Father Kevin A. Mueller should not require a large learning curve when he becomes pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Middle River Jan. 1.
Father Mueller, who has been pastor of Church of the Holy Apostles in Gambrills since July 2008, was an associate pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex, starting in the late 1990s.
“When I was stationed at Mount Carmel, I would hear confessions at Our Lady, Queen of Peace,” Father Mueller said of the adjoining parishes. “They seemed like good people.”
Our Lady Queen of Peace and Our Lady of Mount Carmel share schools, as the former has a pre-school and the latter educates K-12.
“I also know Father Jason Worley well,” Father Mueller said, “and he loved it at Our Lady, Queen of Peace.”
It has been without a pastor since September, when Father Jason C. Worley was assigned as pastor of St. Peter in Libertytown.
A Baltimore native, Father Mueller attended Loyola Blakefield and Towson University before entering Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg in 1986. He was ordained in 1992.
In addition to serving Our Lady of Mount Carmel, he spent five years as an associate pastor of St. Joseph, Cockeysville; four years at the Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House in Sparks; was the temporary administrator of St. John in Westminster for six months; and was the pastor of St. Mary in Hagerstown before moving to Holy Apostles.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like Holy Apostles,” Father Mueller said. “Young and old, the people have really taken ownership of the parish. They’re very active. I’d love to see that everywhere.”
Father Mueller’s interest in Baltimore’s streetcar heritage was featured in the Sept. 24 issue of The Catholic Review.