Governance
How Mars Hill Church is Governed

If you are a member of Mars Hill Church, if you are considering membership, or if you have questions about how Mars Hill is governed, we created this FAQ page to provide answers to any questions you may have.

How is Mars Hill Church governed?

At Mars Hill Church, we make every effort to obey the Scriptures and to have leadership organized as the Bible teaches. This means that we have the following offices:

• Jesus, our senior pastor
• Elders/pastors
• Deacons
• Members

Each of these offices is described in greater detail below. 

This also means that we have bylaws according to Washington State and ECFA guidelines. 

What does it mean that Jesus is our “senior pastor”?

Jesus Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 1:9, 22–23; 4:15; 5:23), the apostle who plants a church (Heb. 3:1), the leader who builds the church (Matt. 16:18), and the senior pastor and chief shepherd who rules the church (1 Pet. 5:4). It is ultimately Jesus who closes down churches when they have become faithless or fruitless (Rev. 2:5). Therefore, it is absolutely vital that a church love Jesus, obey Jesus, imitate Jesus, and follow Jesus at all times and in all ways, according to the teaching of his Word (Col. 3:16).

What does the organizational structure of Mars Hill Church look like?

Mars Hill Church is an elder-led church. Therefore, the leadership and governance of Mars Hill is established within the office of elder. We have several Boards and committees, comprised of elders, that provide organized leadership over the church, and accountability in different ways.

BOARDS OF ADVISORS & ACCOUNTABILITY

The Board of Advisors & Accountability has three categories of responsibility:

1)     Counsel. Assist and advise the Church on those matters where prudence requires an outside perspective.

2)    Accountability. Provide support and outside objective oversight when needed.

3)    Governance. Manage or direct the civil and business affairs of Mars Hill Church, as required by all 501(c)3 organizations.

The Board of Advisors and Accountability meets twice every year.

FULL COUNCIL OF ELDERS

All of the pastors at Mars Hill (paid and unpaid) comprise the Full Council, which meets annually. The Full Council approves the slate of nominees for the Board of Advisors & Accountability, and changes to the doctrinal statement.

BOARD OF ELDERS

Advisory committee of Mars Hill elders selected by the Executive Elders to provide recommendations to the Board of Advisors & Accountability.

What does financial stewardship and compensation look like at Mars Hill Church?

We provide more information and resources on stewardship, tithing, compensation and financial accountability on our Stewardship page.