Ascension Rite-13

Rite-13 is the name given to the first two years of the Journey to Adulthood program.  The name comes from a liturgical rite of passage we celebrate with young people around the time of their 13th birthday.  This rite is loosely based on the Jewish bar/bat mitzvah tradition and is a way for the entire congregation to celebrate the gifts and abilities of our young teens.

The Journey to Adulthood is a program of Christian formation for young people which has three two-year sections: Rite-13, Journey to Adulthood, and Young Adults in Church.  Each two-year grouping of teens will stay together until they graduate from high school, with no other class being added in.  This stability of group dynamics helps create safe, sacred space where the group members can learn to trust themselves and each other as they grow in faith.

Here at Ascension, we began our first Rite-13 group in fall 2008.  Our first Rite-13 liturgy will take place in the early spring of 2009, with one or more additional Rite-13 ceremonies taking place the following year.  This group will eventually become our first Journey to Adulthood group and, later, our first Young Adults in Church group.  Currently we are offering Sealed and Sent Forth (a confirmation class) and The Seekers as our group programs for older youth.  Check out those groups’ pages, or visit our overall youth page!

In the Rite-13 ceremony, young people are charged with the responsibility to use wisely the creative power unleashed within them at puberty.  This creative power, a gift from God, is procreative power as well as energy useful to all aspects of life.  The young people lead the congregation in saying a portion of Psalm 139.  This is followed by a prayer for parents as they watch their children leave them, embark on the journey of transition from child to adult, and wait for their return as adults and friends.  This is followed by a charge to the other young people in the church community.  The peer group is reminded to stand beside them, knowing that their support may mean more than any other in the months and years to come.  There is also a charge to the congregation to support and instruct the young people on their journey.  Reminiscent of the Baptismal Covenant, it is a reminder to the whole congregation of our commitments and responsibilities to our youth.  Finally, the young people kneel as the Celebrant and parents lay hands on each one.  A prayer and a blessing conclude the Rite-13 liturgy and the Sunday Eucharist continues with the Peace.

The two years of Rite-13 are fun.  We play a lot of games, laugh a lot, learn a lot.  While we do treat matters in a light-hearted way, this does not mean that we avoid dealing with serious issues.  A lot of time is devoted to the great stories of Holy Scripture and their validity in our day.  Among other things, we deal with prayer, with the ways we see and encounter God, with possessions and their importance in our life, with trust in God on our faith journey together.  Every effort is made to keep the process experiential, with a hands-on and hearts-on focus.  Perhaps more than anything else, all activities are geared to build this community, to establish trust and safety, to remind young people again and again that this is their church, and that they are safe and welcome within it.

Our Rite-13 group meets every Sunday from September to May in the living room of our Youth House (the building on the uphill side of the parking lot).  We also gather outside Sunday mornings once to twice a month, and we have special events throughout the year (often with the other youth age groups at Ascension, and sometimes with other churches’ groups or our entire diocese).  You can take a look at our calendar for more details.  Guests, newcomers, and strangers are always welcomed: hospitality is one of the core principles of following Jesus.  Please join us!

Portions of this page were adapted from “The Journey to Adulthood: A Program of Spiritual Formation for Young People,” the introductory materials about the program available from LeaderResources.  To download the entire sample packet, and to learn more about LeaderResources, visit the official J2A site.

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