First call pastors serving small congregations in rural and or isolated areas of the United States are starved for resources to maintain their own spirituality and a deep, meaningful relationship with God. This project seeks to develop a resource for said pastors that identifies and compiles helpful sources of materials in a central location or publication as well as information on mentoring relationships. We are called by God to care for creation. Our bodies, minds, and souls are an important part of that creation. Caring for one’s soul is of utmost importance for all; the pastor is not exempt from such care. The thesis includes research of the materials and resources available to pastors in isolated parishes. Interviews and survey data with pastors currently in the defined pastorates as well as pastors who have previously served in an isolated location were conducted in order to identify the stated needs and desires of the population. Those pastors interviewed and surveyed in the original sample will be given access to the finished thesis findings through written document reproduction and via the website http://pastorassist.page4.me designed for communicating the data on a larger scale.
