as The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill nears its finish line, a post reviewing past posts and observing that most of the campus spin-off churches survived the collapse of Mars Hill

I noted this a couple of years back but by the time Mark and Grace Driscoll's Spirit-Filled Jesus was released most of the campuses of the former Mars Hill Church had survived to relaunch as new churches.

https://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/09/with-mark-driscolls-spirit-filled-jesus.html

https://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-brief-survey-of-mars-hill-church-spin.html

Door of Hope site updated with Tim Smith listed among staff and elders

It took a while, but Door of Hope now lists Tim Smith as among their staff and elders, per earlier announcement.

http://www.doorofhopepdx.org/about/staff-elders/

Tim Smith
ASSOCIATE PASTOR
timsmith  @  doorofhopepdx.   org

a brief update by way of links to the Redeemer PDX merger with Door of Hope. In the Staff/Elders page for Door of Hope there's no sign of anyone named Tim Smith

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq_merger.login?p_btr_rsn=19460380&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1400943&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1729861&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq_merger.login?p_btr_rsn=19460379&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

filed October 30, 2018

http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6309341

For those who have kept tabs on this particular topic at this blog ...
https://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/08/an-update-on-redeemer-church-portland.html
http://www.doorofhopepdx.org/redeemer-faq/

What would Tim Smith’s role at Door of Hope be? Would he be an elder?

Tim would serve as an associate pastor, working alongside our other pastors in shepherding the church. Additionally, he’d play a key role in helping the Redeemer congregation integrate into DoH. He would not be coming on as an elder. [emphasis added]

http://www.doorofhopepdx.org/about/staff-elders/

Since the merger was consolidated and filed slightly more than a month ago perhaps there has not been time to officially add Tim Smith to the listed staff and elders, or perhaps an associate pastor would not be listed on the website?

As we'd noted in the earlier post, the numbers for what used to be MH PDX looked like they were dropping before the formal closure and while we never had access or were given much by way of information here at WtH about MH PDX post closure of MH it seems that the downward spiral of numbers got to the point where a merger happened.  Back in 2012 at its peak, Mark Driscoll was blogging about how Jesus loved church mergers and so should you.  The irony of a former Mars Hill campus merging with another church and giving them a building would be hard to overstate for those who at any point called the church their home church. 

Thus ends, apparently completely, the story of what was once Mars Hill Portland. 

Door of Hope Church/Redeemer Church (former Mars Hill Portland) merge moving forward

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/08/an-update-on-redeemer-church-portland.html?showComment=1533586516624#c7207190693071088518

It’s Official – As of August 4th Door of Hope Elder Meeting - Door of Hope has jointly decided with Redeemer Church that their congregation will become part of DoH

See link for additional details - http://www.doorofhopepdx.org/redeemer-faq/   (updated version)
 
For those who have never heard of Door of Hope church before just now (probably a few of you).
http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1400943&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

Articles of Incorporation date 7-9-2009
Administrative dissolution 9-3-2010
Reinstatement amended 8-30-2011
Amended annual reports dated 5-31-2012, 5-28-2013, 6-11-2014, 06-24-2015, 06-27-016
Amendment to annual report/info statement 3-8-2017
amended annual reports 06-20-2018 and 7-10-2018

President Joshua A White
Secretary James R Lacy

Now being a Presbyterian I admit I'm not the best person to try to dig into the history of real estate in Portland that may have more Baptist history but there's some coverage on Door of Hope as part of a somewhat long story about a church that has, well, a bit of a long story. That said, readers who have stuck with this blog from the very beginning may recall that Wenatchee The Hatchet grew up in Oregon so ... it's not like I can't look things up.  But to try to get a sense of what this recently chosen merge entails it may help to briefly revisit some Mars Hill history.

For people more familiar with the local history of what was once Mars Hill there was a West Seattle property that Mark Driscoll had wanted to launch Mars Hill that he was not able to get ahold of back when Mars Hill was founded.  Years later some Acts 29 associated men were leading a church plant that had ended up in that West Seattle real estate.  When Driscoll approached the men in leadership of what was Doxa at the time, Bill Clem and James Noriega agreed to let Mars Hill assimilate the West Seattle property and fellowship.  Mars Hill took on the operational and remodeling expenses incurred and added to the Mars Hill multi-site paradigm a piece of real estate Mark Driscoll had said from the pulpit he'd wanted for years. 

That's a thematic transition, because in the case of Door of Hope it looks like it's a church which is a johnny-come-lately to a piece of real estate with a complex history.  If it turns out that what used to be Mars Hill Portland has been on a decline in the last four years assimilating into that real estate site may be a pruden tmove in light of the complex and. according to at least one author, possibly shady means by which an old church in Portland ended up being able to be a home for Door of Hope to begin with.  With the caveat that any kind of counter-story or counter-account might be hard to pull up from up here in Puget Sound, here's a long-form account of how a historically black Baptist church ended up being the residence for a younger and mainly white church, the aforementioned Door of Hope that has agreed to add Redeemer to its flock and will reportedly take up the formerly Mars Hill Portland real estate.

https://atticusreview.org/the-theft-of-a-black-baptist-church-in-rip-city-an-investigative-report-part-1-of-5/
https://atticusreview.org/the-theft-of-a-black-baptist-church-in-gentrified-rip-city-an-investigative-report-part-2-of-5/
https://atticusreview.org/the-theft-of-a-black-baptist-church-in-gentrified-rip-city-an-investigative-report-part-3-of-5/
https://atticusreview.org/the-theft-of-a-black-baptist-church-in-gentrified-rip-city-an-investigative-report-part-4-of-5/

Since we live in a world with too much TL:DR the take away is that Door of Hope and Redeemer are probably a relatively solid fit.  There's no indication Tim Smith is going to be an elder in any capacity at Door of Hope.  About 100 people from Redeemer are anticipated to join Door of Hope.  The last service for Redeemer is coming up this Sunday on August 12, 2018.

