Mars Hill Bible Church

History

Founded in February 1999, the church's services, or "gatherings", were originally celebrated in a school gym in Wyoming, Michigan. Based on the idea that worship could be stripped down to its simplest form, it quickly grew in popularity. Through word-of-mouth and the launch support of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the church attracted about 1,000 visitors to their first gathering. Within a year the church had the defunct Grand Village Mall donated to them and purchased the land on which it is now located in Grandville, Michigan. After some remodeling, the 3,500 seat facility opened its doors in July 2000. As of 2005, the church attracts over 10,000 churchgoers to its two Sunday services and up to 50,000 downloads per week. They are now offering weekly podcasts so that the teachings can be automatically downloaded to computers.

Leadership

The church's founding pastor, Rob Bell, founded the church at 28 years old, and served as Mars Hill's Teaching Pastor until 2011. On August 1, 2005, Zondervan Publishing released his first book, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. His second book, Sex God, was released in 2007 through the same publishing company, and in 2008, former Lead Pastor Don Golden co-wrote a book with Bell titled "Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile." Upon Golden's departure, Mars Hill shifted to a team leadership structure while retaining an executive pastor, currently Brian Mucci. In 2010 Shane Hipps joined Mars Hill, splitting time with Bell as teaching pastor. Hipps had previously pastored a small Mennonite Church in Arizona, Trinity Mennonite Church. Leading into the career-change that brought Hipps into ministry, he worked in marketing and advertising for Porsche. In March 2011 Bell released a book titled Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell And The Fate Of Every Person Who Ever Lived". The church announced on 9 September 2011 that Bell would be leaving the church in pursuit of new opportunities. On 18 December 2011, Bell delivered his final message as the head pastor of Mars Hill, saying farewell to the community in which he had a critical role in launching nearly thirteen years prior.

Following Bell's departure, a national search was conducted and in August 2012, it was announced that Kent Dobson would take over the role as sole teaching pastor. Previously, Dobson had served as worship director during the early years of the church.

In November 2015, Dobson announced he was leaving Mars Hill telling the congregation "being a pastor at a church is not really who I am." He left in 2016. A.J. Sherill was named the new pastor later that year.

Church experience

The church is somewhat different from other large mega-churches in that it places little emphasis on high-tech production during its weekly gatherings. The church's sanctuary (formerly the anchor store of the mall) reflects this simplistic outlook; the sanctuary walls are a light gray with a black ceiling, the lights are low, and there is a freestanding homemade wooden cross in the sanctuary on communion Sundays. The multimedia projections are white text on a black background with no additional flair or background images. There is a belief that the gatherings should not be a performance as many megachurches are often known for, but should be the gathering of the church in worship and the place where the church is, in turn, motivated to go out and live the life of the gospel, the kingdom of God within the world.

Mars Hill receives the financial tithes and offerings of the people through "joy boxes" that are located in the back of the room (versus a traditional “pass the plate” tithing moment). The initial 25% of the offering is given away to global and local partners in order to "join God where He is already at work among some of the most church-forsaken peoples, places and issues of our city and world." This figure is public knowledge and the individual missionaries supported are highlighted on a regular basis through preaching stories, video testimonies, and strategic updates in "the weekly" bulletin. It is the philosophy of Mars Hill that “living the way of Jesus is to be put on display” so that more might be inspired to take up the cause wherever they live.

During the July 2006 to June 2007 fiscal year giving totaled $5,918,731.

Narrative theology

Their approach to theology is narrative in nature, seeking to view the Scripture as an unfolding drama in which the church has a unique role. Annually, they provide a Narrative Theology Class which is based primarily upon the work of N.T. Wright's 5-act hermeneutic and the book, The Drama of Scripture by Bartholomew and Goheen. Matt Krick, a pastor at Mars Hill, adjunct teacher at Cornerstone University, and former intern for Rob Bell has greatly influenced the theological stance of Mars Hill. He has been influenced by theologians like Brian Walsh, Sylvia Keesmaat, Richard Middleton, and Steven Bouma-Prediger.

Their New Exodus Theology, which former lead pastor Don Golden brought to them, is based upon his research and study of the Exodus Narrative and the OT prophetic voices of a forthcoming new exodus, which is fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. The New Exodus motif, in his view, can be expressed as follows. It begins in Egypt where God "hears the cry" of the oppressed. It moves to Sinai where God makes a covenant with the descendants of Abraham, giving them a "purpose and mission." Third - Jerusalem - where Israel has a choice to be "indifferent" using forced labor to build their own kingdom or to promote a "kingdom of righteousness and justice." Finally, Babylon is the place where there is hope for a New Exodus, that ultimately climaxes in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The church, in Golden's view, is called to live out the gospel in missional and communal ways, particularly promoting the care of the poor and oppressed of our world. This approach is considered by the ministry of Mars Hill to be a holistic understanding of the bible. N.T. Wright presents his five-act hermeneutic as follows. Today we find ourselves within the fifth act, called to live out the gospel in imaginative, creative, and improvisational ways.

Act 1 - Creation, Act 2 - Fall, Act 3 - Israel, Act 4 - Jesus, Act 5 - Church,

(NB: Other theologians, Middleton and Walsh, have add a sixth act, the eschaton or the consummation, but suggest that we still find ourselves in the midst of the fifth act.)

Grand Village Mall

Mars Hill Bible Church occupies a building which was originally a shopping mall called Grand Village Mall. The mall, including a Witmark catalog showroom as an anchor store, closed in the late 1990s and was converted into the current home of Mars Hill.