Katie Warner, Catholic wife, mother, writer and speaker, inspires families with resources to help them intentionally instill their faith in the next generation. With a graduate degree in Catholic Theology and experience writing for the National Catholic Register, the idea for her first book, Head & Heart: Becoming Spiritual Leaders for Your Family, grew out of need. Ten years ago, she and her husband, Raymond, were feeling the weight of the responsibility of raising their children to know and follow their Catholic faith. On the way home from Mass, Raymond confessed to Katie that while he realized the importance of his assuming the mantle of spiritual leadership as the husband in the home, he didn’t have a clear understanding of what that looked like or how to do it.

As his wife, she felt compelled to help him. As a writer, she turned to Church teaching, Scripture and role models for wisdom that grew into Head & Heart, which she describes as “a guidebook, a game plan to help us become the spiritual head and the spiritual heart of our family we knew God made us to be. …. To contribute to a gradual but determined rise in Catholic families cultivating an intentional and vibrant Christian culture in the home.”

She wrote Head & Heart to help people develop skills in spiritual leadership, which she defines as being “about ushering those you influence into a deeper relationship with God and helping others become the person God wants them to be.”

Each chapter includes:

• Personal and practical reflections and strategies

• Catholic church teaching

• Scriptural wisdom

• Stories of strong spiritual leaders exhibiting characteristics of leadership in their homes

• Advice from one spiritual head or heart to another

• Beginner, intermediate and advanced leadership action steps

At the end of the book, Katie includes additional resources including

An Examination of Spiritual Leadership Inventory and A Quick Reference Prayer List from the Church’s Treasury of Prayers.

Head & Heart begins by explaining how God designed husband and wife with unique but compatible traits for the good and flourishing of the family.

“When you married your spouse… you stepped into your God-given role as the spiritual head – the husband and father – or spiritual heart – the wife and mother – of your family. … Both the head and the heart channel their complementary masculinity and femininity toward the supreme privilege and responsibility of cooperating with God’s grace and using the gifts, talents, and tools He has given to help lead every person in their family to heaven,” she wrote.

“As wives, the best thing we can do is support our husbands in leading rather than trying to take the leadership role ourselves.”

Another chapter addresses the importance of having a strong marriage.

 “It’s through these daily small acts and choices to have a strong marriage, in a culture that continues to weaken this sacred relationship, that couples are transformed into the strong spiritual leaders that God created them to be,” Katie wrote. She offers marriage building suggestions:

Praying with and for one another

Being unreservedly open to life and having a holy, fulfilling sexual life

Working through minor or intense marital strife

Believing and acting on the belief that they are meant to serve one another

Forgiving well and often

Practicing effective communication

Growing in affection

Expressing gratitude

Being joyful toward each other

Fostering teamwork

Handling conflict constructively

Another chapter introduces the importance of designing a family mission.

“A family needs a mission to guide it toward intentional living,” she wrote. “If we want healthy families, we first need to define what a healthy family looks like…. Without a vision – a clear goal for ourselves and for our families – we are unable to measure growth or know how to achieve it.”

Katie and Raymond were inspired by influential Catholic business leader Patrick Lencioni to formulate a vision of virtues and principles that establish the way they believe God has called their family to live. While Katie said it was fun to work through the exercise together, their mission statement has become a measuring stick to help them look at the big picture as their daily lives get busier.

“We can see the fruit of it,” she said. “Our children have memorized it, they know how it applies to family life and it is helpful as we intentionally create a Catholic culture in our home.”

While Head & Heart can be used by individual couples, both already married or in pre-marital preparation, it also works for groups in parishes or faith formation classes. Katie has taken the mission development exercise and built it into a simple workshop that teaches couples or groups how to  create a family mission of their own.

The Design Your Family Mission Workshop guides participants through a step-by-step process for creating a mission and gives tips for how to live it. Available for less than $5 on the website, the workshop includes an audio tutorial and three printables.

“Make a commitment to not to let the ‘next most pressing thing’ sideline your family dreams. Check out a free preview of the workshop. If you’re like me – and you are passionate about building an intentional faith and family life with simple strategies to get you there – you’ll be really glad you did.”

Katie has found her writing and speaking career have organically flowed with her life stages. Readers can find a Marriage Leadership Challenge series that includes titles that can still be found on her website.

5 Simple Ways to Affirm Your Spouse

3 Simple Ways to Better Serve Your Spouse

4 Simple Ways to Express Joy in Your Marriage

6 Simple Ways to Improve Conflict in Marriage

And her more recent marriage post, Five Signs You May Not Be Loving Your Spouse As Well As You Could Be.

As her family has grown to include five children ages two – 11 (whom she homeschools), Katie’s written 17 children’s books as a resource for Catholic parents.

“When I first started, there weren’t as many children’s books that brought fun, whimsy and delight to solid catechetical literature. I love how children’s books build relationships, make lasting memories, and spark great conversations about aspects of the Catholic faith,” Katie said. She found most of her children’s book ideas come to her through spontaneous inspirations from the Holy Spirit, but her newest  One Holy Marriage: The Story of Louis and Zélie Martin, published in 2023, was a request from readers. The book “uncovers the beauty of the Sacrament of Marriage through the quiet, virtuous lives of Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, the first married saints in history to be canonized together,” from the website. “The inspirational parents of the Little Flower, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux,” brings to life “G.K. Chesterton’s observation: ‘The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.’”

“It’s amazing to see the fruits of a holy marriage in their holy children,” Katie said. “They lived an incredible life of faithful devotion and love, inspiring their children to enter religious life, and, in the case of Saint Thérèse, to become one of the most well-known and well-loved canonized saints in history.” The Martins had wanted to become a priest and a nun, she added, but they heard God whisper in their hearts a different plan that was better than their own.

“There were so many neat lessons; it was fun to research for the book,” she added. One Holy Marriage is just one among several books Katie has written to give children a glimpse at future vocations. Among her vocations-themed titles are Sister Clare Gets Ready for Prayer,  Jack Giorgio: Future Priest and Lily Lolek, Future Saint.

Katie also writes for the National Catholic Register, creating their gift guides as well as a book list for engaged or recently married couples, among other features. In her spare time she serves as Manager of Communication and Evangelization for Catholics Come Home, copywriter for CatholicsComeHome.org, author of GoodConfession.com and contributes to the pro-life media apostolate VirtueMedia .  She’s presented at the National Catholic Bible Conference, numerous Legatus chapters, the Eucharistic Congress of Atlanta, on EWTN radio and television, and the Symbolon RCIA and Opening the Word programs produced by the Augustine Institute. Find her free Catholic Resource Guide to help spiritual leaders better learn and teach the Catholic faith, as well as other free resources, at KatieWarner.com.