Father Slider grew up in a small town in Michigan and later attended the University of Michigan, where he encountered, and eventually embraced, the call of Christ in his life. This new dimension in his life was life changing and led him to transfer to Wheaton College, an evangelical Christian college outside of Chicago, where he received his B.A. degree.

Father Slider lived in England for three years where he helped pioneer an evangelizing ministry among British university students. It was during this time that he met, Jacqueline, his wife to be. They were married in England and returned to the U.S. where Father Slider received a Masters of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. He eventually became a Presbyterian minister and served in California until he took a parish in the Gresham, Oregon area. Along the way, Father Slider and his wife, Jacque, had three children together.

Father Slider and his family then moved to Gresham where he was a Presbyterian minister for 12-1/2 years. During this time, Father Slider says that he had "a hungry heart for a deeper prayer life." He began visiting a nearby abbey where he discovered contemplative prayer and the riches of monastic spirituality in the Catholic Church. Father says that he became a Catholic in his heart long before he entered the Church. The Abbot befriended him and revealed to Father what he had never even considered possible, that there was a real possibility of becoming a Catholic priest while remaining married. This was due to an Episcopalian Pastoral Provision granted in 1980, which allowed a group of Episcopalian ministers who wished to convert to Catholicism along with their congregations, to still remain married. Archbishop Levada guided Father through the process of seeking ordination through Rome.

Stepping out in faith, Father Slider resigned his position as a minister and a day later was received into the Church by Archbishop Levada. Two weeks later, he entered Mt. Angel Seminary where he studied for three years. In the middle of his second year he received word from Rome that his petition for ordination had been approved.

Father Slider was ordained November 3, 1996 at St. Mary’s Cathedral by Archbishop George. His first assignment as the Associate Pastor at St. Henry’s in Gresham, and as the Director of Continuing Education for all the priests in the Archdiocese of Portland, a position that he holds to date.

In 2001, Father Slider came to St. Agatha bringing a passionate commitment to evangelization, as well as his unique experiences as a family man and convert to Catholicism, all of which add a special dimension to his parish ministry.