Pacem In Terris Hermitage Retreat Center

What Pacem In Terris Hermitage Retreat Center does

Pacem In Terris is a 501(c)(3) Christian hermitage retreat center situated on a 240-acre wooded campus near Isanti, Minnesota. The organization was incorporated in 1984 and began receiving guests in 1988; over its 36-year operating history it has hosted more than 20,000 retreatants across 26 Christian denominations. The physical product consists of 19 individually sited outdoor hermitages, 3 rooms in the main building, and St. Joseph House, all offered within a rule of silence and without electricity, oriented toward solitary and group contemplative retreats.

The center operates a donation-based revenue model, suggesting roughly $140 per guest per night. The stated inventory supports a measured sales process conducted entirely by phone, with marketing executed almost exclusively through earned media coverage in outlets including NPR, the Star Tribune, KSTP, and WCCO. The organization is debt-free and currently runs a $5 million capital campaign titled Share Pacem – Share Peace (launched May 2025), alongside a Legacy Fund targeting $7 million for long-term sustainability; it has received a Papal Blessing as part of its intangible reputational assets. The center was founded under Catholic auspices and is supported by a Prayer Partner Ministry — a recurring donor and volunteer base managed through a Prayer Partner Coordinator role.

Operationally, the center employs approximately 15 staff and serves a record 1,208 guests in 2025. Infrastructure was damaged by storms in 2024 and restoration is underway, with 200+ new trees planted in spring 2025 to rebuild the retreat landscape. Leadership transitioned in 2025 with Bill Mori succeeding Helen Stordahl as Prayer Partner Coordinator. Capacity is structurally bounded by the physical hermitage inventory, which simultaneously constrains growth and limits competitive substitution.

Name

Pacem In Terris Hermitage Retreat Center

Legal name

PACEM IN TERRIS

Website

https://paceminterris.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pacem In Terris is a 501(c)(3) Christian hermitage retreat center on a 240-acre campus in Isanti, Minnesota, offering silent retreats in 19 outdoor hermitages and supporting rooms for individual guests across Christian denominations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Retreat Services

NAICS

Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds) (721214), Accommodation (721)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAJAL

Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Religious & Faith-Based Organizations

SECONDARYTHAGAMAB

Wellness Retreat Centers (Yoga, Meditation & Mindfulness)

Travel & Hospitality/Lodging & Accommodation/Wellness, Spa & Health Retreats

SECONDARYTHAJALAI

Private Wellness & Retreat Experiences (Personalized Spa, Yoga, Healing)

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Private & Custom Experiences (VIP, Bespoke Itineraries)

SECONDARYTHAGAIAI

National Park & Conservancy Lodges

Travel & Hospitality/Lodging & Accommodation/Lodges (Nature, Safari, Wilderness)

Keywords

• Christian hermitage retreats
• Silent spiritual retreats
• Contemplative prayer ministry
• Spiritual formation retreats
• Solitary retreat accommodations

Headquarters

HQ city

Isanti

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Guest Offerings / Donations: Voluntary freewill offerings from hermit guests at the suggested donation rate of approximately $140 per night. Gifts are accepted in cash, check, credit card, securities, and in-kind contributions. The first call of Pacem is to welcome all guests unconditionally regardless of ability to pay.
2. Capital Campaign Contributions: The 'Share Pacem – Share Peace' Capital Campaign seeks to raise $5 million for forest protection, infrastructure renewal, and outward promotion/expansion. Contributions can be made as one-time gifts or multi-year pledges payable monthly, quarterly, or annually.
3. Legacy Fund / Planned Giving: Endowment fund and development fund established to ensure long-term financial sustainability. Endowment fund interest assists hermit guests with limited resources. Development fund covers additional hermitages, environmental protection, staff growth, and capital expenditures. Legacy Fund goal is seven million dollars.
4. Linda Schreurs Memorial Fund: A restricted fund established to cover the shortfall for hermit guests who cannot afford the full $140 per night offering, enabling those otherwise unable to afford a retreat to access the hermitage experience.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Pacem in Terris operates a 240-acre Christian hermitage retreat center in Isanti, Minnesota, offering overnight silent and solitary prayer retreats in 19 individual, saint-named hermitage cabins plus accessible rooms in the main building. Guests stay in simple, off-grid hermitages (no electricity or plumbing) for personal prayer, spiritual reflection, and rest, with reservations made by personal phone call and a suggested donation of $140 per night to support the non-profit ministry.

