I know some of you are not Christian identified men, but others of you are and I thought it important to share with all of you as MLA brothers a new Christian-language MLA program I am leading, called CrossRoads in the Wilderness.

When I first went through Sapphire Canyon in 2001, it was like lightning had struck me in the chest. It was a life altering and soul shifting experience, personally and professionally. As a Christian minister (UCC.org), I caught a vision of what the church could be and do for men. To me, everything in the Canyon was the dynamic essence of Christianity incarnated. As Jesus had proclaimed about his calling in Gospel in Luke, the blind will see, the prisoners will be free, and the oppressed will be liberated. MLA was all Christ consciousness to me. Sapphire Canyon was reconciliation, salvation, and love, even though it was offered in a different language than is heard in most churches.

And I want to bridge that language gap. My vision is to provide a Christian language MLA retreat for men who would not easily adapt to current MLA language and who would not attend one of the other Christian men’s wilderness retreat programs that have a more exclusive and doctrine/dogma bound way of holding to Christianity. My embracing of Christianity is more open and consistent with the many-ways approach of MLA (see The Phoenix Affirmations or The 8 Points of Progressive Christianity).

This vision has been gestating for some years. Now it is ready to be born. A pilot weekend is scheduled for May 30 – June 1st in Colorado ($250) and the premiere 5 day CrossRoads in the Wilderness is scheduled for August 13-17 (Staff begin on the 11th). You can find out more or register on our CrossRoads program webpage. We are looking for 12 MLA men to participate in the MLA “invitation-only” pilot weekend. Your experience as an MLA alumni will build a strong container and give the organizing team particularly valuable feedback from men with prior rites of passage experience regarding this new program. Men attending the pilot are eligible to join me, Brandon Davis, and Gay Mayer on staff in August and be small group leaders for the premiere training.

If you are a Christian identified MLA brother, if Christianity is an orienting base of spirituality for you, I encourage you to consider helping this initiative with your participation in the May 30 pilot weekend and/or the August premiere, and by promoting the August CrossRoads to other men you know who may be interested. CrossRoads is for men involved in a church, on the margin of church, or not involved in a church at all.

It is exciting to bring this unique offering to Christian men. There are other Christian rites of passage programs, but there are none of which I am aware that combine our incredible set of MLA tools with a dogma and doctrine free “holding” of Christianity. I invite you to come and join in this new way of experiencing Spirit. Please contact me with your questions, concerns, or ideas.