Robert R. Kilby II was born to Robert Sr (late) and Jacqueline Kilby. At an early age, the family moved to Philadelphia. Robert became a baptized believer as a pre-teen at the Tabernacle Lutheran Church where the Rev Thomas Kochenderfer was the pastor.
In 1988, Robert married the former Miss Gail Marie Brown. Together they have
one son Robert III.
Robert graduated from Drexel University with a BS in Commerce
and Engineering and a concentration in Operations Management.
Rev Kilby also graduated Cum Laude from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University with a Masters of Divinity.
In 1993, Robert preached his initial sermon at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of the Rev Dr Danny Conyers as the pastor.
In 1995, Rev Kilby was ordained Baptist.
In 2011, Rev Kilby was ordained Lutheran.
At the Tabernacle Lutheran Church, Rev Thomas Kochenderfer, Pastor served as an acolyte, choir member, deacon, arch-deacon, Sunday School teacher and a church council member.
In 1987, after undergrad, Robert moved to Harrisburg, PA where he joined the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Harrisburg, PA, where the Rev Myron D. Barnes was then pastor. Robert served as choir member both singing and playing the trumpet, teacher and superintendent of Sunday School, deacon. When Rev Danny Conyers was called as Pastor, Robert's service was expanded to chairman of the diaconate and teacher of the new members’ class.
From 1995 to the present, Rev Kilby was a bi-vocational pastor and/or a staff member to a number of churches with the exception of 8/2007 to 8/2009 when he was in ministry full time.
From 2/1995 thru 12/1997, Rev Kilby was Pastor of the United Missionary Baptist Church in Harrisburg, PA. This was a family church where Rev Kilby helped with membership growth and ministry development.
In 1998, Rev Kilby and his wife, Gail, started a ministry entitled Victory In Christ Ministries. During this time, Robert III, their son, accepted Christ as his personal Savior. During this time, Rev Kilby was told by God that he is called to rebuild ministries. With this spiritual insight Rev and Sister Kilby ended the new ministry effort.
In September 1998, Rev Kilby and his family joined the Harambee United Church of Christ (now Kingdom Embassy) serving under the leadership of its founder Rev Dr. Lewis T. Tait, Jr and the next Pastor Apostle Brenda M. Alton. While there, Rev Kilby served as choir member (singing and playing the trumpet), new disciples teacher, leader of special projects, men’s ministry leader, helped develop a Christian Education Ministry and eventually on staff as the Servant Leader Coordinator. As Servant Leader Coordinator, Rev Kilby provided ongoing training, ministry development and leadership for the 19 ministry leaders and helped the ministry smoothly transition from founder to their next pastor.
In January 2001, Rev Kilby answered the call to pastor the Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, PA. During this time, Rev Kilby began implementing a holistic ministry to help stablize and grow the church which had experienced two decades of short term pastorates. Rev Kilby served 4 years from January 2001 to December 2004.
In March 2005 for two and a half years, Rev Kilby served as the Supply-Pastor for the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, PA. Over this time, Rev Kilby's role was expanded to include the full range of pastoral responsibilities. During this time, Rev Kilby led the congregation to overcome the threat of closing.
In 2007, Rev Kilby began full time ministry serving as the Director of Ministries and the Director of the Mentoring Program at the Greater Exodus Baptist Church where the Rev Dr Herbert H Lusk II is the Pastor. Rev Kilby provided ongoing training and leadership to the 45 ministries and their leaders while developing project plans and organizational structure to ensure the Pastor's vision was fulfilled. During this time, Sister Kilby was the orgainizing and first director of the HOPE Pregnancy Center. By the end of 2009, Rev Kilby would return to bi-vocational ministry.
In May of 2011, Rev Kilby answered the call to Pastor the Spirit & Truth Worship Center. Many building issues were addressed including the installation of conditioning equipment. The Youth Ministry wrote and performed a play in as a dinner theatre. There have been 15 youth confirmations. Video equipment has been installed. The Connect Shelter homeless ministry, under the ministry leadership of Dr Allan Thomas and ministry members, purchased, prepared, transported and served an average of 53 adults a well-balanced meal once a week for a total of 14,573 meals served. The church vision is: Building The Kingdom of God through P.O.W.E.R. Precision - Outreach - Worship - Empowerment - Response. In 2021, a 501C3 non-profit Hope Realized, Inc. was established to put a process in place to take persons from homelessness to self-sustaining while also addressing the needs of the community.
As noted, Rev Kilby has been bi-vocational throughout his ministerial career. Rev Kilby has been in an Industrial Engineer (IE) and IE Manager in the electronics, medical, e-commerce, consumer goods and retail industries.
