Kat Banakis, ‘09 M.Div., Chicago, IL

In August, 2019, the Rev. Kathryn “Kat” Banakis became the 12th rector of St. Luke’s.

 

Kat previously served at St. Luke’s as Community Connector, Theologian-in-Residence, Assistant Priest, and Vicar. Outside of serving at St. Luke’s and other churches, Kat has also worked at a fundraising consulting firm; as the head of finance for an education access non-profit; and as a federal lobbyist building national coalitions around issues of affordable housing and community development.

 

Kat has a demonstrated commitment to combining issues of the day with inter-faith and inter-denominational efforts. She is producer and host of the Holy Holy Podcast, which combines contemporary topics, secular experts, and an interfaith panel of Chicago-area faith leaders. She served on the board of the Beatitudes Society, an organization for faith and public life that later became affiliated with the multi-faith Auburn Seminary. Her book, Bubble Girl: An Irreverent Journey of Faith, provides an overview of Protestant, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic approaches to Christian thought.

 

Kat was ordained a priest at St. Luke’s in 2012.  She holds a Master’s of Divinity from Yale Divinity School and the Institute of Sacred Music, a certificate in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and a BA in religious studies, also from Yale. In recent years, she has been recognized with the Duke Divinity Innovation Grant, as a Duke Divinity Leadership Emerging Christian Leaders Fellow, the Louisville Institute Pastoral Study Project Grant Recipient, and as a Transition into Ministry Lilly Fellow. She and her husband live in Chicago.