Joshua Program Commencement

At the end of September, we welcomed our first students to St. Dunstan’s Academy. These intrepid young men have been “roughing it,” learning to live outdoors, acquainting themselves with the stars, and joining the construction crew to help finish their dormitory. We’ve had an exciting first few weeks building, cooking, singing, praying, exercising, and adventuring together.

During our opening ceremonies, Mr. Looney, who runs the Joshua Program, presented our students with their tool belts. His speech to the cohort is published below with some pictures from the first week here on campus.

Presentation of the Tool Belts

Delivered by Morgan Looney

September 28th, 2025

Throughout history, cultures have marked the initiation from boyhood to manhood with various rites of passage. These tangible, physical events and challenges served as the ebenezer of a transition out of one state of being and into another. Our modern industrialized culture, with its propensity towards inclusiveness and egalitarianism, has largely lost any rites of manhood. It has at the same time lost any positive identification of what it means to be a man. Our young men are generally left confused and in limbo. Not quite boys, but not quite men.

Even for a well formed Christian, living in the culture that we do, to give a succinct answer to the question “what is a man” can be difficult. Over the course of this program we will deal with this problem head on, because we need men. Good men.

This evening, I want to underscore one element of masculinity which is most ubiquitous. That is the ability to provide. Men provide for others. Boys have others to provide for them. They are supplied shelter and food, they are cleaned up after, and made to do the most basic of tasks for themselves often to their great chagrin. One of the great markers of manhood is providing for others rather than having others provide for you. Serving others in this way means that you must know how to do things.

Aden, Kolby, and Joel: most of your waking hours at St. Dunstan’s will be spent learning how to do things. Hard things. Things that will challenge you mentally and physically. You may never build another house with your own hands, or grow another head of lettuce (though I expect you will do both). The skills you learn over the next nine months will give you the resilience and confidence to take on whatever career God has in store for you. I now present you with these tool belts. These are your tools. Take care of them and they will take care of you.

I’m sure you have heard a few times by now that our prayer and our vocation here at St. Dunstan’s is to see the three of you grow closer to Christ, grow in competence, and grow up. We are here primarily to help you in that goal. We will blunder at times. You will see us make mistakes, lose our tempers, and generally drop the ball. We are not perfect men, but we are men. And we invite you to join us in taking up the cross of serving our families, our churches, and our communities as men who, in the words of St Paul have “put away childish things”. Welcome to St. Dunstans.