Having written somewhat extensively about the decline of Mars Hill Portland (now Redeemer) in the wake of Mark Driscoll's resignation in 2014,  I don't plan to recycle the numbers already mentioned.  It is ironic to consider that Redeemer has become the declining church that has voted to let a newer more up-and-coming church take up their real estate.  It would appear that the real estate Door of Hope came into earlier may have some baggage in historical terms.  Since Door of Hope seemed to already be in the Portland community by way of occupying an existing church it was a bit puzzling why it would need to be said that " Having Redeemer Church join DoH enables us to hold Sunday services in a building that aligns with our philosophy of being present in the local community, while joining with the people of Redeemer to make Jesus known in our city."

Grace City Portland ...

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1782913&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

is the church that looks to stay at the Fremont building and there are plans on the part of Door of Hope to plant a church at that site along its mission aims. 

It's ironic that it's Mars Hill Portland as Redeemer that has voted to give its real estate to another church years after Mark Driscoll published his "Jesus Loves Church Mergers" pitch in which Mars Hill was the church to which dying churches with killer real estate and not enough money to keep them operational might consider giving their assets.

Smith isn't going to be an elder ... that just around100 are anticipated to join Door of Hope through the merger makes it sound like Redeemer's attendance or membership took a nosedive since the peak of Mars Hill circa 2012-2013.  It makes sense why the merger would be taken up for the former Mars Hill campus.  But it also, to go by the coverage linked above, might be a prudent merger for Door of Hope.  With questions as to how legitimately the real estate Door of Hope came into was obtained and conveyed further development in the Portland area might be on surer footing if it continued at a piece of real estate voted on to be given to DoH by a board, interim board, but if you read all the Atticus coverage there were some questions as to how above board the other real estate was handled.

So, anyway, such as it is, that's another update on what used to be Mars Hill Portland.  Whether or not Door of Hope has any SBC connections is something that perhaps industrious readers and commenters can help out with.  The usual warning applies that all comments kick straight into moderation and get published when I see them if I consider them appropriate to publish. 

an update on Redeemer Church Portland (former Mars Hill Portland) merger with Door of Hope, an ironic turn of events in light of Driscoll's 2011 "Jesus Loves Church Mergers" post in is Pastor Mark TV period

It's axiomatic that you're not supposed to trust anonymous comments on the internet.  But that caveat has a few provisos.  When I was a journalism student one of my professors said that "in general" you will find that anonymous sources aren't often going to share things with you that you couldn't find out from the public record if you just looked harder.  That said, anonymous tips are still worth considering if the information they share can actually be verified.

So, in that spirit, a person who left an anonymous comment about the recent changes at what was formerly Mars Hill Portland and then Redeemer that provides an update that can be vetted by a publicly available source, the Door of Hope church that has agreed with an interim board at Redeemer to assimilate Redeemer.

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/03/redeemer-church-in-portland-has-filed.html?showComment=1533393264375#c9203292765554535516

Anonymous said...

UPDATE ON REDEEMER CHURCH Portland OR as of 8.3.2018
Redeemer church Portland OR voted unanimously to join Door of Hope Effective July 19, 2018 see the following for more information - http://redeemerpdx.com/ Thought you might like to know about this – Additional Info & the transition timeline is on Redeemer’s Facebook Page.
Facebook Announcement of Transition Schedule dated July 24, 2018 at 3:37pm
Hey Redeemer! As was announced on Sunday, our Board voted to join Door Of Hope. Here are some dates to remember over the next few weeks until we join them at Revolution Hall:
-Sunday, July 29 - Josh White will be preaching on their core values and lots of other information on how to serve in and connect to DOH - you won't want to miss it
-Sunday, Aug 5 - Tim will be back preaching in Psalms
-Sunday, Aug 12 - Tim will preach our last service as Redeemer Church. We'll have a family style celebration of what God has done in and through our church
-Sunday, Aug. 19 - join DOH for Sunday services at Revolution Hall
**Please like and share this post so word gets around!**
Door of Hope's FAQ Regarding Merger can be found on Door of Hope's website - http://www.doorofhopepdx.org/redeemer-faq/

7:34 am

 

and here is the Door of Hope FAQ about the merger.  It's fairly extensive and provides background for the recent decision. 

 

http://www.doorofhopepdx.org/redeemer-faq/

In Brief

Door of Hope is currently in talks with Redeemer Church regarding the prospect of their congregation becoming part of DoH. [emphasis added] If we go forward, the Redeemer congregation would begin attending DoH services, and DoH would take ownership of Redeemer’s building, a beautiful historic church in the Sunnyside neighborhood of SE Portland. After some helpful repair and upgrade work, DoH would move Sunday services from Revolution Hall to the Redeemer building.

 

How did the discussion with Redeemer begin?

Josh White and Redeemer pastor Tim Smith were put in touch with one another through a mutual mentor at Western Seminary. In recent months, it became clear that this was an opportunity that could benefit both church bodies and help further our shared mission of serving the city of Portland. [emphasis added]

 

How does this opportunity fit into Door of Hope’s vision for its future?

We desire to plant churches in Portland that hold to Christian orthodoxy and express Door of Hope’s four pillars. Having Redeemer Church join DoH would enable us to hold Sunday services in a building that aligns with our philosophy of being present in the local community, while joining with the people of Redeemer to make Jesus known in our city. Additionally, this move would open up potential space for a future church plant in our Fremont building.

How many people are part of Redeemer? Do we have the pastoral and volunteer capacity to care for all of them?

