Rural ministry is a beautiful calling, but it can also be demanding. Thriving in Rural Ministry offers priests and deacons a place to step back and be strengthened in the company of brother clergy.
Through retreats, webinars, workshops, and conferences, you will receive the encouragement and support you need to thrive where you are planted. You will return to your community with renewed hope for the work God has entrusted to you.
Step away from the busyness of ministry for a week of prayer, rest, and formation with other clergy serving rural communities.
Our retreats are built around the real needs of rural clergy. Come ready to receive and leave encouraged in your vocation, strengthened to better serve the community waiting for you at home.
Rural ministry can be isolating. Once a month, we’ll send new retreat dates, upcoming webinars, and encouragement from brother clergy serving where you serve.
Retreats are offered for Catholic priests and deacons in good standing who are currently serving in rural ministry or anticipate doing so soon.
Retreats are typically four nights and five days, beginning on Monday afternoon and continuing through Friday morning. You can view a sample retreat schedule here.
Retreat locations vary by year and are hosted in different regions of the country. Upcoming retreats are listed with their dates, locations, and registration details.
The cost of the retreat is $700. This includes a leadership assessment, lodging, meals, and materials. Transportation to the retreat location is the responsibility of each participant. Travel reimbursement is available for those serving in mission dioceses.
Thriving in Rural Ministry is centered around five pillars: spiritual renewal, best practices in rural ministry, integral ecology, leadership development, and clergy fraternity. Each retreat covers all five.
Yes. Retreat participants receive access to an exclusive web portal and are invited to ongoing webinars throughout the year.
Our webinars offer practical insight from leadership experts and clergy experienced in rural ministry. Join live sessions throughout the year for insight, encouragement, and connection with others serving communities like yours.
Retreat alumni can also explore past webinars and a library of helpful resources through the Thriving in Rural Ministry portal.
Thriving in Rural Ministry directly partners with dioceses by presenting at priestly education days and clergy gatherings. These workshops are tailored to the needs of each diocese and often address topics such as rural evangelization, lay leadership development, and sustaining a balanced priestly life.
If interested in partnering with us, please contact our TRM Program Manager using the information below.
Practical and spiritual resources to help you gather, bless, and pray with the community entrusted to your care.
The Mexican American Catholic College (MACC) offers continuing education for clergy serving multicultural and Spanish-speaking communities. Two courses are a particularly good fit for rural ministry:
Catholic Rural Life can support clergy who wish to attend. If you're interested, contact our TRM Program Manager using the information below.
St. Isidore was a farmhand outside Madrid who prayed his way through the workday, and the Church made him the patron of farmers. This novena is a simple way to lift up before God what your people actually carry: the weather, the harvest, the land their families have worked for generations.
Nine days of Scripture, reflection, and prayer, written for use in the parish or around the kitchen table. Traditionally prayed May 7–15, ending on his feast, though any season your community needs it will do.
A Rural Life Mass gathers your parish to bless the work of their hands, the fields, the herds, the equipment, and the people who tend them. Our guide walks you through choosing a date and a place, selecting readings and prayers, and adding a blessing of seed, soil, or land.
Interested? You can request a copy below to help you set up your own.
