He came to New Zealand in 1991 with his partner, Tim Barnett, to be vicar at St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch.
Kirkpatrick obtained a Master of Business Administration degree in commerce at the University of Otago.
In August 1998, Barnett fell asleep at the wheel, their car left the road and Kirkpatrick broke his back.
Kirkpatrick dismissed the director of music at St Paul's which resulted in a complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority being upheld against TV3's reporting.
[1] In 2001, Kirkpatrick moved to Auckland and headed Auckland University of Technology's Business Innovation Centre, where he stole NZ$660,000 from the university and in October 2011 was jailed for three years and two months.