At the moment, we’re expecting around 100 people from Redeemer to join Door of Hope. This would translate to an increase of around 10% in our Sunday attendance, which fits comfortably within our current capacity. [emphases added] We anticipate that we’ll need to expand our existing Children’s Ministry volunteer team, but are happy to say that the Redeemer building will offer a dedicated Children’s Ministry space that exceeds the capacity of our space at Revolution Hall.

 

Who is empowered to make decisions on behalf of Redeemer’s congregation?

Redeemer has an interim board that was established to make decisions regarding the future of the church. After prayerful consideration, the board unanimously voted in favor of joining Door of Hope’s community.

Are there significant theological differences between Redeemer and Door of Hope? Will this change the feel of Sunday services?

Door of Hope and Redeemer are aligned theologically, and share a common commitment to Christian orthodoxy and to proclaiming the Gospel in our city. Our approach to ministry will not be changing, and the new church building will still retain the distinctive feel and values of DoH. In fact, this building aligns even more closely with our desire to be a visible, welcoming presence within the local community.

Will the staff or leadership structure of Door of Hope change?

There will be no change to the leadership structure at Door of Hope. We would be hiring Redeemer’s current lead pastor, Tim Smith, as an associate pastor on DoH’s pastoral team, but Tim would be the only Redeemer staff member joining DoH. [emphasis added]

What would Tim Smith’s role at Door of Hope be? Would he be an elder?

Tim would serve as an associate pastor, working alongside our other pastors in shepherding the church. Additionally, he’d play a key role in helping the Redeemer congregation integrate into DoH. He would not be coming on as an elder. [emphasis added]

What will happen to leaders currently serving at Redeemer?

Ministry leaders at Redeemer would not automatically become leaders at Door of Hope. However, we’re excited to welcome in all members of the Redeemer congregation and help them discover opportunities to serve with their unique gifts.

What is the proposed timeline for Redeemer’s integration into Door of Hope?

We’d love to see Redeemer join Door of Hope before the sign-up process for the Fall community group season begins. The DoH elder board will be voting on August 4, and we’re currently looking at August 19 as a potential integration date. [emphasis added]

What still needs to happen before Door of Hope’s leadership makes a definitive decision?

While the DoH leaders are excited about the prospect of having Redeemer join our family, we want to take time to effectively communicate with our body, carefully evaluate the needs of the Redeemer building, and prayerfully plan the transition.

What work will be done on the Redeemer building?

A thorough building inspection has been completed, with no significant findings outside of general maintenance needs. The building is functional and safe as it is, but we want to do a number of improvements, including installing an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system and upgrading the existing Children’s Ministry space.

Would Door of Hope be assuming the mortgage on the new building?

DoH would either assume the mortgage with Redeemer’s current bank or refinance it with our own bank. The value of the building currently exceeds the deficit on the mortgage, meaning that the assets would exceed the liabilities. The repayments would be significantly less than what we currently pay for the use of Revolution Hall, which means this would not only be a financially sound move, but a financially beneficial one. [emphases added]

How would this decision impact Grace City Portland?

We’re excited about the work that Grace City is doing and are happy to see the way that the Fremont building has served their needs as a church plant. Having Door of Hope move into the Redeemer building would mean that Grace City could continue to use the Fremont building for the foreseeable future.

What is the plan for the long-term future of the Fremont building?

Our long-term goal would be to plant a church into the Fremont building that would reflect our pillars and form part of a Door of Hope family of churches.

 

Who the mutual mentor may have been would have to be a guess here but someone at Western seminary is established.  Smith will be an associate pastor at Door of Hope.  Door of Hope would be assuming the mortgage on the Redeemer building, it seems, and the value of the building currently exceeds the deficit on the mortgage meaning the assets would exceed the liabilities.  So ... it would appear the merger makes sense in terms of a real estate pivot.   

 

The number of people who would be anticipated to join Door of Hope from the Redeemer side is stated as 100 people. 

 

100 people? 

 

Let's look at a snapshot of the Mars Hill FY2012 report

 

 

and from FY2013

 

since Mars Hill collapsed in 2014 there wasn't a big incentive to list the number of people in attendance in the annual report.  But ... there was a circa April 2014 financial slide in a document passed along to Wenatchee The Hatchet we can consult.

 

 

Giving households obviously can't be construed as attenders since peoplecan give to a cause even if they aren't members.  Still, the numbers do suggest that there was some kind of numeric decline that could be measured going on.

 

For the former Mars Hill Portland to reach a point where its operational liabilities make a church merger seem like a good idea and 100 people are anticipated by Door of Hope to join them if the merger goes through, that could seem to tell a story of Redeemer on the rocks.  As Justin Dean has been telling things in podcast interviews promoting PR Matters he's been saying all the churches are doing well, thanks. 

The Redeemer Portland merger that looks like it gets voted on today reminds me of something Mark Driscoll once wrote the following that we'll quote a large chunk of.  Keep your eyes peeled for references to Leadership Network people or the Vanderbloemen group while you're reading this 2011 chestnut that you may not be able to dig up at Driscoll's newer web presence.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20111201225737/http://pastormark.tv/2011/11/29/jesus-loves-church-mergers-and-so-should-you

 

...

 

Missional Mergers

The mergers we’ve been a part of at Mars Hill, and some of the mergers other churches in the Acts 29 network have been a part of, have by God’s grace been missionally focused mergers. By this I mean that they’ve been the result of two churches coming together to ask how they can work together to accomplish a shared mission, to see many people come to Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). Underlying this is the belief that if Jesus' name is made much of in the building, then it does not much matter whose name is on the sign of the building.

Each of these mergers has had different details surrounding them. Sometimes there are financial struggles, such as with Sammamish. Other times, there is a devastating loss to the leadership, as with the case of Pastor Bill and his wife at Doxa. These mergers were akin to an adoption, where a hurting church in need was adopted by a healthy church to work together as brothers and sisters in Christ to the glory of God to accomplish his mission.

