Who are we?
The Mars Hill movement to reach college students began in 2008 as a small Bible study meeting once a week in a rented room off of “the Ave” (the U-District's primary thoroughfare). This gathering has grown into a full-fledged church with hundreds of students attending Sunday services and participating in community groups (small gatherings of people scattered throughout the city meeting in dorms, apartments, coffee shops, fraternities, and sororities).
Mars Hill Church leaders have spent over a decade searching and praying for a permanent home in the U-District. After a long wait, Mars Hill was finally able to purchase a historic church building in the summer of 2010. To our knowledge, it is one of only two such properties in the neighborhood to reach the market in twenty years. By God's grace, we purchased the building for well under the original asking price, and three days later, three hundred students showed up to worship Jesus and thank him for providing such a landmark building for Mars Hill U-District.
Join Us on Facebook or Contact Us @ legacy@marshill.com
What has God done?
We've seen God do incredible things through Mars Hill U-District over the past couple of years…
- Rapid growth of community groups
- Church services in Kane Hall, the University of Washington's largest lecture space
- Baptisms on church—inside Kane Hall and outside in the middle of Red Square
- Students become Christians every week. Students are meeting Jesus in church services, dorms, apartments, fraternities, and sororities
- Many church members volunteering with youth homeless shelters and serving the neighborhood
- Radical transformation as people turn from lives of deep sin to dependence on Jesus and living to see others know and love him
REAL STORIES: Jason Murray
Before I met Jesus I lived to maximize my own satisfaction and experience. I wanted to be successful and live a great life. In my fraternity, I was drinking a lot, smoking weed, and pursuing promiscuous relationships. I even carried the party to places like Mexico and Thailand. Even though I was having the time of my life, I was constantly shrugging off feelings of doubt, guilt, and anxiety.
The most fundamental way that life is different after meeting Jesus, is the deep rooted security and joy in Christ. Surely, God has cleaned up a lot of of the junk in my life, he's ripping out my selfishness, and he's transforming every ounce of my life to be for him and about him: but it's the joy of a true relationship with him that far exceeds anything that I could have imagined.
Where are we going?
We want to make it difficult to be a student at the University of Washington, and not know the Gospel. We want to see hundreds of students worshipping Jesus and turning from lives of deep sin to deep joy. Our vision is to see the U-District saturated with disciples of Jesus who live intentionally in community and serving the city.
WHAT WOULD THIS LOOK LIKE?
- Robust leadership development as we send thousands of students to Churches all over the world
- A counseling and care ministry for the abused, addicted, and hurting people of the U-District
- A base of operations to partner with organizations and serve the neighborhood in tangible ways
- Sunday Services with children's ministry so that families can join the mission
- Housing for interns and staff working for no pay
- Office space for a growing staff and volunteer team
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Hundreds of community groups where students are known, loved, and served -
A church planted in the heart of the neighborhood -
Students who graduate from UW and are sent out to influence their job, families, and nations with the gospel
How do we get there?
We can't do this alone
Whether you're UW alumni, the proud parent of a Dawg, or somebody with a desire to see college students meet Jesus, we'd like to invite you to participate in our mission to the U-District. This is the essence of the Legacy Project – that faithful men and women could band together, see the harvest set before them, and support the church so that the neighborhood and students can know the Gospel.
As a Mars Hill church full of college students, we have tons of enthusiasm and willingness to serve, but have very little financial resources. Each Mars Hill church operates solely on the finances provided by the members of its congregation. The vast majority of our church members don't have a job. This church is dependent on the passion, generosity, and resources of faithful partners who want to support the mission and allow the church to provide for the overwhelming needs of students.
The Legacy Project allows you to support the work Jesus is doing in the University District and at the University of Washington. When students graduate, they're sent out to either build their own kingdom or live for Jesus' name. A sense of urgency comes with the territory, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
Parents
What if sending your son or daughter to the University of Washington wasn't just an academic investment, but also a spiritual one?
Read MoreFriends & Alumni
What was your college experience like? Did you have a church? A community of believers? College was probably a time of big decisions that shaped how you view God, either turning away from him or turning towards him.
Read MoreWhat can you do?
There's only one way we can make this work: we need your financial support.
Mars Hill U-District cannot be sustained alone. If we're going to serve this neighborhood, we need the resources to minister to hundreds, even thousands of college students. By partnering with us at a monthly recurring amount, you help fund the young staff, counseling ministries, training events, and leadership development all aimed at seeing people know and worship Jesus locally and globally as students are sent for generations to come.
Jesus is on the move – He is building something in the U-District that will last far longer than the university, the neighborhood, or fraternities and sororities, He is building his Church! He is inviting you to join the mission. Glorify God. Leave a legacy.