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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Religion Pastor Unexpectedly Quits Mars Hill Church

Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 4:47 PM

Pastor Tim Gaydos says he's leaving the notoriously cultish Mars Hill Church less than two months after he opened the megachurch's grand new parish in the heart of Seattle.

The timing is seriously odd: Gaydos was tripping over himself with delight in January when he took over a historic building at Fifth Avenue and Marion Street, in particular celebrating how close his flock would be to a neighborhood stuffed from end to end with AIDS. "Being closer to Capitol Hill is a blessing as we are serving and ministering to those who are infected with AIDS on the hill,” said an announcement from Gaydos, turning what was apparently supposed to be damage-control for the church's homophobia into Exhibit A to show their contempt for disease-ridden gays. (The youthful congregation bans gay members and believes women must be subservient to men.) Making it all worse, it turns out Mars Hill wasn't actually working with the AIDS relief nonprofit they claimed to be working with. Oops!

But with that devastating roll-out behind him, it sounds like Gaydos—his actual name, not making it up—was ready to leave. Below I've posted his full Tuesday post on Facebook (which I could access even though I'm not his friend). And it must be stated, it sounds like he chose to quit:

Dear Friends,

Some big news from the Gaydos family. Through much prayer, God has made it clear that he is moving us into a new season of life and ministry, and therefore, moving us along from Mars Hill Church. We are unbelievably grateful for the seven years we had at MHC, and the opportunity that we were given to love, serve and shepherd God's people. These have been some of the best years of our life as we have been beyond measure blessed by some of the most amazing people in the world. We developed relationships and friendships that will endure for eternity and are encouraged by that fact plus we got to witness hundreds of people enter into the family of God! We are praying through what is next for us, but we're as excited as ever for the gospel of Jesus Christ! This was a hard decision for us but God is calling Brittany and I to walk by faith and not by sight. We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we discern our new season of life.

We love so many of you so dearly and hope we get the opportunity to let you know that. Philippians 1:3-11

With love,
Tim and Brittany Gaydos

Leaving Mars Hill is no small matter—leaders have retaliated in the past against members who quit. Why did Gaydos take the leap? I've messaged him but have yet to hear back. I've also e-mailed a church official to ask what happened. But here's one theory: Gaydos isn't as much a fan of lead pastor Mark Driscoll or the bigoted assholes who attended his masses.

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I'm not normally an edit hawk but you're in need of a read through.

Posted by motofly on March 14, 2013 at 5:03 PM

Another: cherchez l'homme/la femme, or something?

(Protestants/evangelicals generally avoid the term "mass." Not important if, like me, you don't have any doctrinal concerns. Potayto, potahto.)

Posted by rob!

on March 14, 2013 at 5:05 PM

second sentence: "when took over"

Posted by editor editor on March 14, 2013 at 5:10 PM

Seriously, "Gaydos"?

Posted by Fnarf

on March 14, 2013 at 5:12 PM

He was praying to god to get out of Mars Hill?

Posted by biffp on March 14, 2013 at 5:14 PM

@1 & 3) Done, thank you.

Posted by Dominic Holden on March 14, 2013 at 5:24 PM

What are the odds he went to Denny's?

Posted by Grand Slam on March 14, 2013 at 5:26 PM

He may have just wanted to see the new location through the entire acquisition process. Churches benefit more than any other business from tax law when it comes to land grabs, and Mars Hill stands to make a nice long-term profit from this latest.

Posted by Dougsf on March 14, 2013 at 5:31 PM

for the answer, one only need look to the root of all (organized religious) evil: money money money

Posted by theophrastus on March 14, 2013 at 5:38 PM

God, that letter reads like it was written by someone with a mental illness. Do all evangelicals god-this and god-that and faith-decide this and for fuck's sake get called by God?

Posted by all religion is fucking mental illness of varying degrees on March 14, 2013 at 5:42 PM

Interesting, though, that it doesn't sound like he's got a new gig lined up, per "God is calling Brittany and I to walk by faith and not by sight."

Posted by MLM on March 14, 2013 at 5:43 PM

Brittany and ME. Brittany and ME. NOT Brittany and I. Jesus.

Posted by Mike in Olympia on March 14, 2013 at 5:46 PM

Coincidentally, through much prayer God has made it clear to me that He wants me to pour a delicious Trumer Pils and book a vacation to Nicaragua. Who am I to deny Him?

Posted by Looking For a Better Read on March 14, 2013 at 5:48 PM

Would a gay sex scandal be too much to hope for?

Posted by GermanSausage on March 14, 2013 at 6:12 PM

@11, maybe he's a Rastafarian now. "Jah is calling I and I to walk by faith and not by sight, mon".

Posted by Fnarf

on March 14, 2013 at 6:22 PM

Maybe he found religion.

