In the Kitchen with Pat Sileo
SPARTA — Reverend Pat Sileo will be celebrating his first anniversary at the helm of The First Presbyterian Church of Sparta this May. His journey like other clergy is an interesting one that never ends.
Sileo hails from Meriden Conn. where he graduated college with a Bachelor of Arts in education and biology. He taught middle school science and was a long-term substitute teacher, but in 1991 entered the medical industry as a quality assurance manager for 11 years.
Born and raised as a Roman Catholic with deeply devout parents who remain Catholic to this day, Sileo chose to go in a different religious direction.
“Religion was more of a social event for me than a faith walk. The spiritual side of being a Catholic didn’t connect with me. I was unchurched when I went to college,” said Sileo
“But I did go to school where people’s faiths stuck out. God was drawing me in, and I didn’t know it.”
When he met his wife Janise, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together.
“I was searching for something and didn’t find it until I met my wife. We began worshipping together at a Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania where we were living,” he said.
There is where Sileo’s faith took off, and he became a member of The Gideon’s International, a Christian businessmen’s organization known for placing bibles in hotels and college campuses.
As a Gideon, he preached his first two sermons at a VA hospital and a prison. When asked about preaching in a prison, Sileo replied, “It’s not the Holiday Inn — it’s intimidating. But it’s powerful and awesome.”
His growing faith at this church and continuous soul-searching propelled him to the next step of becoming a man of the cloth. “I discerned my call to ministry in spring of 2001. I had been feeling that call for over a year by talking with friends. I prayed a lot asking God where do you want me?”
Although Sileo knew it was his destiny, at 36 years old it was still challenging to leave a profitable occupation and a 2,700-square-foot home, and move with two small children and a wife to a Dubuque, Iowa college campus.
“We put everything we can fit into a Penske truck and moved to a 1,200-square-foot townhouse on campus,” he recalls. “University of Dubuque Theological Seminary was a smaller, good school with good housing.”
His three years of seminary was a positive experience filled with hard work and contemporaries who were also embarking on a second career. Sileo was particularly inspired by his professors’ guidance.
“You go look for your first call. For me, it was in a town of 2,600 people called Farmington outside of Peoria, Illinois,” he said. After two years in Illinois, he and his family went to a church in an area south of Pittsburgh for five years.
Getting attached to a church community and then having to leave is an occupational hazard that comes with the territory. “You can’t walk away without being affected — it is difficult to say goodbye to people you have been that intimate with,” said Sileo.
Although there are cultural differences among the towns and communities he has ministered in, Sileo finds spiritual needs are the same. Throughout all his leadership roles, he considers himself a teacher and “sheepdog assisting the good shepherd.”
“Everybody has gifts from God. Most pastors have a nice mix. I have always been a teacher trying to show people the way, but there is a lot of kingdom work to do in between.”
And Sileo is realistic about the road ahead. “Twenty-first century ministry is difficult. The stress of society being secular is moving in.”
But he remains positive. “The greatest joy in ministry is watching someone else blossom in their faith, especially adults.”
Although the reverend, known as Pastor Pat to his congregation, is available 24/7, Sileo does enjoy the flexibility of his schedule and fits in cooking, reading and spending time with his teenage children. Here is one of his favorite recipes.
The First Presbyterian Church of Sparta 32-Main St., Sparta www.fpcsparta.org