K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Just give them a knowing wink and hand them a condom.
Problems at Mars Hill Church
- Thread starter Dice
- Start date
- Status
Atramental
Banned
mclaren777
Member
Source
While the idea of church discipline is foreign to many people who are not part of the Christian faith, it should be noted that it is a common practice among a majority of churches, and when applied correctly results in amazing and grace-filled stories of healed lives and relationships. The goal is never vengeful ostracism but always loving restoration. When applied correctly, it's not a shameful process but a reconciling one designed to bring about repentance, not just confession, in a believer's life to live in a way that honors and glorifies God.
Because we take our responsibility as leaders seriously and wish to steward it well, we make the process clear in our membership process and only administer church discipline for members who understand what we believe and have agreed to undergo the process in the regrettable case it becomes necessary.
We have a lengthy and thorough membership process that allows potential members to learn what we believe as a church and ask questions. This includes a class with chances to interact with pastors and church leadership. Part of that includes going over our membership covenant, which includes the following: "I covenant to submit to discipline by God through his Holy Spirit, to follow biblical procedures for church discipline in my relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ, to submit to righteous discipline when approached biblically by brothers and sisters in Christ, and to submit to discipline by church leadership if the need should ever arise."
The goal of the process is to not just to address a sin issue but to explore the roots of sin in our lives and to discover why the sin is present in a believer's life. Part of being repentant is being willing to explore the depths of our past behavior to discover why we struggle with certain sins today. The goal is not to get past the sin as quickly as possible through confession but to explore past patterns of behavior and find healing through Jesus from our past as well as our present sins.
In the two cases that have recently received media attention, we want to remind readers that there are always two sides to every story. As Proverbs 18:17 tells us, "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him." Unfortunately, in most of the articles and blog posts published in recent weeks, with the exception of the recent Slate article, we were not contacted by the authors to verify the facts or seek explanation regarding those cases prior publishing their articles. Out of sensitivity for all involved, and a biblical mandate to handle such matters within the church, we do not wish to comment publicly on those specific cases and drag into public what should be private.
The church is made up of sinners, leadership included. The result is that sometimes things are handled poorly by leaders in a church discipline process and sometimes those who are under church discipline respond poorly. In such instances, it is the responsibility of the church leadership to protect our members, and when we hear of leaders overstepping their authority through the church discipline process we are quick to act to rectify the situation.
In both cases that have been brought to light, things did not go as they should have, and well before they were ever written about in a public setting by bloggers and journalists, Mars Hill leadership stepped in to investigate. As a result of those investigations, it was determined that the leaders involved had a pattern of overstepping their authority. As such, they were released and are no longer on paid staff or in formal leadership in any capacity at Mars Hill Church. Again, these actions were taken months ago, prior to any public exposure.
We love those who call Mars Hill Church home, we love those who criticize us from the outside, and we also love those who have left the church. This includes the two members whose stories have been shared. Our desire is to be faithful stewards of God's grace and to serve our church well as leaders.
While the idea of church discipline is foreign to many people who are not part of the Christian faith, it should be noted that it is a common practice among a majority of churches, and when applied correctly results in amazing and grace-filled stories of healed lives and relationships. The goal is never vengeful ostracism but always loving restoration. When applied correctly, it's not a shameful process but a reconciling one designed to bring about repentance, not just confession, in a believer's life to live in a way that honors and glorifies God.
Because we take our responsibility as leaders seriously and wish to steward it well, we make the process clear in our membership process and only administer church discipline for members who understand what we believe and have agreed to undergo the process in the regrettable case it becomes necessary.
We have a lengthy and thorough membership process that allows potential members to learn what we believe as a church and ask questions. This includes a class with chances to interact with pastors and church leadership. Part of that includes going over our membership covenant, which includes the following: "I covenant to submit to discipline by God through his Holy Spirit, to follow biblical procedures for church discipline in my relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ, to submit to righteous discipline when approached biblically by brothers and sisters in Christ, and to submit to discipline by church leadership if the need should ever arise."
The goal of the process is to not just to address a sin issue but to explore the roots of sin in our lives and to discover why the sin is present in a believer's life. Part of being repentant is being willing to explore the depths of our past behavior to discover why we struggle with certain sins today. The goal is not to get past the sin as quickly as possible through confession but to explore past patterns of behavior and find healing through Jesus from our past as well as our present sins.
In the two cases that have recently received media attention, we want to remind readers that there are always two sides to every story. As Proverbs 18:17 tells us, "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him." Unfortunately, in most of the articles and blog posts published in recent weeks, with the exception of the recent Slate article, we were not contacted by the authors to verify the facts or seek explanation regarding those cases prior publishing their articles. Out of sensitivity for all involved, and a biblical mandate to handle such matters within the church, we do not wish to comment publicly on those specific cases and drag into public what should be private.
The church is made up of sinners, leadership included. The result is that sometimes things are handled poorly by leaders in a church discipline process and sometimes those who are under church discipline respond poorly. In such instances, it is the responsibility of the church leadership to protect our members, and when we hear of leaders overstepping their authority through the church discipline process we are quick to act to rectify the situation.
In both cases that have been brought to light, things did not go as they should have, and well before they were ever written about in a public setting by bloggers and journalists, Mars Hill leadership stepped in to investigate. As a result of those investigations, it was determined that the leaders involved had a pattern of overstepping their authority. As such, they were released and are no longer on paid staff or in formal leadership in any capacity at Mars Hill Church. Again, these actions were taken months ago, prior to any public exposure.
We love those who call Mars Hill Church home, we love those who criticize us from the outside, and we also love those who have left the church. This includes the two members whose stories have been shared. Our desire is to be faithful stewards of God's grace and to serve our church well as leaders.
- Status