One of Butler's oldest churches recently got a new pastor.

The Rev. John C.R. Silbert took over as pastor of the 205-year-old Covenant Presbyterian Church, 230 E. Jefferson St., in February. Silbert replaces the Rev. James Swanson, who retired after 14 years as pastor of Covenant.

Silbert said he came to Covenant as a stated supply minister after an 18-month stint as pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, 107 Staley Ave.

“A stated supply ministry is one that is contracted by the Covenant session (church council) and is for an expressed term that is renewable,” said Silbert. This is different, Silbert said, from a “called and installed” minister found by a search committee and hired on a permanent basis.

Silbert said his contract will be up in February and he and the church are free to renew it or not.

“They chose not to be searching for an installed minister,” Silbert said. “The session (church committee) did the searching in that respect. They came to me to see if I was available. I was finishing up at Trinity.”

“I'm here and I'm glad to be here,” he said. “Being an installed pastor is certainly a possibility. There's nothing different from an installed pastor versus a stated supply pastor.”

Ann Morrison, a member of the transition team of the church, said of the decision to go with a stated supply pastor, “It had to do with the size of the church and the resources available at the time.

“An installed pastor could take a two- or three-year search,” she said.

This way, the 50-member congregation gets experienced pastor able to work 20 hours a week at the church. “Not that any pastor puts in a regular workweek,” she said.

Asked what sold the committee on Silbert, Morrison said, “He certainly had quite a bit of experience.

“We are a traditional church that is very inclusive. We wanted someone who was respectful of our liturgy and music and totally inviting to LGTBQ people, as well as your run-of-the-mill Presbyterian,” said Morrison.

Becoming an installed pastor is “obviously something we will look at” when Silbert's first term ends in February, Silbert said.

But until then, Silbert, a Civil War history buff whose great-grandfather, George Silbert, served in the 32nd Pennsylvania Volunteers and was wounded at the Battle of Antietam, will try to brush up on the history of Covenant's Underground Railway stop in the church basement.

“I have to get up to speed on that,” he said.

“I'm getting to know Butler a little more. Those Lenten midweek services, we had great turnouts with the Roman Catholics, the Anglicans, the Methodists ...

“It was really great to see the different worship leadership styles, the different voices,” he said.

“But we are all connected. We are just professing our Christian faith but we are doing it in different ways. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ expressed in different ways,” he added.

“And Butler is a town with many different aspects. I knew about the Butler Farm Show but the fall's Italian Festival, I wasn't aware that was happening in this town.”

“I think people are invested in the city of Butler. It's not like Cranberry which is bedroom for people. They sleep there and go to work elsewhere,” he said.

Silbert said he will have more time to become familiar with Butler, the congregation and church history once the school year ends.

He is a member of the adjunct faculty of the School of Communication and Information Systems at Robert Morris University in Moon Township, teaching courses in rhetoric and ethics.

Silbert is the son of a minister. He was born March 23, 1956, in Phoenixville in Center County, where his father, the Rev. William G. Silbert Jr., served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church.

He graduated in 1978 from Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., with a bachelor's degree in Biblical and Theological Studies and graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary (his father's alma mater) in 1982 with a master's degree in Practical Theology.

He lives in Zelienople with his wife, Elaine Ann Nucci, who works for the Pittsburgh Cultural District.

Between them, they have four grown children, Christine and Andrew Weir of Cranberry Township; Kate Silbert of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Hannah Silbert of Salem, Mass.

Asked about his philosophy of church pastorship, Silbert said, “I once heard church defined very simply: It is a gathering of people who have had an encounter with the living Christ and wish to share that experience with others.”

“We help facilitate that sharing, help people so they can express their experience of Jesus where they live, work and pray,” he said.