The last chapter isn't so much a retelling of history but laying out a portion of "over a hundred pages long" strategic plan for Mars Hill church to get from 4,000 to 10,000 and more people attending their church on a weekly basis. With the church sitting at a maturity stage right now, they have a lot of processes, policies, and procedures that are well developed and in place. Capitalizing on those, Mark provides a brief overview of each of them as well as an Appendix in the back that is more of a Q&A that seems to be addressing more FAQs about Mars Hill in general as a whole. Before he begins to lay out some of the details, Mark is honest in telling us that he is hesitant to even include this here, because some of these will be done away with, completed, or added to after the book will have been published. They may not even work. But, "it's where they are at."
He begins with More Prayerful Men. He means praying outside the church service and the basic run of the mill prayer requests that fill the websites and message boards (not that those aren't needed and important), but more strategic praying. Specific needs within and pertaining to the church and the community.
A second endeavor is More Elders to help care for the people. The church is too big for one group of elders to run and manage the daily operations of the churh and plan its future. But when you add leaders and more management, harmony and consesus are much harder to attain. Therefore elder organization is also at the top of this list. He lays out 3 options and ultimately (not surprisingly) does not like either one on its own. They have started to take some elements from the 3 options and kind of do their own. Elder voting is also a concern and he lays out a couple options and (surprisingly) they adopted one of those methods.
Mark also lays out More Technology as a strategic initiative for Mars Hill. There website is there frontdoor to everyone (church members, non church members, you, me, others...everyone) and there church members only website is their new living room. With over 1,000 members, discussing over 4,000 topics with over 30,000 postings, their members only website has required a $800,000 new web portal technology (um, wow).
More Facilities which also brings More Parking with it. Mark explains that they have purchased a new "dumpy" 43,000 sq. foot warehouse just a block from their current church. Eventually, when the building is ready to go, they will continue with multiple services at both location at multiple times. With a possibility of 8 sermons a day or so, the decision has been made to have Mark preach one sermon, videotape it and the other church services will just show the video. Interesting note about this portion of the book...Mark retells the story of the time he crapped his pants in 2005 (literally). This kind of pushed him over the edge to videotape his preaching if for nothing else then for when he is sick.
It seemed odd when I first read it but Mark explains that More Security is definitely needed as they have had some people (as I have blogged about ready) disrupt their church service in sometimes violent ways. They already have a security team and have an off-duty police offer on-site.
More Training for all the church and its elders and leaders, including Mark. Theological training especially.
More Staff. Mark writes that Mars Hill intends to double its staff in the next year as they are grossly understaffed. He also writes, "One thing we will require of everyone we hire is a sense of awe and gratitde that they are privileged to work at Mars Hill and be part of what God is doing by the power of his gospel. At this phase, we can't tolerate employees who are simply working a job." (page 179).
From the no duh department, More Money. But more than telling their congregants to give more and be good "stewards of God's money", they also provide classes and seminars and books on budgeting, investing, life insurance, and real-estate. They also DO NOT pass around a offering plate, instead they:
- can set up regular deduction's from a paycheck
- Pay online via debit card
- send in a check
- offering boxes are posted near the exits, they can drop a check or cash in there
- they can place their gift in a basket when they come forward for communion each week.
Every service, they make it a point to tell anyone who is a visitor or not a member to NOT give. Being that, on average, 40% of their weekly attendance are not members, this makes those guests feel welcome.
Mark definitely points out that More Member Care is a top priority. People have real needs. Real people have addicitions, perversions, and our lost. Caring for these people is an absolute must.
More Church Planting is something that Mark hounds is needed in Seattle (for the umpteenth time, "the least churched city in the nation."). But not just Seattle, America needs them everywhere. As such, they have started up the Acts 29 Network (which is an excellent name I may add, for those that get it). The central offices are housed at Mars Hill and they help locate, assess, train, and deploy church planters around the nation and world. Matter of fact, Mars Hill church gives 10% of the general giving to help support church planters.
More Kindness, admittedly is something Mark has been working on for a long time (I truly do appreciate his brutal honesty, I mean he told us he crapped himself one time). He tells a story of when he contacted Rick Warren for some support and Rick reminded him that "he works for an audience of one" (AMEN!!!).
More Pruning. To be fruitful, everything needs to be pruned back somewhat. Some aggressivley, some tenderly, some early in age, some later in age. But all things need to be pruned somewhat to stay fruitful and abundant. Jesus pruned us through hardships, suffering, failure, loss, discipline, and pain. To endure pruning and trust Jesus yields bigger, better, and more fruit for his kingdom.
In closing the book........
"Thy kingdom come, they will be done.
Amen" (page 184)
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As I said, the Appendix deals more with questions including:
- Why is there laughter at Mars Hill
- Why does Mars Hill partake of communion every week
- Are the Mars Hill pastors ordained
- How does someone become an elder at Mars Hill
There are more than these, but you get the jist (if you do not, buy the book, it is well worth it).
The second appendix is titled "Distinctives of Larger Churches" and contains some titles that deal with Pastors and their roles, how large churches are led, church facility use, expectations of large churches, etc. Followed by 3 - 7 bullet points under each explaining or describing.
Finally, there is the "Notes" section which contains all the references that Mark makes throughout the book and also contains even more commentary to further explain some of the ideas and subjects he wrote about. This portion of the book is 10 pages long of about this size font with A WHOLE LOT OF INFORMATION.
I do not know what more needs to be said about this book. It is a great read that does have its weak points and moments that lag a little. But it is filled with humor and history. As much as this book is about a church plant and how it grew or maybe even tailored more toward pastors, the common lay person can garner a lot of information from this book. Some of it you will agree with, some of it you will disagree with it, but it will get you thinking about your church and your role in it. Mark will challenge you (or at least me he did) to look at your participation in your local church and if you are helping to advance the gospel of Jesus.
Are you loading your squirt gun, while helping others do the same, to charge hell?
Or
Are you sitting there with your pants around your ankles with a bottle of lotion in one hand and a kleenex in the other?
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