In the City. With the City. For the City.

Summer on the Westside is going to look a little different this summer. Our mandate is the great commission (Mt 28:18-20) and our mission is to be a city within the city of Seattle that seeks to love people, know culture and see lives transformed for Jesus. That doesn’t happen outside genuine, authentic relationship with others – particularly with those that have yet to enter into relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ. One of the ways we live this out is through summer events.

Purpose

Our purpose for summer programming has always been to deepen fellowship within the church, be out in the community and create opportunities for new folks to experience life with Mars Hill West Seattle. Yet recently your West Seattle elders have come to the conviction that we can do more.

Events this Summer

Therefore, this summer, instead of creating Mars Hill specific events and inviting the community to celebrate with us, we’re going to join the community and celebrate with them – because after all we’re a part of this community. Events we’re participating in this summer include:

• Morgan Junction Community Festival, June 13th
• West Seattle Clean & Green, June 20th
• MHC West Seattle “Become a Member” Day, June 27th
• West Seattle Summer Fest, July 10th-12th
• Seafair Pirates Landing, July 11th
• West Seattle’s Grand Parade, July 18th
• National Neighborhood Night, August 4th
• Alki Beach Baptism & BBQ, August 25th

Two of these events are Mars Hill specific (Become a Member Day, Alki Beach Baptism) while the others are happening throughout West Seattle. What does participation look like? Simply attending with your community and/or volunteering in some capacity.

Reasons

There are many reasons for going this direction. First, our primary role as a church isn’t to plan events. Second, by planning our own summer events we create the subtle impression that the events taking place in the community are sub-par for our needs. Third, summer events in West Seattle are actually very well done, highly attended, fun, and something most of us look forward to. Fourth, most of us will already be attending these events. Fifth, attending community events makes it even easier to invite our friends, neighbors, and co-workers to join us. Sixth, this reinforces our aim to be more about relationships than programming. Seventh, this will be primarily community group-driven, thus reinforcing our desire to see everyone who calls MHCWS home involved in community.

Get Connected

This isn’t merely delegation of event planning responsibilities but a radical shift in how we live in the city, with the city, for the sake of those in the city. Stay tuned for more info. Consider this the appetizer. Kick off your summer today by emailing westseattlecommunity@marshillchurch.org to get connected.

For the God of this City,
-Pastor Adam