Meet St. Paul’s Parishioner Steph Salto “I Will Always Be Catholic”

Though Steph Salto began playing piano in second grade and continued into college, she never played for the Church. She felt hesitant to do so, concerned that her playing had to be perfect.

“Then I realized that I wasn’t doing that for anyone else but for God and to bring glory to Him,” Steph says. “I was nervous, but when I realized it was for Him, that nervousness went away. He would take it as it was.”

Steph Salto and her husband, Tim Salto, have been St. Paul’s parishioners since 1998 when they moved to the area. As their son, Zach, was starting first grade, they chose the parish next to Holy Family School.

“We didn’t even know there was another Catholic church in town,” Steph says. “We loved the school, and the Pastor at that time, Fr. Tim Wenzel, really made an effort to get to know us.”

As Zach and then their daughter, Hannah, grew up, Steph and Tim met many people through the church and the school. Very soon after joining, Steph was asked by a friend of hers to become treasurer of the Christian Mothers/Catholic Women group.

“That was my first stewardship to the church,” Steph says. “Then we became more familiar with the community, and I joined a choir. Over time, I served as a seventh-grade religious teacher and also directed a children’s choir, youth choir and adult choir. I still accompany choirs and cantors.”

Taking that first step into stewardship can be as simple as finding out more about the many ministries in our faith community and reaching out to talk to someone.

“I never realized until years into my faith journey how many opportunities there are to serve the Church and serve God,” Steph says. “I’m amazed at how many ways exist, from prayer to using the talent that you have to just give your time to God.”

Since childhood, Steph went to Church because, like many others, that’s just “what her family did.”

“We went to church on Sunday, and then I didn’t do anything until I went to church again,” Steph says. “It wasn’t until I started doing Bible studies that I started to understand how everything fit with my life.”

Even while at St. Paul’s, Steph and Tim looked at a few different churches, a few different denominations, just to see what they were like. They asked seriously, is the Catholic faith for us?

“Then we were at one church, and for Communion, I remember they passed a basket of oyster crackers,” Steph says. “I realized right then how important the Eucharist was to me and that I will always be Catholic.”

The longer Steph and Tim attended Mass together, the more their hearts opened up to Christ and His Word, and the closer they became to each other and to Christ.

“We started having these conversations with one another about our faith and what it meant to us,” Steph says. “We felt that we had become rock solid.”

Since joining the parish, the Salto family has endured tragic loss and hardship. If it wasn’t for the faith community and their faith in God, Steph doesn’t believe their family would have made it through. In times of deep distress, faith sustains us.

“The devil would have won if we didn’t have our faith,” Steph says. “I’d like to thank the faith community for their support, their hugs, their words, and their prayers. The more you prayed, the more we healed.”

The longer Steph and Tim Salto attended Mass together, the more their hearts opened up to Christ and His Word, and the closer they became to each other and to Christ.