MOUNT AIRY – Pat Sprankle, who has led so many during his nearly four decades of service to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was once advised by a spiritual director to find something that gave him joy, and to do it at least once a week.
“Hence, he started hiking,” said Meghan Doyle, one of Sprankle’s daughters. “When he hikes, he prays and finds God’s presence in silence.”
That’s why the Division of Family, Youth and Young Adult Ministry decided that the first recipient of the Pat Sprankle Youth Accompaniment Award would be its namesake, and that the honor would come with a custom hiking staff.
That ceremony came as a surprise to Sprankle on the afternoon of Aug. 19 at St. Michael, Poplar Springs, where leaders from parishes and the Catholic Center gathered in the morning to hear keynote talks from Sprankle.
It was nothing new for the group.
Raised in St. Mark Parish in Catonsville and a graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School, Sprankle led youth ministry at St. Mary in Annapolis for 10 years, and has done the same for St. Louis in Clarksville the last 26. For more than two decades, he also led the High School Leadership Institute (High LI), the intensive leadership program for young people.
Office of Family, Youth and Young Adult Ministry kick-off retreat at St. Michael Catholic Church in Mount Airy Aug. 19, 2021. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)
Sprankle was presented the award by Tim Janiszewski, of Our Lady of the Chesapeake in Pasadena, who first encountered him on a ride from from St. Mary’s Spiritual Center to the Inner Harbor.
“After 20 minutes with Pat, I got the best advice on how to be a better youth minister, father and husband,” Janiszewski recalled. “I remember thinking ‘that is the youth minister I want to be.’ Pat is my role model.”
Among those Sprankle has inspired are Doyle, his daughter, a youth minister at her parish and theology teacher at The John Carroll School in Bel Air.
Sprankle’s influence has taken him around the world, literally. He is a mainstay at World Youth Days, which have taken him to Denver (1993), Paris (1997), Rome (2000), Toronto (2002), Cologne (2005) and Sydney (2008).
In addition to long walks, WYD involves waiting in lines. Sprankle broke up those waits with games, including one of Doyle’s favorites: “Five in Five,” in which pilgrims must meet five people from five different countries in five minutes.
The Sprankle team includes his wife, Lee Ann. She is his partner in youth ministry, as well a nurse, catechist and volunteer at St. Louis. Together, they have mentored the next generation through careers, religious vocations, marriage and building a family.
“He has left the day before Mother’s Day (for youth events), but I cannot be selfish, I have to share him with others,” she said. “Perhaps we did not have a house on the beach or trips to Europe, but we always made time for each other. It was the little and everyday things that made our marriage special.”
Sprankle rose to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, mastering social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Zoom. He and his team at St. Louis, Luisa Palting and Maria Cristina Tenaglia, personally called each of the approximately 300 youths in their program.
As related by Janiszewski, Sprankle “never felt more alive and truly helping the youth and their families.”
“Pat is caring with his students, but the same way with everyone,” said Tenaglia, the office manager at St. Louis Parish. “When he tells you he will pray for you, he writes your name down, or takes a picture of you and sets it as his phone background to remind him to pray for you.”
Sprankle’s personality is humble, thoughtful, compassionate, but he is also goofy. “I think Pat invented dad jokes,” Doyle said.
Some of her dearest memories as a child are tagging along her father’s youth ministry, particularly, when they would make 400 peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and go downtown Baltimore to feed the homeless.
“Pat has a heart for the oppressed. He connects with Christ through social justice,” Tenaglia said.
Sprankle’s early years in youth ministry go back to his loyal friend, Mark Pacione, a pivotal youth minister in the archdiocese.
“They were inspired together and wanted to approach the church now and not later,” said Craig Gould, director of Family, Youth and Young Adult Ministry. “The youths forced them to be creative, and they embraced it.”
Often, individuals become youth ministers as young adults, but as they get older, they move to different ministries. Sprankle and Pacione were the exception.
Auxiliary Bishop Adam J. Parker concluded the award program by telling Sprankle, “I cannot think of a better manner in which to honor you than with an award called an accompaniment award. Thank you for saying yes to the Lord. Thank you for dedicating your life to service to the church. When Jesus told us to go make disciples, you listened.”
Email Priscila González de Doran at pdoran@CatholicReview.org
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