The Journey to Adulthood is a Christian education curriculum created by St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Durham, NC, for 6th-12th grade members of the church. The curriculum is designed to nurture young people through the impressionable and formative years of young adulthood by addressing adolescent issues through the lens of our Christian belief system. The Journey to Adulthood program takes seriously the need to deal with what is real for young people, to honor their questions, to assure them that they are real people with real, valid and authentic experiences.

Historically, our youth have been pushed toward confirmation during their 7th grade year, driven by our perception of urgency: “Let’s get them confirmed now before we ‘lose’ them during their teenage years.” Like packing up the car for a long summer vacation or a move to college, we cram these 13- and 14-year-old minds with as much knowledge and information as possible in the hope that, perhaps, they will return to the church as adults after their teenage hiatus.

The Journey to Adulthood program seeks to reverse this trend by approaching youth education in the same manner as traditional coming-of-age rituals. These successful rites of passage follow three crucial stages:

• Separation from childhood
• Initiation and instruction by a “guru” or mentor (outside of the family)
• Re-incorporation into the community

Consequently, The Journey to Adulthood program is divided into two component parts implementing these steps:

RITE-13
J2A