Maurice Morales 2009-14

Your Name

Maurice Morales

Gender

Male

Which describes your role at Mars Hill?

Member

What Mars Hill location(s) did you attend?

Downtown Seattle

What years were you involved / attending?

2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

How did you first hear about Mars Hill?

I first heard of Mars Hill Church in an Alternative Christian Music Magazine called HM (Heaven's Metal). One of my favorite musical artist Jeff "Suffering" Bettger was being interviewed about his band "Suffering And The Hideous Thieves" and at the end of the interview he was sharing how he has been playing music at his church for the past years and years and that you could download "Team Strike Force" music on Mars Hill's website. This was back in 2004.

What was the circumstance of your first time attending Mars HIll?

I moved to Seattle from Las Vegas in 2009 to attend Redemption Groups at Mars Hill Downtown. Jeff Bettger invited me to live with him and his family and go through the counseling to address habitual sin in my life.

What were your first impressions?

I never heard a person ever share intimate details about how they were sin against. It was the rawest thing I ever witnessed.

Why was Mars Hill your church home?

I left my home and community in Las Vegas to specifically be apart of Mars Hill Church Downtown Seattle. I never had a reason for MHCDTS to not be my home and I was never given a good reason to leave.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a positive impact on you?

Becoming a responsible man has been the biggest impact MHC has had on me. Though I'm not always the kindest, most patient, loving man I definitely see MHC being instrumental in even wanting to be a man that God is calling me to be.

What about your time at Mars Hill has had a negative impact on you?

The way Mark Driscoll left the church has recently brought up some anger and bitterness toward him specifically. Though I wish him the best and he is definitely one of the greatest preachers of our generation, how he left was one of the most cowardly, lamest things I've ever seen and probably ever will see.

What would you like to have changed about Mars Hill?

Personally I felt pushed to go through the membership course. Things moved pretty fast and I wished that some things were more thoughtful and patient.

Which describes you?

I stayed at Mars Hill through closure.

Please describe why you stayed at Mars Hill and what that experience was like.

I never had a reason to leave. The few reasons that people confronted me with never resonated with me or my personal community. My wife is a women leader who was always cared for and loved and never disrespected. One person view me as a person that only saw Mars Hill Church as being the only "real" church in Seattle but that was never my experience or how I felt. In fact I would visit other churches in the Seattle area just to see what God was doing there.

How would you describe the reason for Mars Hill's closure to an outsider.

The Bible describes Jesus as a Good Shepherd and His flock is his church. He has entrusted His flock to other shepherd like himself, we call them church leaders. Jesus says when danger comes fake shepherds run away because all they care about is themselves and not His flock. That essentially happened at Mars Hill. Things got messy and leaders left and that includes Mark Driscoll.

What's changed for you since your time at Mars Hill came to an end?

It's harder to follow along in a sermon. I'm used to Mark's clear communication and exposition but that's okay. I don't need every preacher to be like Mark.

Please write anything else you'd like to add.

If you need any further clarification please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm not offended to talk about this or anything else related to Mars Hill Church. It's like 11:30pm and I worked a 10 hour day so I guess I'm made it kinda quick but I also knew that If I didn't fill this out now, I'd probably won't have just because I'm kinda busy.

Thank you for including me in this. Mars Hill Church is something that means a lot to me and sometimes I get a little teary eyed just thinking about it. I'm ready for the future and ready to meet new people at my new church. Being a resource for other christians and serving them is something that means a lot to me. It's how I like to give. It's how I was loved when I first came to faith and it's how I plan to love as I continue on in my faith. I'm not into the in crowd social church garbage. Jesus church and his love is different that high school social BS.

Cheers!