Sometimes there is simply a desire to be more effective and to have greater reach as a church, which leads healthy churches to join together to see greater impact for the gospel. Such was the case when we merged with City on a Hill in Albuquerque and with The Vine. These types of mergers are like marriages, in which two churches come together with strengths that complement each other to accomplish the mission of God. As within marriage, there is a leader in the merger, but unlike an adoption type merger, there is health on both sides.

Here’s the painful truth—the calls we are getting lately from churches we have not yet merged with are often cases where the senior leadership was disqualified because of sin, often sexual. Once the leadership leaves, often the best people remain and try to save their church, and a merger is a way to help such people save their church from death.

Other calls we are getting are from churches where the leadership has gotten off-track theologically and moved into false teaching and error. These churches are seeking help to right their ship.
And, sometimes the pastors of smaller churches are so burdened by the administration of running their organization that they want to merge with a bigger church like ours so that we can take those burdens off them and allow them to focus on serving people and making disciples, which is why they went into ministry in the first place.

Often times the whole story behind a merger is not told because of the painful circumstances that need not be made public. As a pastor who loves churches and God’s people, some of what I see and hear is heartbreaking, and if a merger can save a church from death and support godly people giving their all to keep yet another church from the grave, then I am certain it makes Jesus happy no matter what the critics may say.

In each case, the situation is never one of a larger church coming in to pick up the remains of a smaller church but rather of two churches wanting to be as faithful to God’s calling as possible.
These types of mergers are not unique to Mars Hill and are, in fact, growing around the country. Leadership Network research has indicated that 2 percent (6,000 churches) of US Protestant churches merge annually, and another 5 percent of churches (15,000) say they have already talked about merging in the future.

The good news is that a vast majority of churches that have merged with a shared mission in mind have experienced new vitality and growth, seeing their influence and ability to minister in the community grow exponentially. This is something we can attest to at Mars Hill and something I’ve personally seen in many churches across the country.

Granted, these mergers are never without their hardships and struggles, but by God’s grace they’re resulting in a great harvest.

Facing the Facts

The reality is that church mergers will only continue to grow. As the baby boomers begin retirement, there will be a growing decline in Protestant churches in attendance and a very real need for leadership at declining churches. Unfortunately, the upcoming generation is not only smaller in numbers demographically, but also less likely to be involved in church, and especially less likely to be involved in church leadership and the ministry as a vocation, according to some sources. This is creating and will continue to create a great crisis in which many long-standing, God-fearing, and Bible-loving churches who have a great heritage and a history of gospel work in their city, face the prospect of closing their doors for good—often selling their property to commercial interests or even other religious expressions. And once those churches close, the zoning changes and a church may never be able to reside in that community again.

The following are some sobering statistics from the upcoming book by Warren Bird and Jim Tomberlin of the Leadership Network, entitled Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work. I thank them for sending me an advance copy of the manuscript and encourage you to read the book when it comes out in April.

• Roughly 80 percent of the three hundred thousand Protestant churches in the United States have plateaued or are declining, and many of them are in desperate need of a vibrant ministry.

• Roughly three thousand of these declining churches (1 percent of all churches in America) will close their doors permanently nationwide in the next twelve months.

• Among the 20 percent of growing congregations across the United States, many are in desperate need of space. These conditions present a potential win-win for forward-thinking church leaders who believe that “we can do better together than separate,” and it is revitalizing church topography.

• Church foreclosures, virtually unheard of in the United States before the Great Recession of 2008, have recently increased in number. According to a Wall Street Journal report, nearly two hundred churches have had their properties foreclosed on by banks in 2008, 2009, and 2010, up from only eight foreclosures in the two years prior to that and none in the previous decade.

• One recent study found that the percentage of congregations reporting some or serious financial difficulty more than doubled to nearly 20 percent since about 2000. From 2000 to 2008—before the recession’s toll was felt—congregations reporting “excellent financial health” had dropped from 31 percent to 19 percent. They dropped further to 14 percent in 2010. The recession only exacerbated their economic situations, according to survey compiler David Roozen, director of The Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

• The biggest elephant in church boardrooms in the United States is the topic of senior pastor succession. It is a difficult conversation for most aging senior pastors to have with their boards and staff, so usually it is ignored until too late. Many are predicting a tsunami of church turnovers during the next decade as the aging baby boomers turn over the reins of U.S. churches to the next generation. According to William Vanderbloemen, founder and president of the Vanderbloemen Search Group, senior pastor succession “might be the biggest unspoken crisis the church in the US will face over the next twenty years.”

• About 30 percent of churches going into a merger do so without pastors in both of the churches, according to the Leadership Network 2011 survey of church mergers.

At some point, the American church will have to face the facts that in order for many churches to survive and continue ministry and service to their community, it will take thinking differently about local churches working together and sometimes merging together.

 

 

So the irony of Mars Hill Portland becoming Redeemer in the wake of the implosion of Mars Hill Church without a clear line of succession within Mars Hill, and then Redeemer Portland getting to the point where it agreed to merge with Door of Hope and having the prospect of ... 100 people joining Door of Hope if the vote goes through ... that irony is hard to overstate.  Mars Hill Portland may have become in the mere four years after the demise of Mars Hill a church that's dwindling away and that has found it advantageous to agree to a church merger. 

 

POSTSCRIPT

08-06-2018

06.17PM

 

There's a confirmation on the Redeemer side of things, too, and, per a recent comment, the hand-off/transfer has become official.

https://redeemerpdx.com/

 

On July 19, 2018 the Board of Directors of Redeemer church voted unanimously to join Door of Hope in order to further the Gospel in the city of Portland. As of August 19th we will start meeting with them at Revolution Hall for worship for several months. During this time The Castle will undergo some much needed renovations and after they are finished, Door of Hope will move into the building. We are excited for this opportunity and thankful to the Father for His provision during our time of transition as a church.

