Nate Ellis serves as the production manager at MHC | West Seattle campus and is married to his lovely wife, Anne.

Role at Mars Hill

Production Manager at MHC | West Seattle Campus, which means that many things audio, visual, lighting, services and events are under my supervision in one way or another.

Wife’s name

Anne. It’s spelled with an “E” which is important to remember.

When did you become a Christian

One Sunday when I was four I was telling my parents about the lesson the Sunday School teacher had taught last week while we were driving to church in my Dad’s Jeep Cherokee and I decided that I would pray to have Jesus take my sins away and make my heart white as snow.Fast forward 12 years to the end of high school. I had wandered away from the religion I grew up with and was at a point where I didn’t know what I believed. At that time I saw a faith in a few friends that defied everything I had thought Christianity was about. I thought it was all about what you do and who sees you do it Christianity had been all about rules and like every 18 year old I didn’t want to follow them. But there was still this relationship between Jesus and my friends that defied everything I thought I knew.Since that time I have begun my actual walk with Christ and have not looked back.

First set foot in MH

I moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Seattle to attend Seattle Pacific University. There were a group of students who wanted to get incoming freshmen connected and took a carload of guys to different churches every week. The first week they took us to Mars Hill at the old Earl street building and I never tried any of the other churches they went to. I was hooked on this church that had music worth listening to and a pastor that yelled at people.

Became a deacon

December 2006.

How did you end up in West Seattle

I was the audio productions intern for Mars Hill before there was more than one campus. At the end of my internship and my college career I took a month to study abroad in Paris to get some of my last credits for SPU. Within 24 hours of getting back to Seattle, Pastor Tim Smith sat me down in his office and told me that they needed someone to manage the productions at the new West Seattle campus. During that meeting I was so jet-lagged, I could barely tell what day or time it was. He asked that I meet with Pastor Bubba to talk about his plans when I met with him he asked me to pray about it for a few days as well as start on some projects while I considered taking up the challenge.

Scripture

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:12-16

Quotation

“From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.” Winston Churchill

Last book read and what are you working on now

Last: Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card Now: When I Don’t Desire God, John Piper

Last movie watched

The Golden Compass. Go see it, its terrible. But not for the reasons you think.

Music

Everything except country. My current playlists have Nine Inch Nails, Sufjan Stevens, and the Across the Universe soundtrack. Go figure.

Favorite Seattle-area eatery

Beth’s Café. It was one of my favorite spots when I wanted to sneak out of SPU and smoke a cigarette at 3am, but now I just go there for the awesomely huge omelets.