Ex-worship pastor charged after confessing to sexual relationship with underage student years ago

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, November 13, 2025

Matthew McGinley, a former worship and associate pastor of the Ascent Project in Fort Collins, Colorado, who recently confessed to a past sexual relationship with a student he met at a well-known Christian school where he previously taught, has been arrested and charged with felony sexual assault of a minor.

McGinley, now 30, was 24 at the time, and a part-time educator at the school when private flirtatious communications began with the student, who was confirmed to be younger than 18 at the time. Court records cited by CBS News Colorado said McGinley allegedly told a church leader about his past affair with the minor this year. The church, which officially launched in 2020, is led by McGinley’s brother, Josh McGinley.

Church leaders reportedly told police about McGinley’s confession. They said he was fired immediately and escorted to the local police department to turn himself in. He was charged with the sexual assault of a minor by a person in a position of trust.

McGinley, who has been married since 2015, met the student while he was a part-time educator at the school during the 2018-2019 academic year. Their relationship reportedly started with flirtatious late-night texts and evolved to kissing.

According to police, the two started having sex at the beginning of 2020 after McGinley had stopped working at the school. The sexual contact continued into part of 2020 when the minor stopped communicating with McGinley.

Investigators referenced an email that McGinley allegedly wrote to the victim’s mother, apologizing for what he did and blaming it on a "quarter-life crisis." He also said he had repented.

McGinley is currently free on bond.

The Christian school, which has not been publicly identified, issued a statement to the school community stating that even though McGinley had not worked with them for more than five years, he was banned from any further involvement with them. They also noted that they were not aware of McGinley’s criminal behavior until the police recently requested his employment records.

Ascent Project church officials could not be reached for comment by The Christian Post on Wednesday, but McGinley appeared to serve as a lead singer for Ascent Project’s music group, along with his work at the church.

Multiple videos on YouTube show him belting out praise and worship songs for the group, which says their vision is to “create music and gather the church locally and globally to make Jesus famous.”

“We call ourselves a movement because we long for people not just to listen to our music but to be changed by it and to live out God’s heart for people,” the group declares. “When we worship, God plants His heart in our chest, and our response is to love those He loves. Look after those He loves. Serve those He loves. As a movement, we long to change this world one person at a time as we give the church its voice and live as the hands and feet of Jesus.”