 

Stay tuned here for further updates on when Door of Hope will be starting services here at The Castle.

 

former Mars Hill Portland aka Redeemer Church still in some kind of flux, 404 error for leadership page

We've briefly discussed how Redeemer (formerly Mars Hill Church Portland) seems to be in a transitional state of some kind this year.  There's not a ton of new information. Here's a sampler of what we've managed to chronicle from earlier this year.

https://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/03/redeemer-church-in-portland-has-filed.html

As of today ... you'll get a 404 error if you try to pull up the "leadership" page.
http://redeemerpdx.com/about/leadership/

exactly what's going on with what used to be Mars Hill Portland and precisely why there's no trace of Tim Smith anywhere in the more recent documents as yet has no explanation and may never get one.

However ...

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1729861&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

REINSTATEMENT AMENDED 03-14-2018

UPDATE
05-09-2018

Thanks to the WayBack Machine there is a way to see what the leadership page used to look like and may, or may not, at some point look like again.
https://web.archive.org/web/20171002191650/http://redeemerpdx.com/about/leadership/

...

Elders, who are the Pastors of our church, are responsible for the general spiritual and operational oversight of the local assembly. They provide pastoral care of the flock as well as teaching and equipping of the saints for ministry.

 

The Elder board of our church currently consists of: Pastor Eric Appleby, Pastor Jon Crist, Pastor Kevin Kelly, Pastor Ryan Mount, Pastor Dan Ortega, Pastor Tim Smith and Pastor Jim Swanson. Two of the Elders of Redeemer Church are also paid staff. They are: Tim Smith, in the role of Lead Teaching Pastor and Kevin Kelly, in the role of Executive Pastor.

 

God has called all of these men to lead by example and to serve with love, humility and grace, placing care and service to the flock over their own interests. Should you wish to speak to any of our Elders, please email redeemer@redeemerpdx.com indicating whom you wish to speak with and they will get back to you promptly.

...


As yet there's no updates

former Mars Hill Portland church Redeemer Church in Portland has filed articles of dissolution according to Oregon Secretary of State

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/02/church-at-3210-taylor-street-subjected.html

Last time we looked at the situation at former Mars Hill Portland, it seemed it was reincorporating.  Since Wenatchee The Hatchet is a native Northwesterner who grew up in Oregon it hasn't been a whole lot of work to occasionally inquire into the status of Redeemer.  But sometimes commenters provide helpful information.

For instance:

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/02/church-at-3210-taylor-street-subjected.html?showComment=1521131726249#c5382948841054363197

Anonymous said...

Articles of Dissolution were filed 3.14.2018 for RedeemerPDX, see attached link - http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1813737&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

Kevin Kelly has been terminated & Tim Smith has Resigned as Senior Pastor

9:35 A

And according to the Oregon Secretary of State articles of dissolution for Redeemer PDF were filed yesterday. 
http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1813737&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FA

ARTICLES OF DISSOLUTION

03-14-2018

There's a "reinstatement amended" for the 3210 Taylor Street, too.

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1729861&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE


UPDATE 03-16-2018 0608

As noted in the earlier post, it's not clear that Redeemer PDX is actually shutting down.  Reincoporation is going on, perhaps, and reorganization.

One of the legacies of the network of churches that were once Mars Hill is there's almost always something by way of audio and social media.  So someone has run this by WtH. 

https://soundcloud.com/redeemerpdx/guest-speaker-tim-hemphill

and knowing that among the Mar Hill network of churches pastors have a history of listing their CVs on a network ...

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-hemphill-481969b2
 

Tim Hemphill

Interim vice president at Redeemer church pdx

Location

Vancouver, Washington

Industry

Nonprofit Organization Management

 ...

Interim vice president

Redeemer church pdx

March 2018 – Present (1 month)Portland, Oregon Area

Helping the church during a transition season. Doing some interim preaching.

 

It looks like there's a transition season.  Since my familiarity with the culture and history of what was once Mars Hill dates more back to the earliest years of Mark, Mike and Lief through the 2008 period Hemphill is a name that rings no bells at all, but he's mentioned being interim VP at Redeemer during a transitional time.  So the church itself may not be dying as such but this, as they say, a recently breaking development in terms of online documentation

UPDATE II 03-16-2018 17:27
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2018/02/church-at-3210-taylor-street-subjected.html?showComment=1521208697340#c7720967476586717366

NEW DEVELOPMENT - Even though Kevin S Kelly has been terminated it appears he is still involved with RedeemerPDX in helping new leadership team transition to an as yet unknown existence - See attached link to a new Application filed later the same day with State of Oregon for Redeemer Church to continue as an organization. Note who is the Authorized Representative not the Authorized Agent & that the mailing address for the organization is not the church but Kevin Kelly's home address - Seems sort of odd.


http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1967378&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE


So maybe my earlier guess that the church isn't permanently dissolving so much as reincorporating and re:launching might be a decent guess.  But it is, after all, still a guess. 

former Mars Hill Portland aka Church at 3210 Taylor Street subjected to administrative dissolution as of last month, reincorporation process to officially be Redeemer Church as a corporate entity undertaken

One of the things we've had going on here at Wenatchee The Hatchet is a side project of keeping tabs on the campuses that spun off from the implosion of Mars Hill.  While Justin Dean has made the rounds on the podcast circuit promoting his book and talking about how most of the spin off campuses are doing fine, it's ... not entirely clear how up to date Dean's information is.

Take the former Mars Hill Portland that became Redeemer in doing-business-as but was known by another name in the Oregon Secretary of State records, documented with some help from commenters over at this blog post earlier.

