Encore Priests

For almost 15 years Dr. Richard Johnson has been facilitating the Encore Priest Pre-retirement workshop. Now, Dr. Johnson has discerned that it is time to step aside and the December 2025 workshop will be his final program with the IPP. Dr. Johnson’s considerable professional experience and profound commitment to the wellbeing of clergy and religious have made the Encore Workshop what it is. Because the Encore Workshop is so intimately connected to Dr. Johnson, I will not be looking to simply find a new facilitator for the same program, but to develop a new workshop very similar to, yet distinct from, what Dr. Johnson has done for us. We are very grateful to Dr. Johnson and his wife, Sandra, for their dedication and commitment to the IPP, and pray God to bless, guide, and sustain them always.

A workshop designed for priests in their 60s or approaching retirement, Encore Priests prepares priests for this transition. Of course, priests never fully retire. By the nature of the sacrament of Holy Orders, priests always have some form of priestly ministry. But how can a mature priest transition into a retirement that is meaningful and vital?

If you're a priest nearing retirement age, this workshop is designed to help you:

• plan for the transition into retirement

• make your retirement meaningful and purposeful

• discover your strengths and your likely challenges, and how to best engage both

• discover the 15 spiritual growth factors that can transform retirement into an energizing time of personal and spiritual development

• learn the steps to make the most of your retirement

Workshop Dates

• December 1 – 4, 2025

Retirement Success Profile for Diocesan Priests

Prior to the workshop, participants will complete a Retirement Success Profile designed especially for priests.

This 120-item profile offers the priest an overview of how well he is preparing for retirement. This scientifically designed assessment measures the 15 factors crucial for achieving personal success in retirement:

• Ministry Reorientation

• Attitude Toward Retirement

• Self-Direction

• Health Perception

• Financial Security

• Current Life Satisfaction

• Projected Life Satisfaction

• Life Meaning/Spirituality

• Leisure Interests

• Personal Adaptability

• Lifespan Development

• Felt Responsibility for Caregiving

• Personal Support System

• Perception of Age

• Re-formation of Priestly Work Functions

At the workshop, each participant will review his personalized 23-page report to help him create a personal and successful transition into retirement.

COST

The Encore Priests workshop is $925 per attendee. Cost of overnight accommodations and meals beyond the scheduled dates, subject to availability, are in addition to the workshop fee. Call by registration deadline for availability and pricing of additional nights' accommodations and meals. 

Click for Downloadable Registration Form

workshop Amenities

• Private room and bath facilities

• WiFi Internet access

• Workout facilities

• Satellite TV and DVD player in our beautifully appointed St. John Vianney Center

• Opportunities for communal prayer with monastic community

• Daily Mass and prayer with fellow priests

• Learn about our facilities