Written by Mars Hill Member Caitlyn Stark

Look out Seattle, Mars Hill Youth @ the Wedge started strong, taking hold of their campus in less than 36 hours, and they are coming to claim their city!

The first event started on Saturday, Jan 26th, beginning the revolution. Parents and students arrived for a lasagna dinner, a chance for people to fellowship, and get to know each other better. After dinner, everyone gathered around and Deacon Eric Stark welcomed them and then the new Proxy band, Venium – which means the Forgiven in Latin – led worship. This new band brings some new faces to the music scene at Proxy, and as a whole they are passionate about their music and excited to help lead others in worshiping God: Mae, The Vox, is on the keys and singing lead vocals; Kristian, Rock Star of Super Hero Proportions, plays lead guitar; Joanna, Le Bass Player Extraordinaire, plays, what else, the bass; and last but not least, Connor, The Curator of Rhythm, on the drums. These four teenagers came together with a desire to use the talents God gave them to help lead others in worshipping their Savior. The verse they chose to represent their reason for worship is 1st Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” It is their passion, as Venium, the Forgiven, to live in a way that reflects what that verse means in their daily lives.

After worship, Pastor James came up to talk about identity in Christ and the future of MHY @ the Wedge this spring. For March-May the point of MHY @ the Wedge will be to learn about a disciple’s life in Christ and how you practically live that out. During the spring, the months will look like this: The first week will be devoted to studying the Bible for what it means to be a disciple of Christ; the second week will be the worshipful response to God for the grace that He gave; the third week will be the living out that discipleship by serving and loving fellow Christians; and the fourth week will be living out that discipleship by serving the community around us who doesn’t know Christ.

One thing Pastor James made clear was that MHY @ the Wedge will NOT be your traditional youth group. It will be a questioning of everything that has come before, from Maranatha Praise youth groups to Proxy Ballard or Shoreline, to see what worked and how it can be used that @ the Wedge and see what didn’t work so well and see how it can be improved. MHY @ the Wedge is going to involve parents, getting them and their students working together to be discipled and to disciple others. It is also going to expect the input of students and expect change.

One thing that has already set MHY @ the Wedge apart from any other Mars Hill Proxy or Crux is the fact that they have their own room. Saturday night, everyone went to look at the room and Deacon Eric said that it was up to the students to make this room their own. Little did he know that the next afternoon, between services when the band met for practice, a couple of the students would take him up on his offer, clean and straighten the room, even putting Christmas lights around the little alcove.The students have taken everything by storm: their room, they’ve taken their campus, and next is the entire city, so watch out, northeast Seattle!