Mars Hill Announces Closing of Three Churches

Seattle-based Mars Hill Church has announced that three of its campuses will be closing their doors due to financial problems. 

Mars Hill Phoenix will be shutting down completely, while the Downtown Seattle and U-District campuses will join Mars Hill Church Ballard. Another location, Huntington Beach, is “in jeopardy” according to Mars Hill executive elder Dave Bruskas. 

The closures follow the announcement that Mars Hill Church founder Mark Driscoll was asked to step down from leadership while the church investigates multiple allegations against him. Four other Mars Hill pastors recently stepped down from leadership as well. 

Mars Hill released a news bulletin two weeks before the announcement of the closures alerting members that tithes and offerings were down. 

"It is your continued support that is needed now more than ever,” the bulletin read. “While we were able to end the fiscal year strong, giving and attendance have declined significantly since January. Specifically, we have seen a substantial decrease in tithes and offerings these past two months.”

"We now find ourselves in a tougher financial position than we expected."

Publication date: September 9, 2014