Saskatoon church places worship leader, former mayoral candidate on leave after robbery, assault charges

Mark Zielke will not be playing piano this weekend at St. Paul's United Church in Saskatoon.

The 41-year-old is now on administrative leave from his lay position as a worship leader at the church in the wake of robbery and assault charges.

For more than a decade, the self-described justice advocate and one-time candidate for mayor has also provided  leadership at Sunday worship, done pastoral care and provided musical accompaniment to artists playing at the church.

That is now all on hold.

Zielke, 41, is accused alongside Tyson Moore, 44, and David Dominguez, 41, of robbing the Hitching Post Motel on Saturday night. The trio were arrested after RCMP stopped Zielke's white BMW X3 at the Borden Bridge, 50 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

They each face 14 counts of robbery and assault.

• Former Saskatoon mayoral candidate charged with robbery, assault at motel in North Battleford, Sask.

Rev. Mitchell Anderson said members of the congregation became alarmed Sunday morning when Zielke did not show up for work at the church. Anderson said Zielke joined the church, in the Sutherland neighbourhood, in 2011 and is its longest serving lay employee.

"When Mark was not at work on Sunday, members of the congregation felt that that behaviour was uncharacteristic and so they tried to contact him, contact friends of his, stopped by his home," Anderson said.

"When they were unable to find him, they contacted the police with their concerns."

Zielke was in jail.

Anderson said the United Church has clear policies about conduct by ministers.

"There is a policy as it relates to ordained ministers, which is that when an ordained minister is charged with a criminal offence, they're placed on administrative leave," he said.

"As a lay employee, the congregation has decided to place [Zielke] on administrative leave. This allows us the time to gather more information in order to prayerfully and thoughtfully make decisions about the future."

Zielke returns to court later this month.