Journey to Adulthood is an online, downloadable youth ministry program of spiritual formation for 6th-12th grades. Fully revised and updated, it is centered on inclusive, relational ministry and uses Bible study, prayer, rites of passage, and service projects. Creative, developmentally appropriate lessons are arranged within three categories of Self, Society, and Spirituality.

The curriculum is arranged into three modules: Rite 13, J2A, and 4Ward.

The Rite 13 program assists young people as they begin to take the first steps of independence from their families into their own lives and creates a safe haven in which to explore new ideas, new interests, and new abilities.

  • A two-year cohort for ages 11-13
  • Includes the Rite 13 ceremony
  • Uses serious and fun activities, reflection, and discussion
  • Introduces Bible study, prayer, service projects

J2A helps teens create and understand the importance of Christian community as they develop critical thinking and other skills they will need in adulthood.

  • A two-year cohort for ages 13-15
  • Helps develop critical thinking and responsibility
  • Introduces new ways of engaging with scripture and prayer
  • Concludes with the Pilgrimage experience

4Ward is a mentor-based program helps older teens discern and carry out a ministry within their church or in the larger community. A final rite of passage sends them out into the world as ambassadors of Christ.

  • A two-year mentor-based cohort for ages 15-18
  • Emphasis on discernment and vocation
  • Robust Bible studies and focus on service to the church and community
  • Concludes with the 4Ward ceremony
  • Streamlined and standardized lesson formats (goals, background, talking points, activities, with preparation lists for leaders)
  • New content to address current topics: racism, creation care, times of crisis
  • Stronger biblical, theological, and liturgical foundations including more content from the Book of Common Prayer
  • Revision team comprised of clergy, youth ministers, and academics with experience in youth faith formation
  • Newly revised Rite 13 ceremony shifts the focus away from gender identity, instead emphasizing the journey aspect of adolescence
  • Less emphasis on the traditional family structure of youth
  • Processes to increase the biblical literacy of youth
  • J2A lessons have been revised to follow the Rite 13 redesign
  • More than one activity option for most lessons
  • Provides a structured method for gathering youth input

The cost of an annual subscription to Journey to Adulthood is based on your church’s Average Sunday Worship Attendance (AWA). There are four tiers ranging from the lowest of under 100 to the top tier of 500+ attendees.

The cost of the program provides access all three modules (Rite 13, J2A, and 4Ward). Each module builds on the next, so you can reference earlier material on the same subject. It also provides greater flexibility in programming across different age groups, and access to lessons for responding to tragedy, crisis, and catastrophe, and prayers and liturgies for various occasions.

Subscriptions will be automatically renewed each year.

To learn more about Journey to Adulthood and using the planner, calendar, and other features, take advantage of our free webinars. See the schedule of upcoming webinars here.

By purchasing a license to access and use, or engaging in a free trial to access and use, the educational materials, activities, audio/visual works and other items that make up Journey to Adulthood (“Materials”) from Church Publishing Incorporated (the “Publisher”), you, on behalf of yourself or, if you are eligible to represent your organization, then on behalf of your organization (in either case “You” or “Your”), agree to abide by these terms and conditions. The collection and use of any personal information collected by the Journey to Adulthood website is governed by the Publisher’s Privacy Policy.

AUTHORIZED USES

Publisher grants the following rights to You:

  1. Print copies of the Materials, including books, workbooks, stories, activity guides, coloring sheets, webinars, games, slide presentations, solely for the use of your church or organization.
  2. Publicly perform certain Materials, such as music, at events sponsored by your church or organization.

UNAUTHORIZED USES

All other rights and authorized use of the Journey to Adulthood, besides the above Authorized Uses, are retained by the Publisher and are subject to separate permission. You agree not to do any of the following:

  1. Prepare new musical arrangements of copyrighted text or music on the Journey to Adulthood Web site.
  2. Distribute any Materials outside of your church
  3. Translate any portion of the Materials into any other language.
  4. Post the Materials on another website.
  5. Use any of the Materials, either in print or electronic form, after expiration of Your subscription or trial period.
  6. Any other use not specifically authorized.
The Publisher may terminate your license or deny access to specific users at its sole discretion if any of the above occurs.

ASSIGNMENT OF THIS LICENSE

This subscription may result in multiple logins made available to You for use by individuals within Your organization. The rights granted by this license are not transferable to any other individual, church, congregation or organization without express written permission from the Publisher.

