diff --git a/lib/mach/render_extension.js b/lib/mach/render_extension.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..188e2c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/mach/render_extension.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+(function() {
+  "use strict";
+
+  var _ = require("lodash");
+  var Promise = require("bluebird");
+
+  module.exports = extension;
+
+  function extension(mach) {
+    Object.defineProperty(mach.Connection.prototype, "render", {
+      configurable: true,
+      enumerable: false,
+      writable: true,
+      value: render
+    });
+  }
+
+  function render(status, view, locals) {
+    /*jshint validthis:true */
+    var data = locals;
+    var renderer;
+
+    if (_.isNumber(status)) {
+      this.status = status;
+    } else {
+      data = view;
+      view = status;
+    }
+
+    if (!_.isObject(this._controller) || !_.isObject(this._controller._view_manager)) {
+      return Promise.reject("Cannot render templates without a controller!");
+    }
+
+    renderer = this._controller._view_manager.rendererForSignature(view);
+
+    if (!_.isFunction(renderer)) {
+      return Promise.reject("Template not found "+view);
+    }
+
+    // TODO: pull content-type from file extension
+    this.response.contentType = "text/html";
+    data = _.extend({ conn: this }, data);
+
+    return renderer(data).bind(this).then(function(content) {
+      return this.html(content);
+    });
+  }
+
+}());
diff --git a/test/mach/render_extension_test.js b/test/mach/render_extension_test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1442ace
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/mach/render_extension_test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+(function() {
+  "use strict";
+
+  var assert = require("assert");
+  var _ = require("lodash");
+
+  var renderExtension = require("../../lib/mach/render_extension");
+  var mach = require("mach");
+
+  describe("mach", function() {
+    describe("renderExtension", function() {
+      before(function() {
+        mach.extend(renderExtension);
+      });
+
+      it("adds a 'render' function to mach.Connection.prototype", function() {
+        assert(_.isFunction(mach.Connection.prototype.render));
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+}());