Dive Deeper Into Your Journey
Build upon the experience of your Rite of Passage, extending care and support to others along the way.
If you’ve already completed your Men’s Rites of Passage (MROP), but want to go deeper in your experience, the Initiator Program is for you.
Offered in conjunction with the Men’s Rites of Passage retreats, this program is not a repetition of your initial MROP, but a chance for the initiated man to deepen his journey while walking alongside and holding the initiation experience of other men.
What to Expect
Reworked in 2023, most participants report that the Initiator Program is an even more intense and profound experience than their first MROP.
The Initiator Program runs parallel to the MROP, at the same time and place. The difference? As an Initiator, you’ll have your own rituals and rhythms unique to the offering. This includes the option for an overnight solo, extending your day on the land to almost 24 hours. In addition, you’ll have the the space to create a personal ceremony for yourself to honor and support the inner work you’re currently tending.
Initiators hold sacred spiritual space at each ritual and teaching, offering presence and solidarity with new initiates who are doing their rites for the first time. Taking this in for a second or third time greatly deepens the understanding and impact of your previous rites. Each day you will have a guided chance to reflect, hold silence, and spend time in nature. You’ll give prayerful strength and support to the MROP organizing team, and to the men being initiated, and you’ll participate in new rituals designed for the initiator program.
Check with the MROP host chapter for registration details and costs.
Register to become an Initiator
If you are interested, please reach out to the listed contact at the MROP of your choice, and inquire about this option to sign up. Discover upcoming MROPs and their local contact here.
Sponsor a new initiate
How do I sponsor a new initiate?
There are two equally valuable ways to sponsor a new initiate, so that he can transform his life.
Option #1: Encourage and invite
Encourage and invite men in your life to consider joining a Men’s Rite of Passage. A participant is considered sponsored by you if he clearly indicates that you invited him on his application form.
Option 2: Offer financial sponsorship
You can financially sponsor a man you don’t know by paying some or all of his registration fee, so that men of all financial circumstances can participate in the MROP. Your donation will be used exclusively for MROP scholarships, and should be made directly to your MROP host chapter.
We came from all different backgrounds: we were rich and poor, young and old, gay and straight, blue collar and Fortune 500 executives, high school dropouts and overeducated academics. We were white, indigenous, hispanic and black.
After my MROP in 2012, I made a long list of all the men I wanted to invite to experience their own MROP. But then I hesitated: “That man is too conservative, this one is too liberal, that man is too religious, this one isn’t spiritual enough.” More and more reasons came to me, and I’d soon crossed all the names off my list! But then I remembered the other amazing men who were with me at my MROP. We came from all different backgrounds: we were rich and poor, young and old, gay and straight, blue collar and Fortune 500 executives, high school dropouts and overeducated academics. We were white, indigenous, hispanic and black. There were fundamentalist baptists, and agnostics who would never darken the door of a religious institution. My preconceived ideas of who the MROP would serve, would have left them all out, and it turns out that I had no idea who this might help, such was the breadth of everyone at my MROP. So I started again, this time wondering: “Why should I be the one to decide if this is the right thing for them?” From then on, I started inviting folks, and helping them discern if this was a timely thing for them. It has been the best thing I could have done with my experience.
—Ned Abenroth, Washington
FAQs on becoming an Initiator
Maybe! New initiates often feel more connected and supported when their friend or family member is present as an Initiator. And on the other hand, sometimes the participant will be best served if their father or friends aren’t there. We encourage you to talk openly with your friend or family member about attending an MROP together, and follow what the participant wants.
If my son or a close friend wants to attend the MROP, should I be there?
Does joining the Initiator Program mean being a part of the MROP leadership team?
No. While Initiators help to hold the space spiritually during the MROP, through prayer and presence, you will have no other leadership or planning responsibilities. You are there to experience your own program, not help run someone else’s.
Yes. The Initiator Program has its own registration and cost requirements. See the MROP host chapter pages for details. (Click on the MROP you wish to attend for more information.)
Is there a cost for the Initiator Program?
Contact the regional sponsoring chapter of your chosen MROP, then confirm and sign up. Discover upcoming MROPs and their local contact here.
How do I register?
“The needs of the world are too great, the suffering and pain too extensive, the lures of the world too seductive for us to begin to change the world unless we are changed.”
William Willimon, Bread and Wine