Phelps background connected to Storyville Coffee continued,

published at

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2014/08/29/mars-hill-church-updates-members-on-paul-tripp-and-new-additions-to-board-of-advisors-and-accountability/

 

Update on Paul Tripp & The BOAA

As we have shared before, Paul Tripp recently resigned his membership from our Board of Advisors and Accountability. To the best of our knowledge at the time, this was due to his intent in helping Mars Hill as a paid consultant.

 

Paul later released a statement, adding additional comments that he did not believe the structure of the Board that he joined was healthy, and that we should add accountability from local members of the church. Paul’s concerns were not made known to the Board as a whole before he resigned; however, we agree there is wisdom in adding local members to this board and we were already in the process of doing just that.

 

We have now become aware of new comments and concerns that Paul Tripp has voiced about Pastor Mark and Pastor Sutton within the last week to a small group of current elders at Mars Hill. These elders then posted these comments as a letter in an unsecure place, and the letter has since been posted online by various critics and media sources.

 

Paul Tripp’s comments to our elders were never made directly to the Board of Advisors and Accountability, as we have minutes of these meetings. We are deeply disappointed that Paul did not bring these concerns to our full Board or to the Executive Elders directly.

 

The concerns brought forth by these elders and the comments from Paul Tripp have been heard and are being taken seriously. Their letter, as with past letters voicing accusations toward Pastor Mark, will be processed in accordance with our bylaws. This means the accusations will be thoroughly examined and a report issued when the review is complete.

 

As for the Board of Advisors and Accountability we are pleased to announce that the vacancies created on the Board were filled with local members of our church who meet the ECFA guidelines for independence. Pastor Matt Rogers is a local Seattle business leader and has been serving as a volunteer elder at Mars Hill Church Bellevue. He will also serve as the Chairman of the Board of Elders which will provide increased accountability in areas of financial responsibility, staff and elder transitions and church culture. The other vacancy on the BOAA has been filled by John Phelps. John is a successful businessman and longtime member of Mars Hill. We are excited for these men to provide local perspective and accountability on our Board.

John Phelps may or may not be the same as Jon Phelps, but the Phelps is described as a longtime member of Mars Hill.  Sources for Wenatchee The Hatchet have not been able to verify that Phelps has any account on The City, but a membership contract was an option without City membership for more than half the history of Mars Hill.  It's possible that at one point Phelps had a profile on The City but doesn't have one now.  In any event, since membership at Mars Hill Church so frequently tends to include City membership/access (and the revocation of this privilege was one of the signature disciplinary elements in the Andrew Lamb case) it would be normative to anticipate City access ... but, moving along.

Thanks to some alert readership, and in light of a report that Jon Phelps has been reportedly added as a member of the Mars Hill Board of Advisors and Accountability, here are a few extra bits of coverage of Storyville Coffee and associated companies.


http://seattle.eater.com/archives/2013/09/19/storyvilles-flyboy-to-challenge-starbucks.php
September 19, 2013
Storyville is run by founder Jon Phelps and his co-presidents Jamie Munson (a youthful former executive pastor of Mars Hill Church, currently a writer and motivational speaker) and Kris Rosentrater, who's been running the day-to-day roasting operation on Bainbridge


http://theseattlecoffeeproject.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/life-as-story-storyville/
... Storyville is the product of Jon Phelps, Jamie Munson, and Kris Rosentrater. The business began as a mail-based bean retailer. The Bainbridge roasting facility offered one signature blend called Prologue with a decaf alternative, appropriately called Epilogue.
...
The plane in that logo has a story as well.  You can see it’s real life inspiration in a photomontage against the wall: a bright shiny Douglas D-3. The Barista tells me the plane actually belongs to owner Jon Phelps.  This machine has shown up in Phelp’s other creative and business pursuits: the name of his musical project, the DC3 Orchestra, and the logo for Full Sail University, which he was founder of.  The Douglas D-3 was an early commercial passenger aircraft, one of the planes that made air travel accessible to the public. A vehicle that allowed people to travel to new places, have new adventures, and create new stories.

