It’s a sad story folks. Pastor Ryan Jay Muelhlhauser, 55, stands accused of eight counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He allegedly molested two men he was helping to “escape” homosexuality. It’s Treebeard logic. Thinking that you can escape danger by drawing closer to it. In this case, you can escape homosexuality by letting a pastor grab your junk. Pffft. Hypocrite!
Muelhlhauser worked as the Sr. pastor for Lakeside Christian church, and as a counselor for the rabidly anti-gay Christian organization Outpost Ministries. Ryan assumed the Sr. Pastor position at Lakeside on January 1. Prior to that he worked as an associate pastor for the same church for 22 years.
I’m worried about qualifications in this case. The press release from his installation at Lakeside Christian Church mentioned his education as coming from two institutions. Bethel College and Christian Outreach School of Ministries.
Muehlhauser is a graduate of Bethel College, Arden Hills, Minn., and Christian Outreach School of Ministries, Hillsboro, Mo. He had served as an elder at Lakeside prior to getting his ministry credentials and returned from COSM in 1989 to begin his service to the church as associate pastor. In his time at Lakeside, he has experienced the full-range of congregational ministries. He said he feels very privileged to continue to serve this church, which has become family to him. Muehlhauser sees his strengths as prayer and mentorship.
COSM was a church run training program. No professional counseling training or certification could be expected to come from that.
…Christian Outreach School of Ministries, to reflect the growing curriculum. From the day the doors opened men began to plead for training as leaders for the stateside church. Courses were added that would help students graduate with skills in preaching, teaching, apostolic, and prophetic work in the United States.
We are talking leadership training at COSM, and mediocre leadership training by the look of things. What about Bethel College? It was a four-year program at the time Muelhlhauser attended the school in the early 80s. They featured a liberal arts program then, so my guess is that Muelhlhauser had no formal training as a counselor. As is typical in these cases, Muelhlhauser was a hobbyist laboring under the false belief that his religiosity somehow made him a qualified counselor. We know where this leads, and it’s not a happy ending (or maybe it is).
Outpost Ministries is a proponent of reparative therapy which uses prayer and counseling to “cure” gay people. One would think that those participating in this process would have a formal scientific education backing up their controversial anti-science and anti-gay stance, and not Joe pastor who thinks homosexuality is a sin and curable. One would think…
So… the real story here is an unqualified anti-gay pastor is gay himself and that his life is a lie. I’m sure he was married the whole time and produced kids too. Hypocrisy at its finest folks.
Lakeside Church released a statement.
“As a church, we are deeply saddened by the report by certain inappropriate behaviors during counseling sessions by one of our pastors, Ryan Muehlhauser. At this point we do not believe that there has been any involvement with minors. We ask that if you are aware of any others that may have been abused, you immediately report that to the Isanti County Sheriff’s Department at 763-689-2141.”
One of our pastors? He was your Sr. Pastor. He was your leader. Yet now, there is no trace of him on your website and no mention of his arrest either. I understand the Christian reaction to allegations that their pastor is gay. Christians will stand behind their child-molesting pastors until they are marched off to prison, but a gay pastor will be erased from the collective memory as quickly as possible least he contaminate the flock. Muelhlhauser worked for your church for 22 years. Are you really going to erase him on the basis of an allegation? Christians… geez.
Outpost Ministries erased him too. There is no statement on the website, nor is there any a public statement or press release. Muelhlhauser is simply gone.
Muelhlhauser must face the music. I’d like to see him held accountable for the damage he caused to those poor gay men participating in Outpost Ministries’s reparative therapy sessions, but I doubt that will happen. Molesting a person under pastoral care is a crime. Even if the victims were consenting adults. His victims were harmed.
One of the alleged victims met with authorities Nov. 4 and said Muehlhauser would minister and mentor him, and help him through his “homosexual tendencies.”
The victim said on multiple occasions Muehlhauser would place his hands on his genital area and call the sexual occurrences “blessings.”
Perhaps cock blessings are part of the ministry? Who knows really? They are just making it up as they go anyway.
If you are a victim of Pastor Ryan Jay Muelhlhauser I’d really like to talk to you. Email me at mojoeyATgmailDOTcom.
