Help Dads Disciple Their Sons
Equip dads to lead their middle school sons through a biblical manhood rite of passage
First Tribe: Path to Manhood
Through this transformational group experience, you will:
- empower dads to spiritually lead their adolescent sons
- teach boys biblically about life, manhood and faith
- forge relationships that will strengthen your ministry
- identify men who would make great volunteers
Church Leader, does this sound like you?
- You want to help students grow in their faith, but you feel like what you teach them isn't being reinforced at home.
- You want parents to be more involved in discipling their kids, but you hear parents consistently saying they don't know how.
- You never have enough volunteers, especially men, to adequately support your ministry.
- You see the young men in your ministry really floundering. But you're not sure how to teach them about being men without alienating the girls or possibly angering parents.
- You never have enough time to do it all. Prepping for Sundays is enough, let alone having to recruit and train volunteers, counsel parents and teens, and lead weeknight groups. You wish people would be motivated to just jump in and do some things themselves!
If this sounds like you, then you've come to the right place. First Tribe can be the experience you're looking for to foster family discipleship and ministry growth, all with minimal time investment from you!
As a result of being in First Tribe, the sons in your church will...
Learn how to make their faith their own
Gaining some practical skills and tools will help them move beyond a Sunday school faith.
Have a clear picture of manhood
We'll push through the cultural confusion and arrive at a simple idea of what it means to be a man.
Make good friends and fun memories
With regular activities, games and challenges, they'll have lots of ways to interact and have fun!
And the dads in your church will...
Talk with their sons about all the important stuff
Taking responsibility, challenging himself, serving others, and even talking to women—we've got you covered on all of it!
Know how to connect with their middle school sons
We'll create interaction around activities they'll both enjoy, so dads can easily enter into their sons' world.
Feel like heroes
Seriously. How many dads do this with their sons? Not many. You'll be creating the cream of the crop. And they'll be able to look back on this season in their sons' lives with no regrets.
And as a ministry leader, you will...
Provide something that dads and sons actually WANT to do
Most dads want to pass something on to their sons. But they don't often think of the church as the context for doing that. With First Tribe, you'll get them engaged in a way that's already motivating to them.
Reach disconnected dads who can be great volunteers for you
You'll pull together groups of dads who want to invest in their sons. And as they make connections with other dads and sons, they'll be more motivated to serve in your ministry when you ask them.
Build group bonds that increase student longevity in your ministry
As the sons make connections with each other, they will create a depth of relationship and shared experience that will keep them coming back to your ministry to maintain those friendships.
Purchase First Tribe Today
Plain and simple—First Tribe: Path to Manhood will change the lives of dads and sons in your ministry. And it's available today!
Don't miss out on this opportunity to impact the young men of your church!
What's Included in First Tribe?
First Tribe is a 9-month group experience for dads with sons ages 11-15. The program is made up of once-a-month Tribe gatherings for all dads and sons together, plus activities for each dad/son pair to do between gatherings.
Everything needed to successfully launch and run a First Tribe group is included in your purchase. Specifically, here's what you'll get:
Teaching
Teaching videos and meeting walkthroughs for all gatherings, covering the following topics:
- Growing in strength and courage
- Facing hard challenges
- Learning the practices to follow Jesus
- Serving others and accepting responibility
- Avoiding temptation and treating women well
- Developing quality friendships with other young men
- PLUS, 2 special event ceremonies
Activities
Instructions for dads on how to do Manhood Challenges and Movie Nights between gatherings with their sons.
- Manhood Challenges include activities like:
- Perform push-ups, sit-ups, run 1 mile
- Make a tribute to an authority figure
- Develop a spiritual training regimen
- Teach a skill to your Tribe
- Movie Nights include watching and discussing films like:
- Batman Begins
- Cinderella Man
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Greatest Showman
Training
You'll designate one dad to be the Tribe leader, and he'll be the one to coordinate the Tribe over the 9 months they're together. We provide everything the leader needs to make it happen:
- Setup videos to know who to invite, when to meet, and how to prepare for gatherings
- Step-by-step guides on how to run the special event ceremonies to create memorable experiences
- Tips on how to involve other dads in hosting and leading Tribe gatherings
Tribe Kit
Each dad (leader included) will order a Tribe Kit for his son, filled with items that will help him in his First Tribe journey.
- String bag, journal, and stickers to record his progress at Tribe gatherings
- Stationery, pen, and wax seal for making written mementos throughout his journey
- Keepsake items to mark his completion, including a pocket knife and a special craft project
What Does a Typical Gathering Look Like?
