With God I can do great things... Help me, then, my Jesus!
Mother Cabrini

In the early 1990's the leadership of 19 Roman Catholic churches in Seattle determined that lay people needed to be called forth and to be trained in providing pastoral care services desperately needed in hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and parishes. The deanery task force made up of Sister Anne Herkenrath, SNJM, Father David Jaeger, Sister Marilyn Geiger, Patti DesRoches, MaryFran Barkshire and Father Bill Heric researched what training needs and vehicles existed and in January 1991, the first training began in Seattle, Washington. The training continued to evolve to 20 classes, 65 hours of classroom time held over 6 months and have been held annually beginning in October. In fall 2000, Cabrini expanded to Kirkland, Washington and in 2003, further expanded by teaching in Spanish in Bellevue, Washington.

The mission of Cabrini Ministry Training is to invite and teach the baptized to fully participate in the ministry of the Church in the Catholic tradition. Cabrini Training prepares the laity to respond to their baptismal call to be a priestly, prophetic and kingly people. Not only does scripture support this call but Vatican II confirms it. In its Decree on the Apostolate, Vatican II states, "the need for this urgent and many-sided apostolate is shown by the manifest action of the Holy Spirit moving laypeople today to a deeper and deeper awareness of their responsibility and urging them everywhere to the service of Christ and the Church.

As of April 2007 over 692 lay ministers have completed Cabrini Ministry Training. These ministers hail from over 60 faith communities all over the Puget Sound area and include some students from other Christian denominations as well. An Autumn 2003 survey found that Cabrini trained ministers offer more than 3713 volunteer hours per month.