Mueggenborg entered Oklahoma State University (OSU) to pursue a science degree. He later said that he did not want to become a priest at that point. However, in the spring of 1981, he served at a mass in Oklahoma that was celebrated by Reverend Stanley Rother, a missionary serving in Guatemala. On July 28, 1981, Rother was murdered in Guatemala by a right-wing death squad. According to Mueggenborg, Rother's service and martyrdom for the Catholic Church inspired him to pursue the priesthood. After graduating from OSU in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology, he entered St. Meinrad Seminary in Saint Meinrad, Indiana.[1]
After his 1989 ordination, the diocese assigned Mueggenborg as an associate pastor at Church of St. Mary Parish in Tulsa. He was transferred to perform the same role in 1990 to St. John Parish in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. That same year, he earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology in biblical theology from in 1990 Mueggenborg returned to Tulsa in 1991 to become chaplain at Bishop Kelley High School and associate pastor of Saint Pius X Parish. He would hold both positions for the next four years.[4]
Mueggenborg was moved from Tulsa in 1994 to serve as administrator pro-tempore of Saint Cecilia Parish in Claremont, Oklahoma, then in 1996 to Bixby, Oklahoma, to be pastor of Magdalene Parish. He returned to Bartlesville in 2001 to serve as pastor at St. Clement Parish for the next five years. Mueggenborg went to Rome in 2006 to work as assistant director of formation advising at the Pontifical North American College for one year.[4]
Additionally, Mueggenborg served on the boards of directors for Ascension Healthcare and Catholic Charities of Tulsa.[6] The Vatican named Mueggenborg a monsignor in 2004.
Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle
Pope Francis appointed Mueggenborg as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Seattle on April 6, 2017.[4] On May 31, 2017, he was consecrated by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain at St. James Cathedral in Seattle, with Bishops David Konderla and Eusebio de la Luz Elizondo Almaguer serving as co-consecrators.[5]
Bishop of Reno
On July 20, 2021, Pope Francis appointed Mueggenborg as bishop of the Diocese of Reno, succeeding Bishop Randolph Calvo. Mueggenborg was installed on September 24, 2021.[7][8][5]
Publications
Books
Come Follow Me. Discipleship Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings for Liturgical Year C (Angelwing Publishing, 2015) [9]
Come Follow Me: Discipleship Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings for Liturgical Year A (Angelwing Publishing, 2016) [10]
Come Follow Me: Discipleship Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings for Liturgical Year B (Angelwing Publishing, 2017) [11]
^"Rinunce e nomine, 20.07.2021" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
^Mueggenborg, Daniel H. (October 2015). Come Follow Me. Discipleship Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings for Liturgical Year C. Gracewing. ISBN978-0852448762.
^Mueggenborg, Daniel H. (October 2016). Come Follow Me: Discipleship Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings for Liturgical Year A. Gracewing. ISBN978-0852448779.
^Mueggenborg, Daniel H. (16 June 2017). Come Follow Me: Discipleship Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings for Liturgical Year B. Gracewing. ISBN978-0852448786.