That’s really all we could say when we saw what was going on at Alki during a brief stop before our below-documented search for breakfast. Just west of The Statue, crews are setting up what appeared to be stage, scaffolding, bleachers, etc., for tonight’s Mars Hill mass baptism. Two photos are below (wide shot, then closer in); up on the street, several parking spaces are blocked off, likely for the promised shuttle buses. To steal a ’60s term, this is gonna be “a scene.”
Holy Moly! Literally! That’s a block down the street from my house. I was wondering why the parking places were reserved along 61st.
Maybe while the Martian masses are down there performing rockin’ miracles, they could get the Sunfish guys to crack a smile. ;)
oh, yes, they want to be friendly to the neighborhood, not make an impact. Who are we kidding here? A news item on the noon KingTV news today. They had to move farther down the beach than they had planned because another baby seal surfaced right where they wanted to baptize , according to the news, 150 church members. Reserved parking places? Oh, please. Tell those shuttle busses to drop people off a block or two away on Admiral, and let them “walk for Jesus” :)
Tell those shuttle busses to drop people off a block or two away on Admiral….
Perfect, right in front of my house. I’ll get the hose ready so they can have a pre-baptismal shower for jeezus.
The Stranger is encouraging everyone to go down and yell and make a scene to spoil this ridiculous ceremony of the toxic Christians. Let’s see how many we can get to show up and protest.
L’shanah tovah! Don’t forget Rosh Hashana II and Shabbat Shuva this weekend. Can anyone suggest interesting alternative Shabbat Shuva? It’s Jewish New Year!
Just an observation – but it seems West Seattle is the new locus for offbeat and or cult churches. Scary in some ways, moderately cool in others. Hopefully, they will frequent the Farmers Market after their Sunday services if they really intend on helping sustain West Seattle.
Chas –
Have you ever seen the ‘Skate Church?’ Sometimes they’re down on the beach in the evening. I don’t know if by ‘church’ they mean they’re praying to a saviour or a board. I’ve also seen them congregate up on California next to the coin shop off Oregon.
Erik…sorry about that. I was thinking more in the vicinity of a bus stop…and yes, definitely get the hose out ;-)
I’m near WS Highschool…we’ll be getting our share of parking too, where the shuttle bus begins…
OMG is right! Now some others will get to experience what I have had to every Sunday since Mars Hill moved in at the end of my street. I have never seen so many single drivers in big huge SUVS! Can’t these people carpool? The other evening they had a wedding at Mars Hills. It drew my attention because so many scantily clad young women were trotting down the street. I thought it was a hookers convention! In front they had an old decorated Chevy. Reminded me of my younger days in East Los Angeles. I still think that church is scary and wrong!
I propose a campaign to (legally) park wherever they put those blasted traffic cones all over the neighborhood.
Why don’t they just drive the shuttle buses right into the sound, skip the fanfare and be baptised right in their seats.
They should “save” the seal while they’ve got all that firepower down there.
I hope the city is being adequately compensated for this disruption to public access.
Why do they need a stage and scaffolding?
So are all those people gonna be dunked in the Sound with all their clothes on? Serious question.
What a freakin waste o’ money. This is one of those things that keeps me away from so-called “Christianity”. How much money could they have donated to a food bank or some other cause rather than blowing it on this sort of “made you look” festival? Naw, that would be too Christ-like. I’m sure someone will bellyache that the church has done good works, but to me consistency is the key for the church.
Church members can spend their money however they like obviously, but a church as a collection of members should be wiser (and more humble) in its spending.
I wonder if someone wandering along the beach Friday night would end up baptized?
Katherine, I wonder if that’s what they’re hoping for? Kayleigh–based on the city’s response to the idea of a nude swim at Colman Pool, I’m guessing they’ll have to wear something into the water. ;)
We were just down there looking at the seal. Holy Mother of Feldman, that stage is huge! I spoke with a NOAA volunteer who was saying the baby seal’s mom has been seen offshore, but won’t come in if too many people are around. I wonder if Mars Hill takes stewardship of Creation seriously enough to avoid scaring off the mother seal this evening?
Why are you all so up-in-arms/ If this was a Hindu, Buddhist, etc… festival, I doubt anyone would be complaining. Is it because you don’t like Mars Hill, christians, Jesus, or just people in general? I’m a little concerened here about who my neighbors are.
from what I understand, this isn’t just a baptism, it’s a “happening”, complete with “sermon”, “live music” (I read that as a “christian rock band”), testimonials, etc…and it gets dark earlier, so they probably needed scaffolding for lights. And…do they have lifeguards? Puget Sound is cold..hypothermia can set in if they stay too long.
