At The Leadership Course, we don’t go to camp — we enter a process.
You can camp anywhere, but a course demands intentional growth. Each stage builds on the last, stacking biblical knowledge, servant leadership, and spiritual maturity to form young men who lead like Jesus. This isn’t entertainment or a week of activities; it’s a structured journey of orientation, encounter, transformation, and relationship that equips every participant to graduate with tangible skills, Kingdom identity, and the confidence to serve their communities and church.
Every young man begins by learning the larger story — that there is a way things work in the Kingdom of Heaven. Stage 1 lays the foundation for understanding God’s order, purpose, and design. Students explore the difference between the Kingdom of God and the world’s system, discovering that they were uniquely created to fulfill a Kingdom assignment.
This stage emphasizes teamwork, humility, and servant leadership, helping students experience how working together moves the Kingdom forward. Through teaching, reflection, and field challenges, each student learns to cultivate a daily rhythm of walking in the Kingdom, not the world.
Key Scriptures: Matthew 13:45 · Jeremiah 6 · Acts
Spiritual Focus: Orientation — understanding God’s way of leadership
Leadership Skills Focus: Self Leadership — Character, self-awareness and personal discipline & values.
Culmination: Overnight expedition with an introduction to solos
“Before you can lead others, you must first learn to follow the King.”
Tangible Takeaways:
Understanding the values and rhythms of the Kingdom
Communication and teamwork under pressure
Foundational prayer and reflection habits
Exposure to solitude and listening to God
In Stage 2, the mission moves from how the Kingdom works to how the heart works within the Kingdom. This is the Rescue Mission — where Jesus heals the brokenhearted and restores the capacity to lead with authenticity and compassion.
Students wrestle with key questions:
Who am I in this group?
What does it mean to belong and serve?
How can I contribute to the team’s mission while guarding my heart?
Through ongoing teamwork, service projects, and guided reflection, each young man learns that leadership begins with self-awareness and surrender. They experience continued brotherhood and discover that healing is not isolation — it’s connection.
Key Scriptures: Isaiah 61 · Luke 19:10
Spiritual Focus: Restoration — understanding the heart’s design and worth
Leadership Skills Focus: Team Leadership — Communication, collaboration, team trust & motivation
Culmination: Three-day expedition and Healing the Wound sessio
“Jesus doesn’t call the perfect. He restores the willing.”
Tangible Takeaways:
Growth in emotional awareness and empathy
Deeper teamwork rooted in trust
Confidence through shared challenge
Experience of Christ’s healing love in community
Stage 3 is the pinnacle of the course — the Solo Year. This is the turning point where everything learned in the first two years comes to life. Students are initiated into spiritual maturity, discipline, and resilience as they learn to stand firm in their identity as sons of God.
This is where spiritual warfare and authority are introduced. Young men learn that following Christ is not passive — it’s active, intentional, and often opposed. Through study of the Armor of God, they learn how to live ready, think biblically, and act courageously.
The solo experience — four days and three nights alone with God — becomes the defining moment of the course. Here, each student seeks an affirmation from the Father that He knows them, loves them, and believes in them.
Key Scriptures: Galatians 2:20 · 1 Corinthians 1:8 · Ephesians 6
Spiritual Focus: Identity and Warfare — learning to lead from sonship
Leadership Skills Focus: Strategic Leadership — Decision-making, structure and responsible management
Culmination: Four-day Solo and fire-pit ceremony.
“Identity is not discovered in the crowd — it’s affirmed in the quiet.”
Tangible Takeaways:
Confidence in who they are in Christ
Understanding and application of the Armor of God
Strength through solitude and reflection
Readiness to lead in spiritual and practical responsibility
Stage 4 is the culmination of the journey — the Commission. Here, knowledge becomes wisdom, and formation becomes mission. Students move from receiving leadership to living it out as image bearers of Christ.
Each student writes a Life Mission Statement that begins:
“I am the man who will…”
They learn that calling is not occupation — it’s obedience. Through mentorship and teaching, they define their Kingdom community (five people they will invest in), communicate how they’ve built daily rhythms of faith, and step into life beyond the course ready to serve.
Key Scriptures: Romans 12:2 · Ephesians 6
Spiritual Focus: Commission — bearing Christ’s image in the world
Leadership Skills Focus: Adaptive Leadership — Change, innovation, legacy, visionary and community-minded leadership
Culmination: Multi night wilderness experience, Mission Presentation Preparation and Commissioning. Presentation of Life Mission Statement before mentors, peers, and family
“Leadership begins when formation becomes a lifestyle.”
Tangible Takeaways:
Personal life mission statement
Kingdom community identified (five men to disciple)
Confidence to lead and serve in church and community
A life built on daily spiritual disciplines and accountability
From the first expedition to the final commissioning, The Leadership Course takes young men through a progression of growth that mirrors the model Don Smith pioneered decades ago:
Orientation → Development → Initiation → Commission.
It’s not a camp — it’s a course of formation, a deliberate journey of discipleship that forges young men into leaders who follow Christ, love truth, and serve others.