Every culture used to have a moment where a boy was told, in front of the men, that he was now one of them. Most of our sons never get one. This is ours.
The Rite of Passage is for young men aged 12 to 18. On Saturday morning they’ll go through a physical course together with their fathers and the men of the church watching, shouting, and at points right beside them.
It's hard on purpose. Not dangerous, but hard. A boy needs to find out that he can do more than he thinks, and he needs to find it out in front of men who are for him.
It ends with the part that matters most. Each young man is stood up in front of the men and spoken over. By his dad if his dad is present, and by other men of the church: identity, purpose, call and vision. He's told who he is and what's expected of him now. Then he's sent out.
Nobody drifts into manhood. If the men who love him don't mark the moment, something else will. We'd rather he hears it from his father and the men of his church first.
We're training men for the narrow road: men who take feedback, who don't carry offence, who seek God first. A rite of passage says to a young man: you're in training now too. You're not a spectator. You're one of us, and we're going to hold you to it.
For a father, it's a chance to say the things he's been meaning to say. For a son without his dad there, it's a room full of men making sure he hears them anyway.
The course is not obvious or laid out; much like life. Our young men will blindly enter into this RITE OF PASSAGE, unsure of what lies ahead, trusting in the guides that lead the way. The route is physical, outdoors, it will get wet and dirty, and every part is built so that he can't get through it on his own. The men are there the whole way. Our young men are never alone.
The course finishes with the part that matters most, the blessing. They are stood up in front of the men, prayed over, and spoken over by their fathers or someone standing in for him. And he's given something to keep and mark the moment.
The course is symbolic and may change year to year. What doesn't change is that these young men start as boys among men and cross the PASSAGE as men among men.