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1516831&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1729861&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

 

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-portland-to-redeemer.html

Then there's this. Check out the more recent entries.

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1729861&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

Administrative dissolution as of January 11, 2018? 
Notice Late Annual November 22, 2017.

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-portland-to-redeemer.html?showComment=1453346527342#c8750312120294652858

In November 2015, according to official State records, Redeemer Church, AKA: The Church at 3210 SE Taylor Street, changed the number of it's officers from 7 down to 2.http://records.sos.state.or.us/webdrawer/webdrawer.dll/webdrawer/rec/4251309/view/SOS%20-%20Corporation%20-%20Business%20Entity%20Filing%20Records%20-%20106294895.PDF

So the officer roles do look like they dropped down to just two people playing three roles, president, secretary and registered agent respectively. 

Now according to the Oregon Secretary of State there are a number of grounds for administrative dissolution

https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/65.647

The Secretary of State may commence a proceeding under ORS 65.651 (Procedure for and effect of administrative dissolution) to administratively dissolve a corporation if:

(1) The corporation does not pay when due any fees imposed by this chapter;

(2) The corporation does not deliver its annual report to the Secretary of State when due;

(3) The corporation is without a registered agent or registered office in this state;

(4) The corporation does not notify the Secretary of State that its registered agent or registered office has been changed, that its registered agent has resigned, or that its registered office has been discontinued; or

(5) The corporation’s period of duration, if any, stated in its articles of incorporation expires. [1989 c.1010 §138]

 

https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/65.651

One of the most salient changes in the governance of what used to be Mars Hill Portland is that Tim Allen Smith isn't listed as any of the officers in the newly reconstituted Redeemer Church. 

http://records.sos.state.or.us/webdrawer/webdrawer.dll/webdrawer/rec/5197666/view/SOS%20-%20Corporation%20-%20Business%20Entity%20Filing%20Records%20-%20118647494.PDF

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1729861&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

At the moment what may be happening is that the entity is reincorporating so as to officially be known in corporate terms what they have advertised themselves as being on their website.  That seems like the best guessed based on the available documentation so far.

"If" something else has been or is going on that's not something that we can address here at Wenatchee The Hatchet at the moment.  But, since we've been documenting stuff by way of LLC listings and so forth for years now, we can, at least, do that much.

As yet the elder roster looks pretty much the same as it has been. 
 

 http://redeemerpdx.com/about/leadership/

...

The Elder board of our church currently consists of: Pastor Eric Appleby, Pastor Jon Crist, Pastor Kevin Kelly, Pastor Ryan Mount, Pastor Dan Ortega, Pastor Tim Smith and Pastor Jim Swanson. Two of the Elders of Redeemer Church are also paid staff. They are: Tim Smith, in the role of Lead Teaching Pastor and Kevin Kelly, in the role of Executive Pastor.

God has called all of these men to lead by example and to serve with love, humility and grace, placing care and service to the flock over their own interests. Should you wish to speak to any of our Elders, please email redeemer@redeemerpdx.com indicating whom you wish to speak with and they will get back to you promptly.

If something is going on down in Portland here's hoping someone can tackle that closer to the site itself.  Wenatchee The Hatchet hasn't been to Portland in about a dozen years.

IF you want to get caught up on a few things connected to mars Hill Portland and its post-MH existence or the role Tim Smith played in the history of Mars Hill there are tags for that now. For folks who might want to revisit the history of Mars Hill attempts to create a music label/record label go to the posts with this tag.

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/search/label/resound%20and%20other%20MH%20music

For a more comprehensive index of tagged posts about various aspects of Mars Hill and its history go over here.

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2017/02/for-those-interested-in-researching.html

The later history of what was once Mars Hill Portland got volatile at a few points and Warren Throckmorton has blog posts about that.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/tag/mars-hill-portland/




 

 

2016, a new year, and the MH re-plants share their respective histories ... or not, an overview of which MH spin-offs have leaders who were on the BoE that was investigating Driscoll

sadf
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-shoreline-to-sound-city.html
http://soundcitybiblechurch.com/about-us/history/

In 1996, a pastor named Mark Driscoll started a new church in Seattle called Mars Hill. Mars Hill Church grew rapidly, and in 2006 decided to plant its very first remote campus, a video location called Mars Hill Shoreline. The pastor who launched the new location, Steve Tompkins, put it this way: “God kept bringing more people to hear the gospel. Even five Sunday services [in Ballard] back-to-back didn’t address our need for more space.”

God did many amazing things in and through Mars Hill Shoreline: people were saved, hundreds were baptized, families were started, lives were transformed. However, there were also many issues that built up over the years which all came to a head in 2014, a year of great difficulty for the church. Facing mounting criticism as the church investigated formal charges against him, Mark Driscoll submitted his resignation as vision and preaching pastor on October 14, 2014. Shortly afterward, it was announced that each local campus of Mars Hill would have the opportunity to launch out as their own fully independent church.

After much prayer and discussion, the elder team of Mars Hill Shoreline did make the decision to re-plant Mars Hill Shoreline as Sound City Bible Church. The elders made the commitment to learn from the sins and mistakes of the church in the past while focusing on a fresh vision to help people hear the good news of Jesus all throughout the north end of the greater Seattle area.

Sound City Bible Church is not simply Mars Hill carrying on under a new name. It is a new church with a new elder team, a new doctrinal statement, a new mission and a new set of values. This church has been through some difficult times, but through it all is more convinced than ever that Jesus truly is the one who is worth placing ultimate hope in. We hope and pray that God would give us many years together to glorify God by proclaiming Jesus, receiving grace, being disciples, and making disciples.

