Starting a Families of the Frontier (FOF) tribe is about reclaiming family time, learning together, and building a community that shares skills, faith, and life. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started and keep it practical while inspiring participation.
1. Host Initial Activities and Discover Interest
Begin by hosting one or two family-oriented events that fit into the FOF areas: Frontier Skills, Formation (faith, fitness, fortitude), or Family Life. Examples could include a family caroling event around Christmas, hosting a Candlemas candlemaking class, planning a summer obstacle race, or gathering friends to prepare freezer meals together. Treat these events as “fishing expeditions” to see who may be interested in participating more routinely. Even after a single event, you could identify a few families to begin your tribe with.
2. Identify Your Tribe
Look around your events, other Christian organizations, and your social circles. Seek families who are determined to participate together, willing to slow down, and ready to support each other. Diversity in skills and strengths is vital: some families may excel in outdoor survival, others in cooking, crafts, or faith formation. Together, these differences create a rich environment for learning and mentorship. Most importantly, Christ should be the foundation of the tribe, guiding decisions, interactions, and priorities.
3. Begin Monthly Gatherings
Start meeting monthly with your tribe. FOF provides resources to help get gatherings up and running, including outlines for prayer so that prayer times go beyond the mundane and become meaningful for participants. Each session should include prayer, skill-building, discussion topics, and opportunities to reflect on Scripture. The focus is always on learning, growing, and worshipping together.
4. Empower Older Children and Teens
Allow older children and teens to take on responsibilities. They can lead activities or teach specific skills from Frontier Skills, Formation, or Family Life. This encourages leadership, ownership, and development while keeping the focus on family participation.
5. Formalize Your Tribe
As your tribe becomes familiar with the rhythm, begin operating more formally within the FOF mission and vision. This could include structured meetings with an annual plan, weekend camping trips, and awarding badges or tokens of accomplishment for completing skills. While our badges do have requirements, parents’ judgment always prevails. If a child has earned a badge, they receive it—no lengthy auditing is needed. By year two, your routine will be established and you can begin to add more complexity, such as field trips, delegating skills to different families or experts, and organizing additional outdoor events.
6. Observe Seasonal Holidays
Optionally, incorporate lesser-known Christian feast days such as Martinstag/Martinmas, Candlemas, and the Feast of Ascension. These holidays were selected because they offer opportunities for families to feast together, remember their Christian heritage, and experience the tribe as a family. Tribes should not replace blood-relative family gatherings nor disrupt existing family traditions. Recognizing these holidays allows tribes to celebrate together, connecting participants to the rhythm and history of the Church, especially during times when most people do not have existing family commitments.
7. Recognize Rites of Passage
Guides are available, but how families observe these milestones is left to the parents. Suggested milestones are: turning nine (halfway through childhood, focusing on the importance of childhood, play, and imagination), thirteen (beginning the process of becoming a man or woman, celebrating this transition and giving initial invitation to more), sixteen (refining and challenging the boy or girl to reach beyond themselves to continue maturing), and eighteen (crowning the boy or girl as a man or woman, feasting and inviting them into the ranks of adults). A tribe provides support to help mark these occasions meaningfully, without extensive explanation.
8. Integrated Planning and Consistency
Use a flexible planning framework rather than a rigid schedule. Plan events with consideration for seasonal holidays, skills to be taught, and opportunities for faith formation. Rotate responsibilities among families, invite experts as needed, and ensure prayer, discussion, and Scripture remain central. By year two, your tribe will know the routine, and you can begin adding complexity such as field trips, skill delegation, and extended outdoor gatherings.
9. Keep the Focus on TogethernessEvery step is designed to keep families learning, growing, and celebrating together. From obstacle races to candlemaking, from prayer to seasonal observances, the shared experience strengthens bonds and builds lasting memories. Focus on family participation over perfection, encourage rotation of responsibilities, and celebrate progress together. When families walk the path side by side, skills, faith, and character flourish naturally.