Product overview

Pacem in Terris is a single-location hermitage retreat center offering a unified retreat experience. The core offering consists of 19 outdoor hermitage prayer cabins named after patron saints, plus three accessible rooms in the main building, and St. Joseph House for group stays. Guests are welcomed at Our Lady of Pacem community house before retreating to their hermitages for silent, solitary spiritual retreat. The organization also operates donation programs including the Legacy Fund and Linda Schreurs Memorial Fund to provide financial assistance, and runs a Prayer Partner Ministry for continuous intercessory support. A current $5 million capital campaign supports environmental restoration, infrastructure improvement, and outreach expansion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Individual Hermitage Cabins Nineteen individual hermitage prayer cabins nestled in the woods, each named after a patron saint (e.g., St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. Catherine of Siena, St. John of the Cross). Each hermitage contains an altar, The New Jerusalem Bible, a handmade wooden cross, and icons, and is illuminated by gaslight and candles, heated by a gas wall heater, and served by an outdoor composting toilet system, with no electricity or plumbing inside, designed to support authentic silence and solitude for individual retreatants.
• Hermitage Retreat Stays Overnight silent hermitage retreat stays offered to individuals of all faiths seeking silent, solitary prayer and spiritual reflection. Reservations are taken by personal telephone call; the suggested donation is approximately $140 per night to cover operational costs, and all guests are welcomed regardless of ability to pay. Each stay includes orientation, a food basket, and access to walking trails and a wildlife lake.
• St. Joseph House A house-style hermitage suitable for individuals or groups up to five, featuring three bedrooms upstairs, two downstairs, three bathrooms, living rooms, and a dining/kitchen area. Designed for longer stays and group retreats with full kitchen access for ministries, religious orders, book study groups, and Bible study groups.
• Main Building Hermitage Rooms Three hermitage rooms located in the lower level of Our Lady of Pacem, designed for guests with mobility issues or those needing electricity. Rooms share a bathroom with shower and have access to a small galley with refrigerator, providing accessible retreat accommodations within the main building.
• Our Lady of Pacem Community House The main welcome center and gathering space for all hermit guests, featuring a gathering room with fireplace, chapel, library, dining room, exercise room, and accessible restrooms. Located one block from the prairie, it serves as the entry point where guests are welcomed, oriented to the property, and prepared for their silent retreat experience.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20,000+ guests served across 26 denominations since 1988
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health: Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is one of the largest yoga, mindfulness, and wellness retreat centers in the U.S., offering residential retreat programs on a large rural campus. It overlaps Pacem's wellness/retreat category and audience but at substantially larger scale, broader programming, and a non-sectarian wellness positioning.
• Omega Institute for Holistic Studies: Omega Institute, based in Rhinebeck, New York, is a large non-profit educational retreat center offering residential workshops and retreats focused on wellness, spirituality, and personal growth. It is a broader incumbent serving overlapping retreat-goers with a more workshop-driven, secular programming model.

Direct peers

• Holy Cross Retreat Center: Holy Cross Retreat Center in Mesilla Park, New Mexico, is a Catholic retreat center operated by the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, offering silent and directed retreats on a desert/wooded campus. It is comparable to Pacem in its faith-based, donation-supported, multi-day silent retreat offering to laypeople, clergy, and religious.
• Saint Meinrad Archabbey Guest House & Retreat Center: Saint Meinrad Archabbey operates a Benedictine monastery guesthouse and retreat center in southern Indiana offering individual and group retreats rooted in the Catholic contemplative tradition. Like Pacem, it provides silent retreat accommodations on a wooded rural campus and serves both laity and clergy/seminarians.
• Bethany Retreat House: Bethany Retreat House in Highland Mills, New York, is a Daughters of Charity Catholic silent retreat house offering individual and group retreats in a wooded setting. It is comparable to Pacem in serving laypeople, religious, and clergy with donation-supported silent retreats rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition.
• Spirit Rock Meditation Center: Spirit Rock Meditation Center is a Buddhist Insight Meditation retreat center in Marin County, California, offering multi-day silent meditation retreats on a large wooded property. Although Buddhist rather than Christian, it is highly comparable in operating model — donation-supported silent retreats in a rural natural setting — and competes for the same contemplative-retreatant segment.
• Montserrat Jesuit Retreat House: Montserrat Jesuit Retreat House is a Catholic silent-retreat center in Lake Dallas, Texas, offering directed and preached retreats in a wooded setting. It is one of the closest direct comparables to Pacem's ministry model, serving a similar lay, clergy, and religious-order audience with multi-day silent hermitage-style retreats.
• Sophia Spiritual Center: Sophia Spiritual Center in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, is a Catholic contemplative retreat center offering silent and directed retreats on a wooded Bucks County property. Like Pacem, it markets itself to laypeople, clergy, and those seeking spiritual renewal through silence, prayer, and nature.
• St. Benedict's Monastery Retreat House: St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, operates a retreat house rooted in Benedictine contemplative tradition. It offers individual and group silent retreats in a mountain setting and is comparable to Pacem in faith-based, rural-campus, silent retreat offerings to laypeople, clergy, and those in formation.
• Creighton University Retreat Center: Creighton's retreat center near Griswold, Iowa, offers Ignatian and ecumenical silent retreats on a rural wooded campus, with a particular focus on laypeople, faculty, students, and Jesuit ministry audiences. It is directly comparable to Pacem in mission, donation-supported operations, and Jesuit/contemplative retreat programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pacem-in-terris-hermitage-retreat-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pacem In Terris Hermitage Retreat Center