Rural Impact Leadership Conference 2026: Nurturing thriving rural churches for 5 years!
While the rest of Minnesota and the upper Midwest geared up for the next big snowstorm, many gathered at the Rural Impact Leadership Conference March 13-14 in Alexandria, MN, for our 5th annual event focused on building up rural/small town church pastors and leaders for their strategic Kingdom work.
“I totally loved RILC!”
For the first time this year RILC offered a pre-conference in-person gathering on Friday evening which had over 70 participants. On Saturday, the numbers swelled to over 150 onsite, with others joining online from 10 states and the province of Manitoba. These numbers represented 42 churches, 60 first-time attenders, over 20 online attenders and three watch parties. The grounds of Alexandria Covenant Church—along with the RILC streaming service—were filled with learning opportunities, inspiration, affirmation and adoration for God at work through the rural church!
The Friday evening pre-conference gathering kicked off with dinner, a time of worship and three break-outs—”Church Buildings Speak: How to View Your Church as a Ministry Tool,” “Organizational Leadership and the Local Church’s Mission,” and “Worship Planning: More Than Leading Songs.”
“Worship was amazing. Great speakers.”
Saturday featured two main sessions that included worship and teaching. Pastor Brad Roth spoke on “Dirty Hands/Praying Hands: Work and Faith in the Rural Church” in the opening session, and closing out RILC was Dr. Ron Klassen speaking on “What Keeps Me Going in Small Place Ministry.”
“Breakouts were great! I loved the multiple learning options.”
Scattered throughout Saturday’s schedule were nine break-out sessions centered on practical insights for effective ministry. Some of the ministry areas covered ranged from “So You’re New to Rural Ministry” to “Fostering Ministry Longevity,” from “Maximizing Rural Church Strengths” to “Expanding Your Church’s Reach,” from “Disciple-Making Through the Whole Church” to “Child Discipleship Through Home-Church Partnership,” and from “Leading Healthy Change” to “Conflict Resolution in the Local Church.”
Also, for those onsite, exhibitors offered an array of resources including: published materials on rural ministry; children, youth and family ministry, evangelism and discipleship resources and training opportunities; educational opportunities; and specialized ministries representing recovery ministries, residential camp/retreat experiences and international aid for the persecuted along with global hunger partnerships. All exhibitors provided further ways to resource thriving churches.
“I appreciated the welcoming atmosphere.”
One other aspect of the day that must be highlighted is how on-site participants were recipients of the over-the-top hospitality of the host church. As captured best by one attender who said, “The hospitality today was amazing!”
Here’s what a few other participants shared about their experience:
- “This was so well-planned. Excellence is the word for RILC!”
- “I loved the addition of Friday evening.”
- “It was all so good.”
- “Worship helped reset my heart and mind.”
- “We hosted a watch party today and had a blast.”
- “Great content.”
- “I appreciated how applicable the content was to the rural context.”
- “One word: FANTASTIC!”
- “This was my first time, I thought it was all great!”
- “The host church was phenomenal.”
- “This was great! Lot’s of useful information.”
- “I was so blessed! So glad I came.”
We praise God for how He blessed and used RILC 2026 in building up rural pastors and leaders for their Kingdom mission. We look forward to the continued effect of the Rural Impact Leadership Conference even as we anticipate RILC 2027 on March 12-13!
