The history of Mars Hill?
Rob Bell was an assistant pastor at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, longing to start a new church. He and his wife, Kristen, and some friends decided to do it, Calvary gave their blessing and the first Mars Hill gatherings took place on February 7, 1999. An extremely generous family from the community let their building be used for free for the first year and a half, until another extremely generous family offered to give Mars Hill their mall.
What do you do when someone offers to give you their mall?
You take it.
But the Mars Hill story isn't about buildings, it's about people. People hungry to put flesh and blood on the resurrection.
The truth is, there are thousands of Mars Hill stories, thousands of Mars Hill histories, and that is the mystery of a church.
Because God can speak through anybody.
For a bit more see Rob Bell's first book Velvet Elvis, The Tassels movement.