Maintaining certain fictions until the end, Mars Hill leaders posted the 2014 annual report today.
The section on Mars Hill Global and Mars Hill Go reflects what happened to Mars Hill Global after I reported on the tactics to promote missions but use Global Fund money to fund U.S. expansion.
Between 2012 and May 2014, the Global Family was called the “Mars Hill Extended Family” and Mars Hill Go was marketed as the Mars Hill Global and the Global Fund.
The annual report maintains an upbeat reframing of the church closing and includes a brief accounting of finances for the year. No word in the report about the fate of those 73 church planters in Ethiopia and India.
Tag: Mars Hill Go
Rob Smith: Where is the credibility of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability?
At Musings from Under the Bus this morning, Rob Smith asks, “Where is the credibility of ECFA?” Also, Smith wonders:
One has to wonder what type of financial scandal has to become public before ECFA decides that it will no longer give its once esteemed stamp of approval to Mars Hill Church.
I wonder the same thing and have written about the benefit of ECFA to donors. I don’t see how there is much benefit when organizations can shield their activities from member and public scrutiny and still be accredited.
Smith refers to the Real Marriage scandal, plagiarism and the Global Fund as indicators of deception which have drawn little action from the ECFA. The organization has commented helpfully on the use of Result Source to buy one’s way onto various bestseller lists. However, the organization has been mostly silent on the Global Fund. What we have learned about the ECFA is that they remain silent in the face of violations. Instead of alerting donors that an organization has been in violation or was once in violation (as they used to do), ECFA now works behind the scenes out of sight of donors. Mars Hill Church has made significant changes to their Mars Hill Global brand (most recently rebranding it to Mars Hill Go) since I started reporting on Mars Hill Global and the Global Fund, but the church’s explanations still do not represent what actually happened in the past. Due to the ongoing stealth at Mars Hill and silence from the ECFA, there is no certainty that Mars Hill is in compliance with the ECFA standards.
If Mars Hill Church has truly conformed to ECFA guidelines, then that would be a good step toward repairing the damage to Mars Hill’s credibility. However, how can anyone know if the ECFA and the church keep it all secret?
For the sake of potential donors and other organizations looking for guidance, the ECFA should be transparent about their investigations into potential violations of their standards. Who would benefit from such transparency? Donors, of course. Who would not benefit? The answer to that question should tell us something about the value of ECFA accreditation.
Mars Hill Church and Mars Hill Go: Still No Financial Transparency
Today, Mars Hill Church rebranded Mars Hill Global by calling their missionary efforts Mars Hill Go. However, the revised Mars Hill Global/Go Frequently Asked Questions page still does not answer one of the most frequently asked questions — how much has Mars Hill Church spent on mission efforts in India and Ethiopia? From the FAQ page:
Where have past gifts been used?
During fiscal years 2009-2014, over $10MM dollars has been given to Mars Hill Church by the Mars Hill Global Family. During that same time period $22.48MM has been spent on church planting in the US, India and Ethiopia. In 2009-11 over 80% of funds given by the Mars Hill global family went to Acts 29 church planting and funds were consistently spent in India for church planting in each of those years. In 2012- 2014 expenditures for church planting efforts in India and Ethiopia were increased with the preponderance of expenses related to church plants and replants in the U.S.
This remains the same as when the FAQ was about Global. The period of interest is 2012-2014. The church knows what they spent on missions but they won’t release the numbers. The memo posted yesterday indicated that the plan was to fund “highly visible” mission projects costing about $120,000 per year. Given what the church claims to have done, I estimate they may have spent a little more than that. However, why not tell the church and the “Global family” how much they spent and where they spent it? The leaders revised the FAQ page today, but again failed to include the figures which would address how they handled the donations. Why not be transparent?
In 2012, Sutton Turner told the executive elders Mark Driscoll and Dave Bruskas that churches should be transparent:
It is my belief that the reason we have such poor giving by our Church is the lack of stewardship in the Church staff. Churches with excellent stewardship see greater giving because people know that every dollar they give will go towards the mission of the Church. It is very clear this has not been the case at Mars Hill Church.
What was true then is still true today.
Mars Hill Global Becomes Mars Hill Go
Mars Hill Global is now Mars Hill Go.
From the Mars Hill Church website:
Today we are making some changes to Mars Hill Global, and introducing Mars Hill GO.
MARS HILL GO
A ministry of Mars Hill that supports churches and church planters around the world.
“And [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” – Mark 16:15
The mission of Mars Hill Church is to make disciples and plant churches. The mission Jesus called us to not only requires that we share the gospel with family, friends, and neighbors in the communities in which we live, but also with those around the world. Jesus called us to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.”
GO is a ministry of Mars Hill Church that supports churches and church planters around the world. We work with in-country partners to train pastors and plant churches in Ethiopia, where we support 40 church planters, and in India, where we support 33 church planters. In addition, we distribute Bibles and translate resources so that people from more cultures can have access to solid Bible teaching.We are excited to launch a new page at marshill.com/go that features the stories of God’s people who’ve answered the call to GO. All content related to our international church-planting efforts will now be featured on this page, and no longer at marshill.com/global.
Why?
We understand that communications around Mars Hill Global have been confusing in the past, so we have updated the content featured on marshill.com/global, and moved other content to the new marshill.com/go page. In addition to online services, and on demand content, Mars Hill Global will now feature stories from and about our Global Family.
By confusing, could the church be referring to this memo?
So Mars Hill Go is the mission activities and Mars Hill Global is the group of people who listen in but aren’t members (“our Global Family”).
The Mars Hill Global/Go FAQs has also been modified:
What is Mars Hill GO?
The mission of Mars Hill Church is to make disciples and plant churches. The mission Jesus called us to not only requires that we share the gospel with family, friends, and neighbors in the communities in which we live, but also with those around the world. Jesus called us to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel. (Mark 16:15)”
GO is a ministry of Mars Hill Church that supports churches and church planters around the world. We work with in-country partners to train pastors and plant churches in Ethiopia, where we support 40 church planters, and in India, where we support 33 church planters. In addition, we distribute Bibles and translate resources so that people from more cultures can have access to solid Bible teaching.
Marshill.com/go features the stories of God’s people who’ve answered the call to GO and information about our international church-planting efforts.
In the past this content was featured on our Global page, but is now on the GO page to reduce confusion.
Can you now give to missions directly? Sorry no.
Can I designate my current gifts towards international mission efforts?
To better support Jesus’ mission and to allow us to effectively and efficiently steward the resources that God has provided us, we encourage all donors to send in their gifts unrestricted so that we can apply them where they are needed most. We believe scripture clearly calls us to be on Jesus’ mission, whether here in the U.S. or in other countries.
As such, every donation is a contribution towards our efforts to carry out His mission, here in the US as well as India, Ethiopia, and around the world. Your support means more people are saved by Jesus Christ, more people are growing as disciples of Jesus, and more churches are being planted, no matter the location. If you’d still like information on sponsoring specific needs and projects, please contact [email protected].
Updated 10/2/14
Please note that prior to May 2014, Mars Hill provided a link to the Global Fund on their giving page. People thought they were giving to support global missions via that fund with no explanation about where the money was going.
Nothing much has changed except the name. Mars Hill will still support a few “highly visible” mission projects but money given with mission projects in mind might still end up paying for current expenses or some other general fund expense.
To better understand this post, please see yesterday’s post on Mars Hill Global. I am not sure that this rebranding is going to adequately address the outrage generated by the memo posted yesterday.
No more MH Global on Twitter:
