Last week the Ballard News-Tribune reported that two Mars Hill Church (MHC) congregations would be closing and congregating at the Ballard MHC location: http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2014/09/16/news/two-mars-hill-congreg…. The two MHC locations closing are the University District and Downtown.

The move comes after the church announced last week that the churches would be closing because of a decline in financial “giving” after “negative media attention.”

A precursor to the closures was nine MHC pastors signing a letter asking Pastor Mark Driscoll, founder of the church, to step down after alleged abuse of power and mismanagement of church funds. Mark Dunford, a volunteer pastor from the Portland, Ore. location, was dismissed. Driscoll remains on a six week sabbatical as the church forms a Board of Advisors and Accountability and assesses its financial situation and the future role of Driscoll.

After the story was posted online, BNT readers barraged the site with comments. Some comments were laden with Christian sentiment and even sympathy for Pastor Mark Driscoll, while other comments stressed his immediate dismissal. The overarching tone was not positive for Driscoll.

One commenter and churchgoer responded to Justin Dean, MHC spokesperson, stating that the Ballard congregation is growing and that the reason for closing the University District location was because of financial issues brought on by a drop in attendance.

“Attendance at Mars Hill U-District has declined significantly in recent months, and the cost of operating the church compared to giving that is received makes keeping this location open untenable. We feel the people of U-District would be better served by joining the family at Mars Hill Church Ballard. ... This decision was made carefully and prayerfully by our Executive Elders with consultation from Lead Pastors and approved by our Board of Advisors and Accountability,” stated Dean.

The commenter on the BNT site wrote, “Ballard has been growing? That's not true. In fact when I attended there a couple of weeks ago the entire back half of the auditorium was curtained off. There might be an attendance decline at the university campus but that campus has always had a small and fluctuating attendance due to the majority of attendees are students. When school is out attendance is down when school is in session attendance is up. The reason they are consolidating is to give them a reason to pull Drew Hensley (lead pastor of the u-district campus) out or the lead pastor role because he was one of the nine signers of the charges submitted against Driscoll.”

Indeed, Pastor Drew Hensley was one of the nine to sign the letter. Moreover, four of those pastors are from Mars Hill Bellevue, and Pastor James Rose is from Ballard.

Furthermore, two commenters asked readers to examine the reviews of the book, "Transitioning," by Dan Southerland, which they call a “a play by play enactment of the real issues that this style of church growth encourages." 

Another reader called the church, “Mark's Hill Money Machine.”

However, there was one reader who called for Driscoll return:

“I really hope Driscoll returns in his full fury, since the Church's hand-picked ‘Board of Advisors and Accountability’ has already shown its hand and is even now, before interviews really commence, is making a mockery of the church's legitimate oversight function (Patheos blog, Sept 15, 2014). Let him run the Mars Hill edifice once again and this time into the ground while at the helm, instead of being booted as he should be by the impartial "board" and then become a martyr for whatever cause he represents....well himself.”

However, the comments found on the BNT site were not all in opposition to Driscoll. One commenter called for congregation members to give the church another go:

“Jesus clearly understood people. One day they will applaud you and the next seek to crucify you. This is not the way of Jesus followers! We are called to be merciful to those who have failed. I guess this extends to everyone except our pastors. Here is my challenge to those who have left Mars Hill. Return for one calendar year and give pastor Mark another chance before making your final decision. Surely, our mercy should extend that far?”

On October 12th the two Mars Hill congregations that lost their locations will meet at the Ballard location for worship at 9 a.m. Whether the “tithing” will increase and the church will establish financial stability remains to be seen, especially in light of a gauntlet of more “negative media attention” – the very thing Dean said have led to the closures. Dean’s statement from the past BNT article reveals the churches tone and future action:

“We acknowledge that the reason for much of the decrease in attendance and giving – as well as the negative media attention - falls to us, the leadership of Mars Hill. We shoulder the responsibility for our past sins and mistakes—which has caused many to leave. As we continue to repent, learn, and grow in this season, we also bear the responsibility to lead differently as we move forward—for God’s glory and the good of his church.”