"We reached a place where we had nearly outgrown our relatively new, three-year-old building located in Ballard. All four of our Sunday services were nearing maximum capacity, which forced us to think through what was next for our church. Do we close the doors and stop growing? Do we go look for another larger building to rent or buy? Do we exclusively plant churches from now on? Or do we explore becoming a multi-site church? "It didn’t seem like a biblical option to close our doors and tell our people and our city that we can’t accept new people and are done growing. We considered every venue in Seattle, and there were no viable options to either support another move to an existing place or buy enough land to build a bigger building—unless we decided to move out of the city, which conflicted with our ministry philosophy and calling. We were already actively involved in planting churches through our work and coordination of the Acts 29 Network and plan to continue, however we still continued to grow. "The only other option was multi-site."

–Pastor Jamie

by Pastor Samuel Choi

There are three primary reasons why we are a multi-campus church:

"Mars Hill campuses demonstrate the unity of doctrine and the diversity of life."

1. We have a God-sized mission to fulfill to the greatness of his glory.

Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8 (Spreading the Gospel)

Mars Hill Church exists to make disciples and plant churches to the glory of God. We want as many people as possible to meet Jesus to become his disciple making disciples who gather to worship and scatter to be on mission for Jesus. In obedience to Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations, we ask what would it look like for us to contend and contextualize the gospel in a given circumstance. Mars Hill campuses demonstrate the unity of doctrine and the diversity of life. The main purpose of the implementation and the development of the campuses to facilitate the growth of the church is to submit to the Holy Spirit who empowers his church to proclaim the gospel without compromise and who sends his people to demonstrate the gospel where they live, work, and do life with people. We believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. We want to see more people respond to the revelation of the gospel and as a result we want more campuses to start and spread the gospel movement to the glory of God.

"We submit to Jesus Christ as the head of the church and serve the body in plurality of elders who believe in the parity of office."

2. We have a God-given calling to grow in the fullness of Christ according to the various gifts given to the members of the body of Christ.

Romans 12:3-8 & Ephesians 4:11-13 (Stewarding the Gifts)

Mars Hill Church is led by Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit who calls, gives, equips, and sends his people as missionaries who serve God the Father in all areas of life. Mars Hill Church elders are called, committed, and commissioned to be servant leaders who follow Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel and pastor the church in different functions and various ministries according to the gifts and grace they have received. We submit to Jesus Christ as the head of the church and serve the body in plurality of elders who believe in the parity of office and are committed to the purity of life that is lived in a manner worthy of the gospel and above reproach. Many first among equals elders lead the church at different levels of ministries and diverse areas of missions. We share in suffering as good soldiers of Jesus, seek God’s approval in rightly handling the word of truth, and are ready for every good work to be discharged by equipping the believers to be faithful in their calling, fruitful in their gifts, and fulfilling the greatest commands of loving God and loving people.

"The ministry of mercy and service happens as members serve in service groups on Sunday and in their own neighborhoods and communities."

3. We have Spirit-led, Spirit-filled servant leaders who shepherd God’s people.

1 Timothy 5 & 1 Peter 5:1-3 (Shepherding God’s People) Mars Hill Church exists as one church in many locations to effectively know, feed, lead, and protect the people of God as a community of believers. Pastoral care, counseling, discipleship, and discipline are carried out by the local campus leadership as a team of elders and deacons who apply the preached word to the everyday living and different seasons of life. The ministry of God’s Word is central and fundamental in pastoral ministry that begins on Sunday during worship. The ministry of prayer happens before, during, and after the service for people to confess their sins, trust in Jesus, and exhorted to obey Jesus‘ commands. The ministry of sacraments is regularly and joyfully celebrated as we baptize believers throughout the year and serve the communion every Sunday. The ministry of welcome and hospitality takes place on Sunday in a large group and continues throughout the week in small community groups that gather on different days of the week at various places. The ministry of mercy and service happens as members serve in service groups on Sunday and in their own neighborhoods and communities. In the end, Mars Hill Church is a multi-site church that is "mega" in its impact to the glory of God, "meta" in its transformation by the grace of God, and "micro" in its community in the presence of God. Samuel Choi is the campus pastor at the Federal Way campus. He last wrote for the blog during our biblical manhood series about how one should balance Christian faith and Asian heritage.