Catholic Rural Life Thriving in Rural Ministry

Thriving in Rural Ministry is a retreat experience for clergy who serve in rural settings. Retreats provide spiritual refreshment, rural ministry insights, individual leadership development, an expanded understanding of integral ecology, and fraternity among clergy.
Retreats equip clergy to be catalysts in their rural communities, helping families, farms and parishes to thrive. The program draws from the wealth of clergy experiences nationwide to improve rural ministry through
Individual and communal prayer, best practices shared among priests, presentations on known rural challenges, leadership development, fraternity among priests and celebration of the sacraments.
Clergy return home from the 5-day Thrive retreats with new tools and ideas to better serve their parish communities. They are a) strengthened in their leadership skills and gain confidence in their approach to rural ministry b) connected to a network of other priests for support in dealing with challenges and difficulties facing rural parishes, and c) better able to share insights on living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. Following each retreat, CRL convenes quarterly virtual sessions with alumni, creating a national network of clergy who support one another.
“The Thrive program is important because it helps build community among priests who tend to be foreign born, isolated and serve several parishes. If we can connect them and help them feel like they're not so alone.” - Emery Koenig, Campaign Co-Chair