Seriously, this isn’t just the West Seattle campus of MHC…it’s all three campuses. We’re talking 150 being baptised, and like good little followers, the rest of the congregations will probably turn up..and that could mean a crowd of upwards of 500? more? and they don’t want to be a disruption? oh, please…spare me…
That’s a great question Wes..seriously….I had to ask myself that just now, and I think that it has something to do with “humility” which is a cornerstone attribute of those religions and people that you mentioned above.
Churches like Mars Hill for whatever reason seem to have a huge lack of humility in the way they go about organizing themselves…seems as though there are some huge EGO’s involved in how they choose to represent themselves. Just real lack of humbleness.
Lack of humbleness, indeed. And it’s frequently positioned as ‘for your own good,’ but I don’t feel that organizations like Mars Hill or Skate Church or Scientology are really interested in “saving” anyone… I think they’re more into conquering and controlling people.
This is on the Skate Church’s web page:
>>God said to his disciples “Therefore go and make diciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded to you.
Question- what right exactly does Mars Hill, or anyone else for that matter, have to put up cones on the street and prevent people from parking there? Did they get permission from the city? Can they legally do that?
And amen to Flipjack- it’s the lack of humility and the ego that go into the words and actions of many representatives of that church. Nothing against them, or jesus, personally.
I just saw on king 5 that a BABY seal is sleeping right where the Mars Hill followers planned to take the plunge. Does anyone see the irony in that? :)
I do have to say that, as reported here, they did encourage their flock to park elsewhere and shuttle to Alki. That is appreciated by those that live in the area.
I wonder if anyone is monitoring the sound levels, etc. We’ll see tonight.
Wow-the Catholics block the street and parking all of the time yet I see no complaints about that. I no follower of the church but I love the way all of the enlightened folks in West Seattle fear “jesus”. It is great to see the reactions against something so conservative. Tolerance is only for the “PC” causes in this town.
Wes, surely you’re familiar with Matthew 6:5-6? As flipjack said, I suspect if Mars Hill folks made less of a spectacle of themselves that they wouldn’t raise so much ire. Note that there are many, many other Christian churches in WS that don’t make so much much of themselves and don’t receive so much criticism.
News Flash, and I am going to tell my uncle the Monsignor, Catholics are PC in West Seattle!
Pretty sure there are some bong hits for Jesus going one as congregants assemble–we live very near the event site.
Neighbors near Gasworks parks were able to stop summer concerts there. Why is it that Alki neighbors didn’t have any input in this huge gathering? I’m just so worried about the baby seal!!! He belongs there!
Thessalonions 5:34
And Jesus fed the masses with only one small seal.
herongrrrl, Mark 1:5-6 sounds a lot like a Mars Hill baptism, except replace the “Jordan River” with “Puget Sound.” If you go by the Bible, baptism isn’t an event that happens in a closet — nor something to hide.
JDP – last I checked, Jesus had something to do with Catholicism too. But enlighten me, to which instances of Catholic street-blocking at Alki Beach are you referring?
I can tell you that they are playing ‘Amazing Grace’ right now. Down on Alki. Those are some great speakers. I live on 45th in Admiral, near Safeway.
Re: the parking question, we know from event planning history that you can arrange with the city, for a price, to commandeer some parking for a set time. Not sure of the permitting specifics of this kind of event, but we would bet MH has a large, talented administrative staff that handled it to the letter of the law.
I noticed some Mars Hill Security flagging traffic with stop/slow signs at the crosswalk their bus stop. Until a police cruiser pulled up next to them and had a little chat. They stopped.
Comments very slow for a few hours. Jeebus must have smote you nonbelievers.
Maybe if they said “Jesus wants you to let people merge onto the West Seattle Bridge” or “Jesus said no off leash dogs at Lincoln Park” Maybe, I could get behind this fest. Save me Jeebus!
Lettuce Prey……
O LORD!
won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz
my freinds all drive Porsches
I must make amends
O LORD!
won’t you buy me a color TV
Dialing for Dollars is trying to reach me
O LORD!
won’t you buy me a night on the town
I’m counting on you Lord
please don’t let me down
prove that you love me and buy the next round
AMEN
Mike
Oh their god. Wasn’t it bad enough they took over Ballard? Go Away and take your imaginary friends with you!!!
Sorry, comment time is over.
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