Mars Hill Church watchdog blog Wenatchee the Hatchet recently obtained a screenshot of what appears to be a post on the internal Mars Hill message boards written by the church's Executive Elder and Executive Pastor, Sutton Turner. The message begins, emphasis mine:

Mars Hill Family,

We are ending our fiscal year at one of the most trying times for our church in recent memory. We know that God calls us to pursue humility and faithfulness during all seasons, and also to look to Jesus for continued growth as leaders and as the body of Christ.

This is just a quick reminder that gifts made by midnight on June 30th help us end our current fiscal year strong.

Go read the rest at Wenatchee the Hatchet. If this message is real—I sent an e-mail to Mars Hill asking about it and will update this post if they get back to me—it's a big deal. The message doesn't describe any of the potential causes of why this is a trying time for the church, but if Turner is acknowledging this to Mars Hill churchgoers, it probably means two things:

1. People who attend Mars Hills are talking about the various controversies surrounding Pastor Mark Driscoll.

and

2. Mars Hill donations are down, presumably in response to those controversies.

It's very rare for an organization like this to discuss the cracks in its foundation. This could suggest that things are getting pretty bad over at Mars Hill Church.