Posted by fletc3her on March 14, 2013 at 6:39 PM

Two other pastors resigned as well around the same time. Pastor Will (don't have last name) and Pastor Tim Beltz are also leaving.
MHC members were told this was because of church restructuring, but with the contracts I'm sure they all sign in order to keep them quiet, I don't know how much we'll know about what went down.

Looks like to me that the lead elders are jumping ship. It's rocking the newly moved campus o it's core.

Posted by hannahcrackers on March 14, 2013 at 6:51 PM

Posted by hannahcrackers on March 14, 2013 at 6:52 PM

Malcolm X found out that Elijah Mohammad was sleeping with underage girls and left the NOI. Maybe Gaydos found something out about Driscoll or someone else in leadership at MHC. Unlike Malcolm X, Gaydos might not have the courage required to publicly apostatize.

Given that apostasy ultimately cost Malcom X his life, Gaydos' fears may not be unjustified. Religious fanatics have performed the most horrifying acts of evil the world over, and there are so many of them a MHC and there are so few who would protect Gaydos if they could.

Posted by Tacoma Traveler on March 14, 2013 at 6:54 PM

Dougsf dear, I don't know for sure, but I don't believe Mars Hill purchased the church building. I think they are sort of a placeholder until the lot next door gets developed.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay

on March 14, 2013 at 6:57 PM

In light of what #18 posted, I change my answer to "what #14 said, but also with meth."

Posted by Dougsf on March 14, 2013 at 7:04 PM

@Dominic: Unless Mars Hill claims to be Catholic, they have services, not masses.

(Sikh Mosque v.2.0)

(I don't disagree with the substance, but every time youse guys post something like this, you diminish your credibility. Want to be taken seriously? Pay attention to the details of what you're talking about...or be consigned to the pit of "Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare.")

Posted by DonServo on March 14, 2013 at 7:20 PM

Dougsf, This could be true, but I think the issue is more obvious: Power.
M.D. Is slowly taking up all the spotlight and power (see the 2007 change in the membership contract and kerfuffle that followed)making it so lead pastors in the satellite locations preach less and less. Any disagreement with this "vision" and it gets ugly. Tim has said some dumb things, but overall he is a genuinely nice guy, and most likely does not agree with the amount of preaching Mark Driscoll is allocating to himself.
This is just a guess though.

Posted by hannahcrackers on March 14, 2013 at 7:21 PM

This is an organization that preaches that women and gay people are subhuman and ferries its great leader in a private helicopter, do you think they'd care about a secret gay or underage sex scandal among its leaders? He must have done something truly awful, like tell men not to rape or said tithing only 10% is okay.

Posted by raku on March 14, 2013 at 8:14 PM

White Night! White Night!

Posted by Johnston on March 14, 2013 at 9:17 PM

Catalina, you are quite right. Mars Hill is just a tenant in the building on Fifth.

Posted by gloomy gus on March 14, 2013 at 10:44 PM

@22: Not true. For example, Episcopalians call their services mass.

Posted by Indy on March 14, 2013 at 11:17 PM

@24. Are you sure you aren't thinking of Christian Faith Center, and Casey Treat? I haven't heard about Driscoll getting around by private helicopter.

I wouldn't get too excited about this. There's nothing unusual or suspicious about his message, when compared to the hundreds of similar statements I've seen from Christians over the years, that didn't involve any type of scandal or deeper discontent.

Posted by sikandro on March 14, 2013 at 11:40 PM

Thanks for the update. Mars Hill gossip is one of my guilty pleasures.

Posted by skjaere on March 15, 2013 at 6:26 AM

@22/27: "Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is commonly called in the Roman Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodox churches and many Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches... In general, Protestants avoid the term "Mass" and use such terms as Divine Service or service of worship, for doctrinal reasons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_(litur…

Posted by rob!

on March 15, 2013 at 9:23 AM

Re: 30, Anglicans = Episcopalians (U.S.), "Worldwide Anglican Communion"

Posted by rob!

on March 15, 2013 at 9:27 AM

These types of evangelical protestants don't use the words "parish" or "mass".

Posted by pox on March 15, 2013 at 12:04 PM

@hannacrackers - what you said makes sense and is probably the most likely situation, but for the record, i DID change my answer to "gay sex scandal and also meth."

@30 I thought Episcopalians = Church of England, but American, unless I'm responding to the wrong point.

Posted by Dougsf on March 15, 2013 at 1:33 PM

real wishes

Posted by 1cloud on March 15, 2013 at 4:05 PM

Can't believe that The Stranger resorts to insults. I'm disappointed I thought you guys were better than that.
Plus 4 paragraphs do not an article make, heck the quote's what 40% of the article? Common you can't call that good journalism, especially considering that The Stranger's running an article about bad journalism in their segment: The Monday Morning News (http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…)

Posted by descartesbaby on March 19, 2013 at 5:08 PM

Mark Driscoll has gained a lot of weight.

Posted by Baconized on March 31, 2013 at 8:15 PM