Meet Katie Kilpatrick: Academy Chaplain & the Pauline and R.L. Brand Jr. ’35 Chair of Religious Studies

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Kilpatrick and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
The opportunity to offer love and compassion to students each day brings me so much joy! I love teaching students about the beautiful religious traditions in our world, encouraging students to offer compassion to one another, and helping students learn to offer that came love to themselves. Even in the midst of “physical distancing,” I’ve appreciated the connection to these amazing students. Through Zoom, we still have the opportunity to communicate each day through virtual coffee, classes, and interfaith prayer services. Simply seeing smiles on the faces of these young people during such a difficult time in our world means everything to me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I currently have the pleasure of serving in my 5th year at Woodward as the Academy Chaplain, as well as the Pauline and R.L. Brand Jr. ’35 Chair of Religious Studies. My vocation includes interfaith programming, teaching, and pastoral care. Our religious life program at Woodward has grown due to the work of our student-leaders on the Chaplain’s Council. These students representing Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Hinduism host holiday assemblies for our younger students, interfaith understanding panels for our older students, campus-wide interfaith prayer services, and our annual interfaith immersion trip. All of these interfaith programs culminate with our Upper School Comparative Religions courses, where I have the opportunity to witness over 160 students grow and learn about traditions outside of their own each school year. My favorite part of my role is offering pastoral care in times of struggle from an interfaith perspective. While this can be very difficult in the midst of untimely loss, I appreciate the growth I’ve experienced by walking alongside grieving families from various faith traditions. Seeing the faith in God from so many unique perspectives has helped to strengthen my own faith and appreciation for the beauty of humanity. In the midst of COVID-19, my teaching, interfaith initiatives, and pastoral care have become virtual. This is most definitely an area of growth for me. And yet, I’m enjoying the opportunity for creativity as I encourage our community to “physically distance” while maintaining deep and meaningful connections with one another.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Newnan just a little south of the city and absolutely love the area. If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, I would definitely take a friend to my favorite Thai restaurant on the Newnan square – Garlic! It is the best!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many who have supported me along this journey at Woodward Academy, Kirkwood UCC, and beyond. In the last year, I am particularly thankful for the International OCD Foundation, OCD therapists, and OCD advocates. I have experienced symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder since childhood and have honestly been through almost every OCD theme imaginable. Many people assume OCD relates to organization and is some cute quirk, but that has never been my experience. Rather, there have been points of my life where the intrusive thoughts and compulsions were so bad, it was difficult to get out of bed, eat, sleep, or move through daily tasks. I didn’t receive the appropriate treatment (a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy called Exposure & Response Prevention) and officially move into recovery for the first time until my 20’s. While I was lucky to receive help and have a great support system, I experienced my most difficult OCD relapse in the past year. I went to treatment in the evening, worked very hard to continue joyfully/compassionately in my role during the day, and just did my best to keep moving forward. I am thankful for everyone in the OCD community who offered support during one of the most difficult periods of my life, as this time of struggle and moving into recovery once again has offered me a new purpose and a renewed passion for life. As I begin a second master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, I want my students to know that despite all appearances, nobody has it together all the time and there is absolutely no shame in getting help. Even chaplains/counselors/teachers need outside help sometimes – and that’s okay. My battle does not make me incapable of serving as a leader in any way, nor does it diminish anyone’s ability. Rather, I think that my experience has allowed for deeper empathy for the struggles of those around me. I love my vocation more than anything! And in part, I’m beginning to voice my journey more publicly for my students that face stigma around mental illness and other personal struggles. I am thankful for all those who have supported me along the way!