The Rev. Thomas L. Gillespie took a complicated route to his first parish assignment at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Butler.

The Pittsburgh native graduated from the University of Notre Dame, spent eight years at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and in residency.

Then he served for eight years as a U.S. Army psychiatrist, based in Georgia and South Carolina.

It was there, he said, that he realized he was meant to be a priest.

Upon leaving the Army in 2004, he entered the Diocese of Pittsburgh seminary and later attended Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

After being ordained in June 2010, Gillespie was assigned to St. Paul Church the next month where he assists its pastor, the Rev. Steven Neff, as St. Paul's parochial vicar.

“I do everything,” Gillespie said. “I support Father Neff in his efforts and liturgies, visit parishioners in the hospital. My primary duties are liturgical and supporting the parishioners.

“My psychiatric training comes in handy in my counseling duties when people want to talk about life or spiritual matters,” he said.

He said many of the people who visit the church aren't from the parish. But in any case, Gillespie refers them to social service agencies.

“We're located in the center of Butler,” Gillespie said. “A lot of people who need help come to our doors for emotional or spiritual support.”

That's in addition to tending to the needs of the 1,986 families that make up St. Paul parish. Neff and Gillespie also oversee the 550 families of St. Wendelin parish because of a shortage of priests.

Fortunately, he said, his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic.

“My parents are hard workers. They knew the importance of working to achieve something. Nothing is free in life,” he said.

This willingness to put in the effort to achieve a desired goal served him well through the four years of college, four years of medical school and four years of residency that was needed to earn his medical degree.

When he felt the call to join the priesthood, Gillespie spent another six years training before his ordination.

“It was switching gears to go back to the seminary,” said Gillespie, but it wasn't hard trading a science-oriented medical school background for spiritually oriented seminary training.

“I think it is actually a positive thing. Pope John Paul II's encyclical ‘Faith and Reason' says you have to think to grow into your faith,” he said. “It's good to think about what you believe as a Christian.”

Assigned to St. Paul by Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, Gillespie said it takes several characteristics to be successful.

“Clergy and deacons need to be motivated to serve the local community,” Gillespie said, “and since the bishop could send us anywhere, there needs to be flexibility.

“In the church, not many are paid, so you need a willingness to work with a lot of volunteers,” he said.

He added that the ability to see the good and bad in everyone and the willingness to share the ministry with all Christian churches is also needed.

He added that clergy need to pursue ongoing education to hone their pastoral skills.

The last goal is especially important in the fast-moving world, he said, because the church has made it a priority to reach out to young people.

“We have a lot of young people. We're trying to get young people connected with the church, but there's so many distractions in life,” he said.

He's seen some encouraging signs. There are more young men going into the seminaries now than in the recent past.

Although, he added, the often-reported decline of seminaries in this country was more due to a statistical anomaly than an erosion in faith.

Because of the baby boom of the 1950s, he said, “there were so many seminaries, that was unusual. There's smaller families and less parishioners these days.”

Gillespie said he's happy in his first assignment.

“It's busy because we are caring for two parishes, but fulfilling,” he said. “It's exciting to be in a new part of the diocese. This is a smaller town and a more rural area than Pittsburgh. It's close-knit and there is a lot of hospitality.”

How long he'll be in Butler, he doesn't know. Priests serve under the direction of Zubik and go where the bishop says they are needed.

But the location doesn't matter, said Gillespie. “The church was here before we came here. We are part of a greater whole.

“We are all working for the same goal as part of the greater church.”

<B>Name: </B>The Rev. Thomas L. Gillespie<B>Employment: </B>Parochial Vicar at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, Butler<B>Education: </B>Graduate of North Catholic High School, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.<B>Military: </B>Served 8 years as a U.S. Army psychiatrist<I>‘This church was here before we came. We are part of a greater whole.'</I>

<B>Name: </B>St. Paul Roman Catholic Church<B>Address: </B>128 N. McKean St., Butler<B>Pastor: </B>Rev. Steven V. Neff<B>Members:</B> 1,986 families<B>Employees: </B>10 paid employees, hundreds of volunteers<B>Phone:</B> 724-287-1759<B>E-mail: </B>stpaulchurch@zoominternet.net<B>Website: </B>www.stpaulbutler.org<B>Mission: </B>Attempt to connect parishioners with their church and their faith

The Rev. Thomas L. Gillespie, parochial vicar of St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Butler who moved here in 2010, shares these ideas on how to enhance the quality of life in Butler and Butler County.• “One good thing that we have here is access to all the parks, Moraine, the Jennings Nature Reserve, rails to trails (bicycling and hiking path).” He said the county needs to continue to promote its parks.• Butler also needs to work to attract more stores to Main Street, either a department store or unique stores that could draw people downtown.• The city’s mercantile tax is too high and the county needs to do more to foster a favorable tax climate.• “Focus on drugs and crime. Work to eradicate those elements in Butler.”• Some of the blighted buildings in downtown could either be removed or concealed behind storefront facades. Vacant lots should be converted to green spaces. “Make it inviting to live and work in town.”