by Pastor James Harleman

The Wedgwood Campus of Mars Hill Church is officially CLOSED…

The good news, is, Mars Hill – Lake City, Seattle is alive and well.

When the Wedgwood Campus launched in October 2007, Wedgwood welcomed Mars Hill. The sign just a few feet away from the building, said “Wedgwood Welcomes You”. We felt blessed by the response of business owners, the Wedgwood Community Council, and our neighbors across the street. With new families and veteran members, it was a great place to gestate and build community and regroup as a regional campus of Mars Hill Church in Northeast Seattle. There is nothing worth complaining about.

Since October, we have built community and established membership. Over 300 people attend each Sunday, and half of those are official, committed members of Mars Hill Church. We have more people in our midweek Community Groups than we have each Sunday. I’ve been encouraged by the amount of fellowship and camaraderie I have seen develop between men, women, families and teens. The natural progression in growing as a church, however, is that outward focus on loving the community. As we looked at how best to accomplish this next step, we discovered several reasons that led to a nomenclature shift… undergirded by our heart for loving the city like Jesus.

We’re not moving to a new building or ditching our distinctives. To many congregants, changing the name is probably not a big deal. To some, however, it might feel like losing their identity. It’s important as pastors that we communicate well so that our congregation and neighborhood understand the heart behind the shift ,so that we can embrace it with excitement and vigor. The basis for the change breaks down into seven basic reasons:

1. TECHNICALLY, 95th street is the dividing line between Wedgwood and Lake City. Being on the North side, we actually ARE in Lake City. We are less than a minute off Lake City Way. Our neighbors across the street are Wedgwood, however, and we still love them. There is no Hatfield/McCoy or Montegue/Capulet rivalry here.

2. CONGREGATIONALLY, we have a lot of people coming from the greater Lake City area, from neighboring Northgate, and down the Bothell/Everett Highway through Lake City. It’s more of a central heart representative of our local body of the church which is biblically more about people than it is a building.

3. GEOGRAPHICALLY, Lake City represents a wider region with a northwest bump, identifying us a bit further from our sister campus in Ballard and the University Ministry in that area. There aren’t a lot of Lake City residents attending other Mars Hill campuses, so except for our current attendees it represents an unreached area.

4. CONTEXTUALLY, it is also more recognizable with two exits off I-5 including the express lanes. Many Seattleites don’t know where Wedgwood is, whereas Lake City is considered up and coming and more familiar to those we are trying to reach.

5. STRATEGICALLY, local partnerships for mission and community involvement – from food banks to fairs – are more extensive, providing opportunities in partnering with Lake City to serve. This doesn’t mean we abandon Wedgwood, it means we do MORE.

6. MISSIONALLY, it embraces the Mars Hill staple of “loving the city” as Lake City Way is the urban curve slicing between the residential areas our members live in. It keeps the focus not on settling, but serving, wherever God calls us from Wedgwood to Bothell.

7. FINALLY, your campus elders and executive elders have discussed, prayed and discerned by the Holy Spirit that this is God’s leading for our campus and community.

I’m really looking forward to “replanting” the campus as we head toward the fall. God never changes, but he continues to refine us. I love Jesus, I love Mars Hill Church, I love this city, and I love the mission God has given us. I’m privileged to expand our mission this season to reach a wider array of people Jesus has already planned to transform.