Followup: Trinity West Seattle launches tomorrow at ex-Mars Hill

The banner at 7551 35th SW announces the new name of what had been Mars Hill Church-West Seattle since fall 2006 – Trinity West Seattle, officially launching with services tomorrow morning. It’s been just two months since Mars Hill announced it would disband, leaving its churches to close or go independent. It appears they’re making the transition with familiar faces/voices, including Pastors David Fairchild and Cliff Ellis, who are on the new website’s list of “elders and staff” (the former preached last Sunday, the church’s last as MH-WS). Pastor Ellis was among the signatories on this August letter calling for MH’s controversial founder Pastor Mark Driscoll to permanently step down, which he did in October, not long before the entire church announced it would disband. The new Trinity West Seattle website says the church will launch with a seven-week series of sermons under the title, “Long Story Short: Finding Ourselves in the Biblical Drama,” described in part as “a particularly good series for both seekers and skeptics while shaping and forming our church to embody the biblical story.”

Julie January 3, 2015 (4:51 pm)

Wallpapering over corruption?

Denny January 3, 2015 (5:16 pm)

Welcome to the neighborhood, Trinity. I hope that in the new year you can start afresh and that others will give you the opportunity to do so, as well. West Seattle should be a welcoming communiity to all.

Jake January 3, 2015 (6:04 pm)

I’m skeptical how much a survey “from Genesis to Revelation” will actually say to skeptics. Covering most of that territory myself as a kid is pretty much what made me skeptical about it!

Joe Szilagyi January 3, 2015 (7:29 pm)

Hopefully more community, less misogyny.

M. January 3, 2015 (7:29 pm)

I’ll admit, I am suspicious of any Church that requires an interview and approval before one may join. Perhaps this new church will be different.

Eric January 3, 2015 (9:04 pm)

What? You have to be interviewed and approved to attend the church? LOL, whatever. Well that’s something different than the people coming to my house, soliciting their religion to me trying to get me to join.

WSB January 3, 2015 (9:26 pm)

No, that was NOT a reference to this new church. Apparently that was a condition of *membership* (not attendance) at Mars Hill – a Google search turns up a document referring to membership interviews (http://assets.marshillchurch.org/files/misc/membership_interview_instructions.pdf ). But that’s certainly not something that was unique to that church; many types of religious organizations have requirements for membership – classes you have to take, affirmations, etc., fiscal-contribution commitments. And, I’m sure, some don’t. – TR

evergreen January 4, 2015 (12:16 am)

Driscoll was asked to step down because of his leadership style and unethical behavior, but not because of doctrine. I imagine this new church would not significantly differ in terms of biblical interpretation (fundamentalist).

Stu January 4, 2015 (2:07 am)

Same as Mars…fundamentalist.
http://www.trinityws.com/vision/statement-of-faith/

DeanInSpirit January 4, 2015 (6:33 am)

or as we call it..”God Incorporated LLC”

Mr Elliott January 4, 2015 (7:15 am)

God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord.

Still picking and choosing what to believe from the bible, I see. Can’t wait to see how female churchgoers will be sent out of the church every month until they return with two turtledoves or pigeons for the pastors. Have fun getting through Leviticus, kids!

BeachBoy January 4, 2015 (9:36 am)

I’ll be very curious to see if Trinity makes it. Mars Hill was essentially a ‘cult of personality’ built around a charismatic leader. Take away that leader, and the whole thing may stagger along for a little while on inertia, but will inevitably collapse. The fact that the MH churches all had a video sermon from another charismatic megachurch pastor (Rick Warren) suggests that they’re really desperate for another Mark Driscoll to step up; the pastors taking over at the various MH churches will inevitably seem like a bunch of tepid ‘also-rans’ by comparison.
.
I agree with ‘evergreen’ above: MH booted Driscoll for issues other than his message, which MH’s congregations are apparently okie-dokie with. I’d just as soon churches that hold Driscoll’s homophobic and misogynistic views go ‘buh-bye’.

Melissa January 4, 2015 (12:42 pm)

Yup, still bigots:
” Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church.”

“God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord.”

And, yup, I’m still going to hell:
“God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus.”

Oh well. I’m not going to lose any sleep over their assessment of how things are and should be.

Not a member January 4, 2015 (1:43 pm)

Please let them find their center without prejudice. They may become great neighbors in our West Seattle community. We are all free to worship where we feel connected. The choice is not for others to condemn. Tolerance goes both ways.

G January 4, 2015 (2:11 pm)

Not everyone who attends Mars Hill – now Trinity – is a puppet, incapable of probing self-introspection and uninterested in wrestling with religion’s (and Life’s) contradictions and inconsistencies. How presumptuous.

David Fairchild January 5, 2015 (11:26 pm)

Hi Everyone,
My name is David Fairchild, and I’m the lead pastor of Trinity West Seattle. It seems odd to jump in on this thread, but I wanted to stop by and thank West Seattle Blog for their story and also keep an open door to a community we love very much. Our family has fallen in love with West Seattle since we moved here. I grew up just across the water in Port Orchard and moved to Southern California when I was 21 until just coming back almost 4 years ago.

I know we might not agree theologically or philosophically on everything, but we want to be a blessing and not a blight on West Seattle. Churches can often be like a t-rex, big mouths with tiny arms. I hope our actions over these next months and years display the heart behind what motivates and animates our faith and service.

I’d very much appreciate any recommendations in the ways we can be of service to West Seattle. We’re connected with several service organizations and want to see both our building and members be a help and not a hindrance to the flourishing of our beautiful city.

My email is davidf@trinityws.com if you’d like to stop by and take a tour or shoot me an email. There were some things Mars Hill did very well and some things that could have been better. We want to listen and learn and be the kind of neighbors Jesus’ commends; the kind of neighbors that fosters civil discourse and gracious interaction.

David

Former West Seattleite January 6, 2015 (9:57 am)

Gracious comments from the Pastor. Naysayers using dismissive labels will probably not reciprocate.

Looking forward to hearing about the good Trinity will do in the community, as their attenders live out being part of God’s redemptive history and work towards human flourishing, spiritually and physically.

M January 6, 2015 (10:57 am)

Mars Hill – my favorite name ever for a church. Truth in advertising at its finest. Mark Driscoll was no doubt our own home grown Elmer Gantry, but at least he dressed like a real dude, instead of like a Fellini version of a Harry Potter character. I always wondered why the various popes over my lifetime always looked like they were about ready to topple over at the drop of a fifty pound hat until I realized that they were wearing more gold, silver and jewelry than Flavor Fav at King Tut costume party.

Not A Member January 7, 2015 (9:53 am)

No idea how your movie references relate to Mars Hill, the place name in Athens. That hilltop near the Acropolis is where the apostle Paul spoke to Greeks about the Unknown God they revered but had no name for. That name seems like the perfect historical reference for an evangelical church that had good intentions, but a famously flawed leadership. Let’s hope the new church gets closer to the outreach ideal.