Sutter Says:
That he is an ordained Baptist minister
through King's Word Seminary in Ohio:
"I am a Independent Baptist minister, ordained through King's Word Seminary in 1993."
...or is it that he is an ordained Catholic minister... ordained by the Catholic Life Church?
"I was ordained December 11, 1994 by the Catholic Life Church program out of
Modesto, California."(source)
The Truth:
Actually it doesn't really matter which story he claims, since
neither institution exists!
Sutter has fluidly swapped tales of his ordination, denomination and supposed religious titles for many years. The real story appears to be that he obtained his "ordination" on-line from ULC. Here is their stringent process:
Note the "Ordain Me" button!
Not surprisingly the Roman Catholic Diocese apparently issued a formal order for Sutter to stop pretending to be an ordained Catholic in 1996. (source)
The "Ministry License" that Sutter often claims is nothing more than a $10.00 certificate from the State of Ohio that allows him to perform marriages. He obtained it by getting a small group called "Jesus the Way Christian Fellowship" to issue a letter of recommendation that allowed him to get his license based on some of his volunteer work with their prison ministry.
Sutter claims to have the lofty title of Pastor Emeritus with "Jesus the Way" but in 2007, the real pastor, Freddie Garcia, said that he had not been affiliated with them in any way for several years. According to the Rev. Garcia, they had long realized that Sutter was using them, but tolerated him up until behavior simply became too disturbing for the small congregation - particularly for the parents of younger children.
On Sutter's $10 license application, his denomination is listed as "Jesus the Way Christian Fellowship," meaning that he is neither a Baptist, nor an Independent Baptist pastor as he claims.
Sutter was also kicked out of another church called "Doers of the Word" after making outrageous accusations about the pastor and others. He stayed long enough for the church members to pick up on rumors of domestic violence.
An odd turn of events occurred in October of 2008 at another church in Middleburg Heights, Ohio called Grace Church, which the Phony Rev attended for about a year. Again, Sutter's behavior caused several parishioners to become uncomfortable with him and an investigation quickly turned up the serious problems that exist in his background. After telling a lie about fighting off a knife-wielding attacker on the church campus, he was finally asked to leave.