Most First Tribe gatherings will follow the same basic format. Check out a sneak peek of Session 1 below.
1. Welcome
Tribe dads can rotate hosting the gatherings in their homes. They'll welcome everyone with snacks and drinks.
2. Game
What better way to begin than fun? Minute To Win It games are easy to execute and allow everyone to participate.
3. Teaching
Show a pre-recorded lesson that covers the topic from a biblical perspective. Each lesson is engaging and even interactive!
4. Discussion
Guide the group through discussion questions - some for the sons, some for the dads. All of it will help them learn from each other and apply the teaching.
5. Challenge
Wrap up with a Manhood Challenge that ties in to the theme of the gathering, along with instructions on what to do before next time.
How It Works
Here's how to get First Tribe started at your church:
Identify Leader Dads
Reach out to a few dads with middle school sons who you think might be willing and able to lead a First Tribe group. Get them bought in.
Purchase First Tribe Content
Through our Church Partner program, you'll purchase access to the First Tribe course for $100 for each dad leading a Tribe.
Empower Leaders to Recruit Dads & Sons
Support your leaders in building their Tribe groups, or hand things off to them entirely. It's up to you.
Dads Purchase Tribe Kits
Each dad, leader included, will need to purchase a Tribe Kit for his son for $65. These will be shipped upon purchase.
Get Started!
Help your Tribes launch their first gathering. They'll create an opening ceremony that is filled with memorable moments and lots of fun!
Do It For Your Young Men
Purchasing First Tribe will be one of the best decisions you make for investing in your middle school boys.
When their dads look back on these years, they'll have no regrets about their role. And they'll be grateful to the church for helping them make the kind of impact they want as dads.
Meet Don Ross,
Creator of First Tribe
Hey, I'm Don, the founder and creator of Manhood Tribes, an organization dedicated to creating groups of extraordinary men who follow Jesus at every stage of life.
I've served as a pastor and ministry leader for the past couple decades, and have led and worked with men in a wide variety of settings.
I'm also a husband and a dad of two teenage sons. And it's out of my relationship with them that I started First Tribe. Like most dads, I wanted to make an impact on my sons during this stage of their lives.
And then it grew from there into helping other dads who want to do the same, and helping churches facilitate that in their ministries. I know you'll find First Tribe to be a beneficial ministry tool!
"First Tribe is exactly what I needed to help me connect with my sons at this age. I'd recommend it to every dad."
Shaun S
"First Tribe is a master class in what it means to be a man."
Nate H
"It spurred on fantastic conversations, especially about important topics we face in everyday life as a man."
Aaron A
Everything You Need - $100 Per Tribe
With your purchase of First Tribe, you can feel confident that you'll get everything you need to help dads disciple their sons.
You'll be purchasing access to all the digital content for First Tribe, which will set up a dad to lead the Tribe without a hitch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How involved do I need to be as a pastor/ministry leader?
How spiritually and relationally mature does a dad need to be to lead this?
Is this only done in a group, or can a dad do it with just his son?
Does it have to take 9 months? Can we get it done sooner?
Does everyone in the Tribe need to be a Christian?
I'd like to ask more questions. Can I talk to someone in person?
If you're thinking "this sounds amazing, but I'm still not 100% sure" then keep reading.
You should give First Tribe a shot if you're motivated by any of the following:
You want to set up your middle school young men to thrive.
Let's be honest, boys have a rough go of it right now. The culture doesn't help them figure themselves out. And our dads are not often equipped to handle the worlds their boys live in.
With First Tribe you can set them up to win, not only at this critical stage, but for many years to come.
You'll help ground them in a biblical view of manhood and faith that will last them for a lifetime.
You want to see dads step up to the plate and lead their families.
There's a lot of expectations on dads these days. One of the most difficult is for Christian dads to be the spiritual leaders of their family.
But most dads don't even know how to spiritually lead themselves. And they're too afraid to ask for help.
By utilizing First Tribe, you give dads a tool they can use to be the leaders that you - and they - really want them to be.
You didn't get anything like this from your dad, but you really wish you had.
The lack of fathering in our culture has reached epidemic levels. And the church usually does little more than remind dads how they're dropping the ball.
But if we can set dads up to succeed, we can break a generational pattern of fatherlessness.
What you, and many others like you, missed out on isn't something that has to continue. Let First Tribe be a tool that helps your church create a new pattern of fathers blessing their sons.
The Best $100 Investment You Can Make
There's few things in life that are more valuable than a dad investing in his son.
Do it for them. You'll be glad you did.
And so will they.
