I interviewed Tim Gaydos, Belltown pastor for Mars Hill, at their new space. Before the interview, the cynical side of me assumed that I would not like him. After all, I only go to churches for weddings and funerals. And Mars Hill has been described as "conservative," which is a negative keyword for "progressives" like me. But I did like the sincere, thoughtful Tim Gaydos. He's a smart cookie, and Mars Hill is very successful. They must be doing something right.

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I first stepped foot in Mars Hill in 1999, but I officially came on board two years ago.

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What makes Mars Hill unique is that we are Culturally Liberal and Theologically Conservative. There are just a few churches in America that would fit into this paradigm - it's very unique. Basically, we don't hide or run from culture, we engage culture. Many churches in America have the philosophy that the culture is bad and we must move out of the city and build our walled fortresses in the suburbs with underground bunkers and canned goods. We believe that to truly serve and love the city, which is our heart, you must be right in the heart of the city and engage the culture. Being Theologically Conservative means that we hold on to the core tenets of the Christian faith. Although our methods are unique and progressive, we believe that the Bible is true and Jesus is our Savior and the answer to our sin problem.

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Yes and no. We are one of the least - if not the least - church-going cities in America: Seattle is considered the None Zone, where more people indicate they don't believe in anything than anywhere else in the country. So from that standpoint, people are surprised by our enormous growth, and as someone who was born and raised in Seattle and didn't become a Christian until the age of 21, I personally have been amazed by the growth of the church. But it's more miraculous than surprising.

When I became a Christian and my life did a 180, it was a miracle but not necessarily a surprise, and I think it's the same for us as a church.

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We plan on opening services in late February or early March. Definitely in time for a Belltown Easter service.

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-So there will be concerts here? Rock concerts? How many people does this main room seat?

Yes, we will eventually run rock shows, hip-hop shows, arts shows, etc. The main room will seat close to 500 and for shows with no seats it will be closer to 800-900.

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-Can you tell me a little bit about the history of this building?

It was built in 1948 as the Marine Fireman's Union Building by the well-known architecture firm Young and Richardson. It was a labor building for the first 30 years of its life before it sat vacant for a few years. The last few years it was the Tabella Nightclub.

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-How else will you be reaching out to the downtown community?

We are architecting a "Mercy" Ministry to reach out to the people and neighbors of the Belltown Community. The mission of this ministry would be to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the poor, homeless, destitute, marginalized and disenfranchised in our community. This will be a key initiative of the Downtown Campus.

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Yes. We want to be an "open door" to the community. Our space is not just our own, it is the community's. We want to build relationships and partnerships in the area, and we'll be open to allowing the facility be used on case-by-case scenarios.

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We will be building a Children's Wing in the space for all three kids in Belltown. We do plan on having a first-class Children's Wing so that we can cater to the Belltown families, and hopefully Belltown will continue to become a family-friendly community and will attract more and more families who will raise their kids in the city. We will also have some space for artists to use. And eventually we will have a cafe/pub that will be open for the different community events we will have, and which hopefully will become a "third place" in which people can connect.

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-Wouldn't it be nice if Mars Hill attendees could walk to events? The population of downtown is growing, after all.

Yes. We hope to be adding to the viability of Belltown and Downtown as a vibrant, growing, livable, walkable place! It is continuing to turn into a 24/7 lifestyle in Seattle, and having a growing, vibrant church adds to that. Walking to church will also help on cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions.

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-And of course, this being Seattle, are you doing anything "green" as far as plans for the building are concerned?

Yes, we will have a true "Green Room" where the musicians gather. We are being aggressive about using recyclable products and taking care of God's creation.