About Grounded Catholic
“Grounded Catholic has become an important part of my faith life. It has opened my eyes to the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith.”
Len
OUR MISSION
To empower Kansas City Catholics through formation and community.
When people encounter God, there are the big mountaintop experiences and the small whispers. That can happen during a whole gamut of events in life. However, for most people, these little epiphanies happen through interaction with others. When you put people in a space together, and then ask them to actively engage with ancient Scripture, Theology, Philosophy, and History, God actively makes himself known in real ways through this active seeking. When you combine these little epiphanies and bring them out through genuine conversation with others, they begin to stick.
It is no mistake that most cultural movements are led by a group of people who long for something together. It is no different with the Church. Grounded Catholic offers in-person formation that engages the whole person and challenges them to change. Not just their ideas, but their very being. We do this by providing intentional environments where others are in the room with you. We believe the physical presence of people still matters. And we believe intellectual and spiritual formation is the oldest, most consistent mechanism for changing lives.
Meet the Founders
As the founders of Grounded Catholic, our desire is to see a renewal in the Church. We believe that it only starts when people encounter the living God in deep, transformative ways. Grounded Catholic is our response to that calling.
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Founder
Carrie Pirotte is a people magnet. She dreams big and takes action, with a rare intuition for knowing what people need and what draws them in. As the founder and former director of City on A Hill, a Catholic young adult apostolate, she built a thriving ministry that now serves thousands of young adults annually through events, small groups, and social activities. City on a Hill has become one of the largest Catholic young adult groups in the country. Carrie also helped develop the Meyer Catholic Quarter, a neighborhood where young adult Catholics live intentionally in community. The most difficult thing Carrie has ever done (other than being married to Chad), is homeschooling her 5 kiddos. Carrie is an accomplished cook, a gardener, a laundry folding machine, a lover of dogs and hamsters, a chicken farmer, an interior decorator, and on top of all of this, she has accomplished two sprint triathlons (with many more to come).
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Founder
Chad Pirotte is a natural public speaker. His gift lies in recognizing what needs to change and boldly speaking up to make it happen. A natural public speaker and teacher, Chad’s faith journey is unique—he was an Evangelical pastor for 10 years in Chicago before converting to Catholicism after the death of his first wife. He then worked with the School of Faith, where he gained diverse experience in teaching, ministry, and retreat leadership. He was a faculty formation instructor for 100s of teachers in the KC Diocese, worked with Kansas University students, built a network of small groups at a couple of parishes, ran church retreats and seminars, and led a pilgrimage on the Camino De Santiago. After a stint as a full-time carpenter at Pirotte Restoration, Chad and his wife Carrie are now focused on ministry together, bringing a unified vision for renewal in the Church. In the free time he smokes Peterson pipes, reads, writes, and fixes stuff. He has a Masters in Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and an undergraduate in History from Kansas State University.
Over their 10 year marriage, Chad and Carrie have had a hard time getting in sync when it came to doing ministry together.
In the early years, Carrie was taking care of babies and Chad was working in the evenings seemingly everywhere but in his neighborhood.
They’ve finally hit a period in their life when they can put their energy TOGETHER to change the environment around them with a unified vision. They really believe that one of the reasons God brought them together is for this moment.