Today the role models that once represented leadership for our youth are either absent or distant. Many young men today lack guidance to prepare them for manhood and positive role models that represent the fundamental qualities of manhood such as honesty, integrity, compassion, a sense of social responsibility and a commitment to purpose.

Now more than ever, our young people are yearning for a sense of belonging. Inner city youth turn to urban gangs for leadership. Young men from privileged backgrounds perceive acquisitions as the measure of manhood. Young men from all backgrounds are entering into a troubled world with little preparation, little leadership and little hope.

In the time of our ancestors, tribes would initiate young men into manhood through a rite of passage. A ceremony involving some kind of challenge would be facilitated by the elders of the tribe to ritualize the young man’s journey into maturity.

As the ones who created the world our youth will inherit, it is our job to prepare our young people for the journey ahead. Although we cannot provide them with their answers, we can provide them with tools for their process of discovery.

The Call To Adventure Retreat is a modern rites of passage for young men entering into manhood. It is an uncommon experience of a common brotherhood that unfolds through a four day adventure of self discovery, creative expression and leadership training. As young men discover on the Call To Adventure Retreat how to be leaders in their own lives, they begin the journey of becoming leaders in their community and in the world.