Mars Hill Pulling The Plug On The Paradox

Hello friends, I'm writing to inform you of some major changes happening with The Paradox. Just to give you a little background (if you're not familiar already) - The Paradox was originally started by Mars Hill Church in 1999. Over the years, the venue has been run by a number of people - recently in the last year and half or so by myself and Liz Martin, plus our incredible volunteer staff on show nights. In all of its' many variations, this most recent evolution of the staff included no church members. The Paradox's mission has always been to promote and produce shows for all ages crowds, providing a safe place to see great shows at a small price.

Our non profit status is tied to the church, as are some of our finances, but this has recently come up as a subject both Liz and I have touched on, with the intent to separate the Paradox for the first time from the church. Over the past few months, Liz and I had considered a few
different ideas, which included separating the Paradox from the church, possibly moving the venue and opening elsewhere. After a series of meetings with the heads of the church, we have found our vision for the Paradox does not coincide with the church’s vision.

Due to some internal changes happening within the church, Mars Hill decided to review all of their programs, including the Paradox. The church has made a decision to bring the Paradox in closer to the church, and we have been informed a group of Mars Hill members will be taking over Paradox operations. We were asked if we would like to take part in these changes, but we have both decided it would be in our best interest to not be a part of this new version of the venue, as we both do not support the church's views and would not feel comfortable working in this new environment.

So, it has been decided the Paradox will continue to operate in the same fashion it has been through the end of this year. Our last show will be held on December 16th - after that, the Paradox will be taken over and run by Mars Hill staff. The current Paradox staff will no longer be involved.

At this point, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support of our efforts. Whether it was booking a show with us, playing on our stage, volunteering your time at events or designing posters for promotional efforts - we appreciate each and every one of you. I cannot begin to tell you how great of an experience this has been, and I look forward to working with you in future endeavors.

Liz and I both will be continuing to produce shows at other venues in town with our newest venture - a production company. If you have an interest in becoming involved or are looking for someone to put together a bill for a Seattle show, please consider us as an option. We're called Make Believe. We'll have a website soon, and a MySpace sooner. We can both be contacted via e-mail at: makebelievebooking@gmail.com.

Again, thank you! Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail me or contact me by phone.

Yours,
Alicia Blake