What Is TG?

A boy does not become a man just because he grows older. He is shaped into one. Masculinity bestows masculinity.

The idea of father and son is a spiritual one. Boys were around their fathers because of work. A son might have worked in his father’s shop or on the farm next to him. He may have had an apprenticeship for a blacksmith or a carpenter, where he spent thousands of hours around men. Even Jesus lived this model taking on Joseph’s profession as a carpenter. For most of the history of humankind, boys learned by their fathers’ instruction, not purely through academic institutions.

With the industrial revolution, things have changed and this process is stripped away. Fathers are absent. Few men are leading their sons into spiritual maturity and guidance through hands on experiences. Men are commuting miles from their home, and boys rarely see their fathers. And rarely is masculinity passed on.

At Training Ground, we invite a community of older men to teach the young men through experience. From their time working, to the weekends fly-fishing and hunting, Biblical teaching, or even personal finance, older men invite and initiate younger men to engage in the process of becoming a mature man of God.