A retirement reception was held on Friday, May 22, followed by a retirement presentation in the McLane Dining Room at Scott and White in Temple. The public was invited to attend. Chaplain Kilian, who was Scott and White's first chaplain in 1981, was instrumental in developing the institution's Department of Pastoral Care.
Pastoral care is a significant part of total, integrated health care.
The chaplain's role at Scott and White is to provide support and encouragement to patients, family and staff as they deal with the challenges, changes, and crises that are part of the hospital experience. The capacity of the patients to teach in the midst of life's crises is amazing. The Scott and White Department of Pastoral Care is not the only program that Chaplain Kilian has helped develop. While serving in his first congregation, Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Detroit, Michigan, from 1960-1965, he was part of a coalition of 5 Lutheran Churches called the West Side Lutheran Parish that sought to develop innovative urban ministries. From 1965 to 1970, he was the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Saginaw, Michigan.