About
Our History
The Kingfisher Fellowship began in 2022 as The Local Academy, which was founded to walk alongside homeschool families in our place, to help provide a refuge for mentorship, education, and the practicing of liturgies that would help students love God, their neighbors, and creation with their hearts and hands. The program was a response to a need in our community and has tried since to pay careful attention to our place and its people. Because of that attention, The Local Academy grew over the years to include various other initiatives, including a gap-year program and what is now known as Kingfisher Roundtables, until finally embracing a more whole vision, to help cultivate the practice of resurrection in place. The Kingfisher Fellowship now encompasses that vision, even as it still seeks to pay careful attention to its place and people and love them well.
The Team
Cooper Pinson (Director): Cooper and his wife have been married for sixteen years, have a brood of four children, and live among the rivers, hills, and people to which his family has belonged now for five generations. He holds MPhil and PhD degrees in Christian Theology from the University of Cambridge, where he researched and wrote concerning the confluence of imagination, placedness, and worship under poet and theologian Malcolm Guite. He is founder and director of The Kingfisher Fellowship, where he shepherds all of its expressions and practices the arts of writing and storytelling for its community.
Olivia Shepherd (Guide): Olivia has been married to Thomas for five years and holds a BA in Religion & Philosophy from Berry College. Following her passion to steward creation, she studied abroad with Creation Care Study Program in New Zealand, interned with an urban teaching farm in North Carolina, worked on various farms and plant nurseries, and worked with FoodCorps, leading a school garden and teaching students how to connect with the natural world. She also was an interim youth director for a season and deeply loves walking alongside students in knowing and loving our Creator.
Clay Barnett (Guide): Clay is married to Emily, and together they have two daughters and live in the community where his family has been for six generations. He holds an MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary. He enjoys hanging out with his family; playing all kinds of sports and games; being anywhere outdoors where there is sunshine, water, and music; teaching; and hosting football parties for people to celebrate together. In all of these hobbies and places, he loves being a part of the work of the Lord in bringing people to Christ and deepening our love and faith in Him.
Neighbors and Partners
Stacie Marshall (Volunteer Community Guide for the College Fellowship): Stacie is a fifth-generation farmer in her family, which has farmed the Dirt Town Valley near Berry College and Rome, GA for close to 200 hundred years. The farm is now home to Stacie and her husband, their three daughters, and Stacie’s father and brother. Together, the generations now live and farm together, working to preserve their Appalachian farmland that has been a sacred place for so many who have gone before them and called it home. Stacie runs Mountain Mama Farms and, together with Hesters Heritage Foundation, shares a vision for revitalizing family farms and supporting equal justice in black history preservation, education, and black farming initiatives.
Do Well Homestead: Do Well Homestead is a local, organic blueberry U-Pick family farm committed to sustainable and responsible farming practices, using natural fertilizers and no spray methods to ensure that their blueberries are healthy and free from harmful chemicals. They believe that by taking care of the land and crops, they can provide their customers with the highest quality products.
Camille’s Cut Flowers: Camille’s Cut Flowers is a fresh-cut flower business, whose flowers are grown organically and sustainably in Rome, GA.