Trinity West sort of doesn't have a history page
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-west-seattle-to-trinity.html
http://www.trinityws.com/

Some of these churches are starting from scratch and disconnected from Mars Hill so it might make sense to not have a history that states up front the Mars Hill lineage while formally declaring a different set of goals is in order. Now Fairchild was not on the BoE, for those who remember what the Board of Elders was.

But ... if your church says one of its core values is "legacy" then not mentioning a legacy connected to Mars Hill becomes more puzzling.
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-tacoma-to-resurrection.html
http://www.resurrectionchurch.com/about/

For those who don't remember, Bubba Jennings was not just on the Board of Elders, he was also an executive elder around the time the 2007 firings and trials occurred.

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-boe-members-part-3-pastor-bubba.html

So he may not only be able to answer questions about investigation into Mark Driscoll from 2014, he is one of the only people who  had a connection to the termination and trials of Meyer and Petry from 2007 that has not publicly recanted/repudiated involvement of any kind in that process.

Redemption in Spokane indicates their story as connected to Mars Hill.
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-spokane-to-redemption.html
http://redemptionspokane.com/whoweare/

Redemption Spokane is a new church planted in the heart of the Inland Northwest with the mission to see the work of redemption impact Spokane, seeing many people’s lives changed by the power of the Gospel. Our founding pastor, Miles Rohde, and a large number of our original core members had a heart to see a new church planted in the heart of Spokane that would reach the entire region. Originally beginning with the vision of being a church connected to Mars Hill Church, in the fall of 2014 a decision was made to become a fully independent church with our soft-launch in January 2015.

The church building, located on the corner of 2nd Ave and Division Street, has been a bastion of the gospel in Spokane since the first church building was constructed at this important crossroads in downtown Spokane. Having moved into this church building, right in the heart of Spokane, Redemption Spokane desires to continue the legacy of the Gospel being faithfully preached to all.
As a church, we had our official launch at our Easter service in 2015.

For those who may have forgotten ... somebody was on the Board of Elders assigned to investigate Driscoll, if memory serves.
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-boe-members-part-7-pastor-miles.html

One would already have to have known that the Rainier Valley Church had a Mars Hill history to observe it's still at the Union Gospel Mission site.

http://www.rainiervalleychurch.com/about-us/

Given the obscure but swift disappearance of Willie Wilson from its leadership that this church even still exists at all could seem like a feat of community cohesion.

Choi was also mentioned as a member of the BoE
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-boe-members-part-1-pastor-ed-choi.html


Former Mars Hill Portland is now Redeemer in Portland and has nothing much to say about its history.  They will, however, be nominating deacons soon (and may possibly have already)
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-portland-to-redeemer.html
http://redeemerpdx.com/about/leadership/

...

The Elder board of our church currently consists of: Pastor Eric Appleby, Pastor Jon Crist, Pastor Kevin Kelly, Pastor Ryan Mount, Pastor Dan Ortega, Pastor Tim Smith and Pastor Jim Swanson. Two of the Elders of Redeemer Church are also paid staff. They are: Tim Smith, in the role of Lead Teaching Pastor and Kevin Kelly, in the role of Executive Pastor.

God has called all of these men to lead by example and to serve with love, humility and grace, placing care and service to the flock over their own interests. Should you wish to speak to any of our Elders, please email redeemer@redeemerpdx.com indicating whom you wish to speak with and they will get back to you promptly.

Deacons

As a new church, we will soon nominate Deacons who will be responsible for taking various day-to-day burdens of service from the Elders, in order that they may focus on prayer, teaching and general oversight of the church. Redeemer Church will have both men and women Deacons, as supported by scripture.

Since Tim Smith was one of the members of the Board of Elders assigned to investigate Mark Driscoll maye an elder can lead by example by answering questions about what was in the report/investigation from later 2014?
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-boe-members-part-8-pastor-tim-smith.html

or maybe field questions about statements made about Mark Dunford?

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/09/mark-dunford-releases-statement.html
https://www.facebook.com/dunford.mark/posts/10152930946657345
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0zjdmzp7wr060f5/StatementFromTheDunfords.pdf?dl=0

Olympia ...
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-olympia-to-harbor-church.html
http://www.harborolympia.com/leadership/

Not a whole ton of history there to share.  Although Mars Hill Olympia was where the Mars Hill Military Mission was once based, which was a ministry that basically distributed Mars Hill authored books to soldiers. The Military Mission was shut down in early 2012 after having been moved, for reasons not necessarily clearly explained, from Olympia to central HQ or thereabouts.   As discussed at this blog, the book distributional aims of the defunct Military Mission could have made sense as an easy way to handle the bulk orders for the bulk order side of the Result Source strategy. 

There are churches that were once Mars Hill that clearly believe it's best to lead up front with the line of descent.  Other chuches seem eager to avoid this still unavoidable element of their history, at least for now. 

For those who don't remember the name of Matt Rogers, who was pastor at Mars Hill Bellevue in 2014 and on the BoE and eventually appointed to the BoAA ...
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2014/08/26/is-matt-rogers-the-newest-member-of-the-mars-hill-church-board-of-advisors-and-accountability/

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-boe-members-part-6-pastor-matt.html
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-bellevue-to-doxa-church.html

http://doxa-church.com/servant-leaders

There's not a lot of evidence he's connected to Doxa Eastside lately. There's no trace of him if you do a search for his name on their site.  Given Rogers' role on both the BoE and the BoAA and what he was willing to say about public criticism of Mark Driscoll a hard reboot without him might seem beneficial.  The hard reboot might also extend to not really sharing much by way of establishing the historic connection between Doxa and the former Mars Hill.


http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-ballard-to-cross-and.html
http://crossandcrownseattle.com/home/about/
4554 12th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105

Cross and Crown has left the Ballard site and taken up at what was once the U-District Mars Hill site.
It has, if memory serves, taken on people from the sites that were formerly Mars Hill Downtown, Ballard and the U-District.  As reported a while back by Wenatchee The Hatchet and Warren Throckmorton some of the campuses had been losing attenders or members in the months running up to Driscoll's formal resignation.  Consolidating those who were left at some of the campuses to what used to be Mars Hill Ballard made some sense.  In a way the consolidation process was a kind of mirror to the 20007 dispersion process in which people were sent out to launch campuses for the multi-campus process.  And it's tough to forget that the multi-site approach became appealing as Mars Hill central leadership realized the second campus idea for what became the central headquarters was either impossible or wildly impractical.  In th ehistory of Mars Hill it is worth stressing that when we consult the talks of Mark Drsicoll about multi-site compared to what he published in Confessions of Reformission Rev about a decade ago, the entire multi-site approach was a kind of epic Plan B.

