- by Rich Fry on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 11:21 pm
Church Planting – Andy Stills
Andy Stills is a Mars Hill West Seattle member who has felt the Call to plant a church in Portland with his family. Below is a video of Andy from Sunday, when Pastor Adam introduced him and gave him an opportunity to tell the story of his calling and share his vision.
Church Planting – Andy Stills from mhcwestseattle on Vimeo.
Below is Andy’s blog post from Sunday, copied from his website, NEPortlandchurch.com, expanding on what he shared in the video.
| Today, Pastor Adam Sinnett gave us an awesome opportunity to share with Mars Hill members about what God was calling us to and how they can participate. We have been blessed to call Mars Hill Church home for the last 6 years. During this time we have been able to participate in the various volunteer positions, work with the leadership of the West Seattle campus, and lead a community group in the Tacoma area. |
| At Mars Hill, Jesus has consistently shown that “it” is all about him… What is “it”, you ask? “It” is life. All of life is all about him. In planning to start a church Pastor Adam has continually pushed me to ask the questions about how I am about his work and not my own. It is my prayer that I do this in his power and for his glory and not in my own perceived strengths. It is my goal that Jesus is lifted up and not Andy Stills. It is my desire to become less that he might become more. |
| It is the desire to join Jesus in his work that I hope compels people from West Seattle to be a part of planting this church in NE Portland… beginning with prayer. There is a continual need to come before God’s throne and ask for His blessing in all that we do. Prayer partners will play a strategic role in doing battle against the demonic forces that will be trying to hinder our efforts to reach other for Jesus. |
| Seattle is not too great a distance from Portland and there will be many opportunities for MHC members to get involved in outreach events and remodeling of the building. Already a few Mars Hill staff have offered their expertise in helping plan for the future audio/visual/lighting elements of the church. These men are responsible for all the MHC campus locations and will be a tremendous help. Also, many MHC members have family and friends in the Portland area. We are already hearing from some of them that they are anxious to get involved. |
| Finally, helping underwrite the church plant financially can not be overlooked. Starting a church requires much upfront capital. Although we have obtained an amazing deal on the building, this has required a tremendous amount of up front costs. The remodel is estimated to cost $150K of which we currently have about $72K. There is still much to be secured to get the building ready. Additionally, ministering to the community will require monetary resources to produce mailers, event materials, food and drink, and multimedia equipment. We will be posting an itemized list of needs on the giving page that will help to keep others informed of our needs and how they might continue to help. |
| Suffice it to say, there is a role for each person at Mars Hill to play in helping us plant this church in NE Portland. The question is: Will you step-up to the plate? Email andy@neportlandhchurch.com and get on our email list for updates and other info. We look forward to seeing what God is about to do. |
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Grace and Peace,
Andy |
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