An Open Letter to Mars Hill Church

Dear Mars Hill Church,

You have no idea what you mean to our family.

We moved here last October. We didn't have any friends or family within 2500 miles, and we'd never even been to the east coast before. It was quite a shock, not to mention a little bit lonely. So we did the only thing we could think of; we started looking for a church. In this regard, the Yellow Pages was our friend. Back in Washington state, we had been "attending" a Christian and Missionary Alliance Church that we rather liked (not that we had much choice, since almost every other church in town was a Mormon church) so we tried out the closest C&MA church we could find. It was fine and all, but we weren't very excited about it. Two weeks later, we were back in the phone book at 10 PM Saturday night looking for another church to try. We saw Mars Hill Church and called the number. The church meets in a coffee shop? Okay, a little weird, but okay. We wrote down the directions and arrived late the next morning (we're doing better now, I swear!) to find a skit being enacted on stage. It was all about women and their role in the church. To be honest, it was kind of refreshing. So then a discussion starts (a discussion at a church service? Okay, weird again, but okay) and people are coming in from all over. And people don't agree. It actually made me feel a little uncomfortable. I was already thinking that this was some sort of wacko new-age church and that it wasn't going to work out.

And then the Eucharist started. We've always looked for a church that does the Eucharist every week (not monthly, or quarterly) so this made a good impression on me. And it was beautiful. I never knew there could be such a great balance of tradition and intensity, for lack of a better word. I was starting to think that maybe this was okay after all.

After the service, we were invited to Chipotle for lunch. I was admittedly a little leery of the traditional "take the visitors to lunch and grill them about their religious beliefs and current afterlife destination." Instead, we found what could only be called friendship. We talked to Dee throughout lunch, and even though we had never met her before, we were both comfortable.

On the drive home, both Maggie and I were feeling the same thing, but were both a little hesitant to express it. We loved Mars Hill Church. It was love at first sight. But it couldn't be real, right? We couldn't have been that lucky. If we said something we might jinx it. But eventually we did start talking. And eventually we came back for a second visit, and a third. And from then on, we weren't visiting anymore, we were just going to church.

Again, you have no idea what this means to us. We have friends. We have a family. We have people that will be there for us if we need it, and people that we can be there for when they need it. In summary, thank for accepting us, and making us feel welcome. Thank you for getting to know us and letting us be apart of your lives. Thank you for being there for God to lead us to.

Sincerely,
Schuyler

P.S. It is already breaking our hearts that we will almost certainly have to leave MHC someday. My transfer here is only temporary, and we are dreading moving away from you all. Maybe we'll move back out west when we get the chance; maybe Seattle, maybe Portland. Maybe you can all move out there, too! You'd like it out there, I swear!