So, anyway, Cross and Crown does not have a very detailed history for itself yet.

Then there's the somewhat shortlived Mars Hill Albuquerque.

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2015/08/from-mars-hill-albuquerque-to-north.html

Not only does there not seem to be any history for the church you can't even tell who the leaders are as you can with just about any of the other churches, unless you go digging up the sermons.

You can learn more if you fill out a form, though.
http://northchurchabq.com/connect/

So, having reviewed a few of the sites that were once Mars Hill and having noted which applicable names showed up in the Board of Elders ... let's revisit a statement quoted by Warren Throckmorton.


http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2014/10/19/mars-hill-church-board-of-elders-mark-driscoll-resigned-instead-of-enter-restoration-plan-to-deal/

The investigation of formal charges against Mark Driscoll has revealed patterns of persistent sin in the three areas disclosed in the previous letter by the Board of Overseers. In I Tim 5:20, it requires that an elder be rebuked for persistent sin. Our intention was to do this while providing a plan for his eventual restoration to leadership. The Board of Elders in agreement with the Board of Overseers are grieved, deeply grieved, that any process like that was lost to us when Mark Driscoll resigned in position and left the church. Now is the time to move on and consider what God is calling us to next as a church as we participate in Jesus’ mission to make disciples in His name. [emphasis added] Today begins a new chapter in the history of our church which has proceeded in one direction under one leadership for many years now, but I want you to understand this, God is our Father. That does not change. Jesus is the chief shepherd of the church and that has not changed.

The elders of Mars Hill Church acknowledge as we’ve gone through all of this investigation, and heard all of these stories, we acknowledge that we have personally led in some of the same ways that demonstrate some of the same ways that Pastor Mark had. And those things require repentance and forgiveness and restoration. We realize that there are ways that we have led as elders in ways that have been domineering, sometimes arrogant and sometimes boastful and at least for my part, I want to say I deeply regret those sins and I ask for your forgiveness.  We want to lead you into the future in a way that displays more grace, more love as we speak the truth to each of you. If there are people that I have offended in ways I have pastored this church, I would welcome that you come to me and speak with me to allow me the opportunity to reconcile with you.

At this time Mars Hill Church is going to move ahead under the Board of Overseers established plan for transition. Pastor Dave Bruskas will serve as the teaching and preaching pastor during an interim period of time until we establish a direction we are going as a church. The Board of Advisors are going to be working in the weeks to come on a plan for moving forward and for how that will unfold, what the next steps are, there are a lot of things to consider. As we discover what those things are, what the spirit shows us, then we want to communicate clearly to you and transparently to you what’s happening, the directions and the changes that will be taking place.

2016 is a new year but even if there's a new man, to borrow an apostolic epistletory idiom, the old man isn't completely dead yet.

No, actually, we can be pretty literal about this. The corporation formerly known as Mars Hill Church is still technically listed as "Active" even today by the Washington Secretary of State website.

https://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/search_detail.aspx?ubi=601677819

It still lists Dave Bruskas as President and Caleb Walters as Vice-President even though Kerry Dodd's been describing himself as President for a while and describes himself thus as of ... right now.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-dodd-a4174712

President and General Manager

Mars Hill Fellowship, Inc.

2015 – Present (1 year)

- Keen management to daily operations to guarantee proper handling of all legal affairs and creditor obligations
- Tactical administration to the liquidation of real property and other assets; along with the distribution of net assets
- Recognition for the successful launching of 11 new independent entities by separating the organization from its 15 operating locations
- Appointment as corporate president of the board of directors; as well as promotion to general manager, in charge of leading the transition team in settling the affairs of the corporation toward the distribution of net assets and dissolution

Recognized by who for the successful launching of 11 new independent entities?  Would whoever recognized Kerry Dodd for this clarify for the record they recognized this? 

and ... Caleb Walters is still mentioning he's Chief Operations Officer for the potentially still existing Mars Hill.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebwalters

Who was on the board of directors since the resignation of Driscoll that seems implicit in Dodd's verbiage?  Who's been on the transition team?  While many a person has assumed that things were "over" the dissolution of the company is the period in which stuff gets sold and assets get distributed.  This was/is the period in which to actually pay more rather than less attention to what may be going on.  Sure, Driscoll's got a church he's aiming to start up but there's no need to forget that Mars Hill hasn't ceased to exist as a corporate entity just because a celebrity threw in the towel rather than comply with a restoration plan proposed by a board.

So as 2016 moves forward we'll get to see which of the 11 spin-offs prospers or not.  It remains to be seen.  They may all make it but we don't know yet. 

Meanwhile, we know which churches seem to feel comfortable enough to explain in their public web presence where they've come from and which aren't yet.

from Mars Hill Portland to Redeemer Church

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1516831&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=1516831&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

There is not necessarily a Redeemer Church registered with the Oregon Secretary of State office.

If anyone happens to know the UCC/UBI code and listings for whatever Redeemer Church in Portland actually is as a corporate entity, contribute away.