Father Kapaun Leadership Program

Named in honor of Venerable and Medal of Honor Recipient Father Emil Kapaun, the program begins with a 5-day in-person course covering planning, leadership styles and philosophies, conflict management, and immersive scenario training, all grounded in the Sacraments and a life of prayer. It continues with 12 months of personalized coaching and remote classes, culminating in an in-person retreat to synthesize lessons learned.

The Method

Our method deliberately combines academic exposure, experiential training, reflection and prayer to deliver exceptional leadership development. We know that leaders cannot be formed simply through lectures, so we have built a combination of classes and experiences to allow priests to learn new skills and practice them in a realistic environment before applying them in the real world.

Every day of the course is centered around Mass, a Holy Hour, and the Divine Office, to ensure that all of our efforts remain firmly rooted in the Lord.

We begin by addressing the topic of leadership holistically on day 1 and facilitate a rigorous health and leadership self-assessment to identify strengths and areas for growth. On day 2, we dive deeply into a principal prerequisite for leading others well - leading yourself first. We build on this foundation on day 3, when we teach military planning, delegation and execution principles.

On day 4, we execute our Kapaun Capstone Exercise - a realistic training scenario about a struggling parish where priests act as the newly-appointed administrator and get the chance to practice their leadership skills. With volunteers acting as their staff, a leadership coach by their side, and actors playing the key characters in the scenario, the Capstone offers a fruitful challenge to priests from any experience level.

On day 5, we focus on the way ahead and prepare priests to return home with new skills and an action plan to lead courageously.

Read Testimonials from our past courses.

Register for the Next Cohort

Are you a Priest desiring to attend the Kapaun Priest Leadership Course in the Hudson Valley of New York?

If so, please sign up here, and we will send you further course registration details. If you would like more information, please read more about our program below.

Cohort 4: Oct 19-23, 2026

Cohorts 5 and beyond will start in July 2027.

Schedule

Day 1: Introduction to Leadership

  • Travel In

  • Opening Mass

  • The Challenge of Leadership

  • What Is Leadership?

  • Leadership Challenge #1

  • Firing Range Fraternity Event

DAY 2: Lead Yourself First

  • Complexity of Leadership in the Modern Era

  • Prioritization Principles

  • The Story of Father Kapaun

  • Vulnerability

  • Leadership Challenge #2

Day 3: Leading Your Unit

  • Assuming the Helm

  • Building the Team

  • Delegation

  • Supervision and Refinement

  • Leading from the Middle

  • The Cost of Yes

DAY 4: Capstone

  • Kapaun Capstone Exercise

  • Celebratory Dinner

DAY 5: Launch

  • Lessons from the Revolutionary War

  • 1-on-1 Leadership Coaching

  • Planning Next Steps

  • Graduation Mass

  • After Action Review

  • Travel Out