Moving from boyhood through adolescence is never easy. At this camp, you’ll find safe, meaningful ways to rise to the challenges of being a young man. By spending three days in nature, you’ll build real bonds with other guys your age and authentic men by overcoming challenges, playing games, and discovering what it means to be a young man rising.

The Elders’ Rites of Passage centers around a five-day intensive retreat that serves those beginning or already on the eldering journey.

The Men’s Rites of Passage (MROP) experience is Illuman’s signature event, created by Franciscan Richard Rohr and friends, and offered in nine countries for thousands and thousands of men. This 5-day intensive helps men like you awaken to the adventure and mystery of your own masculinity, your deep spirituality, your place in the world, and the way of wisdom.

Folks from 10+ countries and 36 states have attended the Elders’ Rites of Passage® which centers around a five-day intensive retreat that serves those beginning or already on the eldering journey. Eldering like all of life, has its own seasons, beginning with the most socially active and energetic eldering years, through the release of roles and responsibilities, and the lifting of the eye to a broader more distant horizon.

We’ll walk through scenarios that invite us to consider the significance of life’s events and how to separate “gratitude” from merely being gratified.

Holding power without burning what we love: a men’s retreat on strength, rhythm, and wisdom.

Under the auspices of IllumanECC, the Illuman brothers of NC and beyond are invited for a Holy Ruckus retreat weekend in Western NC to "regain a child-like sense of joy, happiness, and freedom to play again," with Matthew Lyda.

Join us January 23–25, 2026, at the Carmelite Spiritual Center for Choosing Presence: Awakening to God’s Peace and Presence. This men’s retreat offers guided practices, teachings, councils, nature time, and sacred ritual to help men slow down and reconnect with Divine Presence. Open to all men; registration required.

Join us for Soul Friends: A Men’s Writing Retreat Inspired by Celtic Wisdom, a weekend of reflection, creativity, and brotherhood. Come ready for a relaxed and inspiring time together as we journey as soul friends, writing our way into deeper presence, connection, and joy.

Not just a typical “conference,” Awaken incorporates the touchstones that make Illuman’s work unique: deep inner work featuring ritual, teaching, nature wanderings, poetry, drumming, song, small group Councils, and open time to just rest, recreate, and connect.