Fr. Rice attended St. Francis Cabrini School and then Cardinal Mooney Latin School. He graduated from Sacred Heart Seminary College, Detroit, (B.A. in History), St. John's Provincial Seminary, Plymouth, MI (Master of Divinity) and St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, MD (Doctor of Ministry). He was ordained a deacon in 1975 and ordained a priest by Cardinal John Dearden on October 8, 1977.
His pastoral assignments have included Holy Name Parish, Birmingham (deacon), St. Alfred Parish, Taylor (deacon), St. Mark Parish, Warren, St. Joan of Arc Parish, St. Clair Shores, St. Agatha Parish, Redford, St, Clair of Assisi, Farmington (Parochial Administrator), and St. Mary's, Wayne (Parochial Administrator).
Fr. Rice was appointed pastor of St. Louise Parish by Cardinal Edmund Szoka in 1989.
Through the years he has served on a variety of Archdiocesan Committees and was a member of the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council for two terms (1991-1997).
In 1999 Cardinal Adam Maida appointed Fr. Rice associate publisher and editor-in-chief of The Michigan Catholic, the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Presently he remains in that position as well as serving as pastor of St. Louise.