Last week, City Pages posted Bradlee Dean's ministry is no more, source says, a single-sourced blog entry speculating on the demise of the toxic metal rocker's ministry. According to the anonymous source that had contacted the paper:
. . . Dean's "You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International" staffers have all walked out on him. Yes, that includes his notorious street teams and Dean's "Sons of Liberty" radio cohost Jake McMillan, who our source says put in his two weeks notice and moved out of Minnesota. (McMillian, for some reason, sometimes went by the name Jake MacAulay.)
Our source said the beginning of the end came when two former Dean staffers -- a husband-and-wife team including his former director of donor relations -- had a falling out with Bradlee. The couple stayed friends with some "You Can Run" employees and began trying to persuade their friends to leave the ministry. They had incremental success, culminating with the resignation of McMillan, and as a result Dean no longer has anybody working for him. . . .
Update: A City Pages staffer replies:
Re: Bradlee Dean report in @bspinmn -- my source tells me Jake indeed put in notice, and trip out east is his last working for Bradlee.
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 30, 2013
Bluestem hopes that the City Pages text: " as a result Dean no longer has anybody working for him" is clarified. The tweet does not explain the presence of "Chase Mathews," whose Facebook page lists earlier employment with Dean's "School of Hard Knocks" Ministry beginning in 2010, and with The Sons of Liberty starting in September 2013. Perhaps the source will come forward publicly and help end the confusion. [end update]
However, a photo album published Monday on the Sons of Liberty Radio Facebook page suggests that the report of Dean's ministries' demise was greatly exaggerated by the source.
The caption on the photo in the screenshot above reads:
After Bradlee Dean's presentation, folks always want to hear more! Our ministry products include DVDs, CDs, comic books, testimony books, etc. the encompass our message. Find here: http://mhawu.cfazx.servertrust.com/Default.asp — with Bradlee Dean, Chase Matthew and Jake McMillian MacAulay in North Carolina.
A veteran Dean watcher confirmed to Bluestem that the men staffing the table are Chase Schomberg and Jake "McMillian" MacAulay. The features of the room in the photo--ceiling tiles and lighting fixtures match earlier photos of the event in the album.
Another picture in the album shows Dean and MacAulay being extremely happy in each other's company as they set up for a drum clinic at the Truth for a New Generation conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Bradlee and Jake having fun setting up for the drum clinic as passers by wait in anticipation! Play skillfully with a loud noise (Psalm 33:3). — with Bradlee Dean, Bradlee Dean and Jake McMillian MacAulay in North Carolina.
Update: Dean and MacAulay were tagged in the drum clinic photo by Elizabeth Ilse, the ministry employee (past or current) whom Dean famously saved from homework and boys. She hasn't tweeted since September 18, but her Linked In profile still lists Sons of Liberty Radio as her employer. [end update]
Was the source punked by Dean and MacAulay?
Curious about the blog post at the time it was published, Bluestem had listened to podcasts of the Sons of Liberty radio show and had noticed that MacAulay's last appearance with Dean was Monday, September 23, and on subsequent broadcasts, no mention had been made on air of the sidekick's separate events included on a "Liberty Week" calendar posted to the SOL Radio Facebook page.
Moreover, staff twitter accounts all seemed to go silent on September 18. Circumstantial evidence suggested that the alt weekly's source was accurate--and multiple national online outlets gleefully spread the news.
Some of the source's story may have gained credence from the social media silence, and from a little-reported merger of Dean's various ministries in August.
YCRBYCH merged with Sons of Liberty in August
It's true that You Can Run But You Cannot Hide international is no more. On August 3, the YCR Facebook page announced:
You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Intl. is now merging with Sons of Liberty Radio. This facebook page will be inactive beginning Monday, August 5th. Please like our page https://www.facebook.com/SonsOfLibertyRadio for daily updates on the ministry. Please call our offices with any questions: 1-866-233-0747
However, the Dean and MacAulay picture was posted five hours ago.
Other evidence of the merger? Only Sons Of Liberty is listed in the Minnesota Attorney General's Charity Database.
All of this is quite curious. Dean has been posting of late about relentless media liars. Is this episode a punking of his former employees ? An elaborate scheme by Dean and the source to discredit a venue that's been a frequent critic? An object lesson in the need to confirm a tip from a single source? Dean being dodgy about an ongoing investigation at the MN AG's office as the anonymous source said? Signs of the Rapture?
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