear a secular humanist academic claim that in fact Jesus may have actually walked on ice rather than water. But I am nonetheless awfully tickled to learn that a prominent conservative Seattle mega-church, Mars Hill (in Ballard) will be opening a West Seattle branch in what has been Doxa Church on 35th Ave. S.W.
This amplifies a quietly growing conservative Christian presence in Seattle which counters pat assumptions about the city's supposedly overwhelming leftist flavor. Previously, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has reported on the conservative youth ministry of Generation Church at the University of Washington; and through its typical self-absorbed identity-politics lens, even Seattle's Sandinista weekly The Stranger has condescended to acknowledge another conservative Chrisitan ministry in Seattle, on Capitol Hill of all places.
I'm tickled to hear about the plans for Mars Hill West Seattle not because I agree with Pastor Mark Driscoll that homosexuality is a sin or that a woman's place is in the home (I don't); but because Mars Hill parishoners are young, conservative and get this - they believe in the importance of making smart personal choices, and in self-responsibility. That's fairly radical for some of Seattle's self-proclaimed intelligentsia, I know. Mars Hill parishoners are a plus for the community and certainly add to our cherished diversity here in Seattle. Unless your world view comes from The Stranger and you therefore equate a principled opposition to homosexuality and gay marriage with hate and ignorance.
This in-depth November 2003 Seattle Times Sunday magazine profile of Mars Hill and Driscoll gives some additional perspective.
Will the in-city parishoners of Mars Hill (Ballard and West Seattle) stay in Seattle as their children reach school age? (There are plenty of Catholic schools here, after all). Will they become, or are they already politically active - especially on bedrock good government issues rather than just the social conservative agenda? I wouldn't yet make too much of all this in political terms, but I guess I wouldn't make too little of it either.
Hat tip: West Seattle Blog, via Seattlest.
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at June 08, 2006 05:30 PM | Email ThisMars Hill also has a satelite congration in Shoreline at the Crista Campus for all who would care to join us.
Cheers!
JY
Traditional Christian churches use God's Word, the Bible, as their guidepost. God's Word teaches that homosexuality is a sin. It is stated in plain language in numerous passages, in both Old and New Testament. His Word also teaches that Christians are to hate the sin but love the sinner. By placing a true church in the midst of Sodom (Seattle), God and those who believe in Him are opening His door to those who have ears to hear and repent.
Posted by: Saltherring on June 9, 2006 04:58 AM
I wasn't content to swallow just the lines of the Bible the pastor shouted out without context. And I wasn't content to live a life of faith out of fear and a superiority complex. Frankly, the church's message began to feel really shallow, and as my faith in God grew I came to realize a church like mine was reallly trying to gain a base of power--not just share The Word of Christ.
As I look back at my young friends from that church, and see how the church scarred their lives (not to mention their minds), it's frightening to know how "mega churches" like Mars Hill can derail a person's future by slowly melting away their God-given right to self-determination. I have friends who are, just now at 26, finally able to have a healthy relationship with God or with the opposite sex. Or, they're finally emerging from a long decade of self-loathing and a false show of cheerfulness.
Sure, there were a lot of happy times with that church, but those times were always deeply conditional and judgemental. In the end, it just wasn't healthy, and it wasn't Godly, either.
It is likely (and my prayer) that the young people at Mars Hill will come to know God in a healthier environment, and they will grow out of the fear and anxiety of differences in their world. They'll come to have a deeper faith in God, and a more complex one.
Posted by: beach on June 9, 2006 07:59 AMThere's a lot of soul-sucking mega-churches out there (I've been to more than a few) and it sounds to me like you were involved in one. But it doesn't necessarily follow that Mars Hill is also a soul-sucking mega-church.
(Yes, I am a member.)
Posted by: Shane on June 9, 2006 09:22 AM
Gee when do you suppose was the last time the Sea of Gallilee froze over? The tourist bureau warns people to bring plenty of sunscreen.
I have no beef with Christ, but over the past six years I've grown sick to death of 'conservative Christians' and all the wonderful things they're trying to do to our secular republic.
That this "mega church" franchise (sounds so spiritual, doesn't it?) will bring a few more sanctimonious christers to my neighborhood on weekends is a drag to be sure.
Posted by: Indyscribe on June 17, 2006 02:31 PM