You also get a glimpse of Storyville’s own backstory when walking in to the café. On the wall, in large silver letters, is a quote from Gary Phelps, Jon Phelp’s son. Gary has Down’s Syndrome, and when friends discovered they were expecting a Down’s Syndrome baby, they met with the Phelp family to help them understand what to expect. Jon turned the question over to his son, asking him what it was like, having Down’s. Gary thought for a moment then said, “Love everybody, never ever hurt anybody.”

The DC-3 is to be expected, and while what happened to DC-3 Entertainment (this, perhaps?) is a bit of a mystery perhaps some readers can find things out about that.  saf

Some local Queen Anne coverage from February 2014
http://queenannenews55.1upprelaunch.com/main.asp?SectionID=26&SubSectionID=337&ArticleID=35257
...
Not everyone has welcomed Storyville with open arms, though. An October 2013 article in The Stranger proposed the coffee company’s relationship to Mars Hill Church. The church and its head pastor, Mark Driscoll, have long been connected with messages of misogyny and homophobia. Munson was a former executive pastor at Mars Hill, the article states.

A follow-up article shows a since-removed post on the Mars Hill site that said, “God has used Storyville Coffee to bless Mars Hill Downtown. Since the Downtown campus has been planted, Storyville has donated tens of thousands of dollars worth of coffee, supplies and equipment.”
Munson denies any connection to Mars Hill and says the shops do not donate anything to the church. Lund has had customers come in and ask about it, but it’s a quick conversation when she explains they have no affiliation, she said.

“It’s a little unfair,” Munson said about the presumed connection. “But it hasn’t shut us down.”
Last week, the Queen Anne Moms and Dads group were circulating emails about the possible Mars Hill connection. Moderator Jill Gallagher said she doesn’t believe in what Mars Hill stands for and won’t patronize a company affiliated with them.

It might, perhaps, have been a little unfair but as Wenatchee The Hatchet documented in two places, there were reasons to believe that in spite of a lack of any formal connections between Storyville and Mars Hill Church Jamie Munson was still listed as a pastor for those who had access to The City.

See an old post from October 2013
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2013/10/where-are-they-now-update-2-jamie.html

and more recently
June 9, 2014, replete with a redacted screen capture of what was then Munson's current (to the day) profile on The City

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/06/jamie-munsons-role-within-mars-hill.html

By that time, however, Munson was not at Storyville, was he? Precisely when Munson stepped out would be difficult to pin down but he was gone by then.
http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2014/06/jamie-munson-now-lists-himself-as.html

Rosentrater was gone by then, too. 

Perhaps more salient, there was another company that may provide a clue as to when the transition happened, perhaps. 

http://www.bainbridgereview.com/business/134131098.html
https://opencorporates.com/officers/81635026

JONATHAN PHELPS
Company    inactive
SEATTLE QUEEN ANNE, LLC
Name
JONATHAN PHELPS
Position
member

It isn't described as currently inactive but Munson's departure from Storyville was confirmed at least by way of a LinkedIn adjustment.

http://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/search_detail.aspx?ubi=603183232
SEATTLE QUEEN ANNE, LLC
UBI Number             603183232
Category               LLC
Active/Inactive        Active
State Of Incorporation WA
WA Filing Date         02/21/2012
Expiration Date        02/28/2015
Inactive Date 
Duration Perpetual

Agent Name
CT CORPORATION SYSTEM 
505 UNION AVE, SE STE120
OLYMPIA WA 98501 

Manager
MUNSON , JAMIE
9459 COPPERTOP LOOP NE
SEATTLE , WA 98110 

Manager
THOMPSON , BRAD
9459 COPPERTOP LOOP NE
SEATTLE , WA 98110 

Member, Manager
PHELPS , JONATHAN
9459 COPPERTOP LOOP NE
SEATTLE , WA 98110 

Manager
ROSENTRATER , KRIS
9459 COPPERTOP LOOP NE
SEATTLE , WA 98110 

POSTSCRIPT
this was conveyed to Wenatchee The Hatchet just recently
http://www.northlandchurch.net/blogs/dc3o_leading_worship_at_northland_this_weekend/

http://www.stumptownblogger.com/2009/06/a-classic-bird-from-ty-rogoway-photography.html

http://www.dc3orchestra.com/