Local book author celebrates the comedy in church life
By Claire Vereczky Malis Special to The Acorn

GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR-Joel Kilpatrick publishes a Joel Kilpatrick newsletter that looks on the lighter side of the Christian community.

"Don't believe everything you hear, and only half of what you see" is a country music favorite of the '50s that probably could apply to the writings of author Joel Kilpatrick. He admits he has a good time letting his imagination run wild and leaves it up to the reader whether or not to believe the material he writes.

Of the opinion that satirical humor is a new development in the Christian community, Kilpatrick claims the most important thing to him is Christian humor. His writings about current issues are fictitious, funny and even risqu at times.

Kilpatrick's monthly newsletter, the LarkNews, carries a disclaimer that its news stories consist of fictional humorous satire. Based on imaginary news items with Christian topics, in 2005 the publication received the Gospel Music Association's Grady Nutt Humor Award.

Kilpatrick grew up in the Christian faith. As the first of five children, he sat in the front row of numerous churches while his father, a singer and minister, traveled around the nation. Kilpatrick credits his father with composing a well-known hymn, "In My Life, Lord, Be Glorified."

Since LarkNews was first published in Newbury Park in January 2003, Kilpatrick and his family have moved to Westlake Village, where they attend Calvary Community Church of Thousand Oaks.

Sons Ian, 9, and Ean, 7, and daughter, Rachel, 5, attend Westlake Hills Elementary School, while their mother, Ana Marie, cares for daughters Kate, 2, and 1year-old Jane.

Kilpatrick calls Ana Marie his "Christmas present." Married in 1995, the couple met during a Christmas ball hosted by former Governor Pete Wilson while Kilpatrick was an intern on Wilson's speech-writing staff. At that time, Ana Marie was employed by a Sacramento weekly newspaper and Joel wrote for a campus publication at UC Davis, where he was studying history and political science.

Kilpatrick received his master's degree in journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in 1995. He's earned his living as a writer for 11 years, having authored and ghostwritten more than 30 books for leading Christian authors.

Kilpatrick's work has been published in the Washington Post, the Dallas Morning News, the Nashville Tennessean and Christianity Today, as well as on the Osgood File on CBS radio.

He has been recognized with the Evangelical Press Association's first-place prize for freelance reporting in 2004 and with four national awards on Vanguard Magazine of Vanguard University of Southern comedy in church life California in 2003.

After a recent book-signing at Borders Books in Thousand Oaks, Kilpatrick said he considers his most recent work, "A Field Guide to Evangelicals and Their Habitat," a manual of evangelical behavior with an entertaining survey of the Christian lifestyle.

He challenges the reader with satirical-and sometimes shocking-subtitles about partying like an Evangelical, their mating habits (the shocking truth), talking and acting like an Evangelical without being one, planning a trip to an Evangelical church and the diversity of Evangelical politics (from right-wing to wacko).

Among Kilpatrick's other works, "The Faith of George W. Bush Study Guide" is a companion guide to a book co-published by Charisma House and Penguin Books in 2004.

Kilpatrick also co-authored "Reaching Your Dreams" with the Rev. Tommy Barnett, founder of the Los Angeles Dream Center, which has become a haven for many Hurricane Katrina victims.

Those who have a problem "believing everything they see and only half of what they hear" are invited to discuss Kilpatrick's publications by calling him at (805) 494-0104.