DURATION OF THIS LICENSE AND AUTOMATIC RENEWAL

Unless You have purchased a license for a special term, Journey to Adulthood licenses are annual and license renewal is automatic and will result in a charge to Your account unless You provide notice of non-renewal 30 days before the anniversary of Your subscription.

DESTRUCTION OF MATERIALS UPON LICENSE EXPIRATION

Once Your license has been terminated, then all printed and electronic copies or originals of the licensed Materials must be destroyed by You.

PARENTAL OR GUARDIAN PERMISSION

Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to use the Journey to Adulthood website but are encouraged to use the Materials under Your supervision in accordance with these terms and conditions.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

When using the Journey to Adulthood website, information may be transmitted that is beyond the control of Publisher and Publisher assumes no liability for or relating to the delay, failure, interruption or corruption of any data or other information transmitted in connection with use of this program or web site. Access to and use of this website and content is provided on an "AS-IS" basis. PUBLISHER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTIES' RIGHTS, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. PUBLISHER MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY AS TO WHETHER THE INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE VIA THIS WEB SITE, OR ANY SITE TO WHICH IT IS LINKED, IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR CURRENT. In no event shall Publisher be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, incidental and consequential damages, money damages, lost data, or damage to Your computer system due to viruses or other defects), whether such claim is based upon warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not Publisher is advised of the possibility of such damages.

This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without reference to the conflicts of law provisions of such State.

The parties hereto agree that any suit, action or proceeding to enforce any provision of, or based on any matter arising out of or in connection with, this agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby shall be brought in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York or any New York State court sitting in New York, New York, and each of the parties hereby irrevocably consents to the jurisdiction of such courts (and of the appropriate appellate courts therefrom) in any such suit, action or proceeding and irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the laying of the venue of any such suit, action or proceeding in any such court or that any such suit, action or proceeding which is brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

A 14-day free trial to Journey to Adulthood includes unlimited access to preview content. You may build plans and add additional users for the complete experience. A free trial comes with three free downloads. One lesson is intended to be used across 2-3 sessions.

It’s a good idea to write down your subscription number, in case you need it after your free trial has expired. When you’re logged in, select My Account/Subscription from the main navigation area:

Your subscription number will be displayed as below. It includes the RF at the beginning of the series of digits:

To upgrade your free trial to a paid subscription, click the Subscribe link in the Subscription Type row. A pop-up window will appear. Click the Sign up button:

You will be taken to the Journey to Adulthood page of the Augsburg Fortress webstore, where the Trial Subscription Number field will be pre-filled with your number:

Select the appropriate Average Weekly Worship Attendance option from the drop-down menu, click the Sign up button, and continue with the process.

If your free trial has expired, you won’t be able to pre-fill the Trial Subscription Number field, but if you wrote the number down as noted above, you can go to the product page and enter it manually.

Please note that the Augsburg Fortress webstore and the Journey to Adulthood website are two separate sites. You may already have an account on the Augsburg Fortress webstore, but it will be separate from your Journey to Adulthood subscription, as well as any account you may have with Church Publishing Incorporated.

If you run into any difficulties with the upgrade process, please contact our software support team at webhelp@augsburgfortress.org, or call 844-993-3811, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (Central Time).

Journey to Adulthood features three distinct modules: Rite 13, J2A, and 4Ward. At any time while you are navigating a module, click on the Journey to Adulthood logo on the upper left corner to return to the home page.

The top navigation bar includes links to the Planner (detailed planning); Calendar (your calendar of planned content), Help (this help area), Contact Us, and My Account (subscription, billing, and account information).

The home page of Journey to Adulthood serves as the starting point for the Library. Click the red Explore button to look further into the contents of any module. To learn more about each module, click on the Quick Look button, which includes a summary of key features and a downloadable Scope and Sequence for that module.

Once you click on a module, the page will display the units and extras available in that module.

When you click on the Unit of your choice, you will navigate to the Lessons in that Unit. From this layer forward, access key tools on the right side of your screen, including the option to download all resources and add the item to your Journey to Adulthood Calendar (only Directors see this tool). If you want to see what’s inside any Lesson, click on the title to preview, download, or add to calendar.

The default for the Calendar provides a one-month view of content planned by your church in this Age Group. You can change the month you’re looking at in several ways:

  • Using the arrows on either side of the month name to move ahead or back
  • Clicking on the month name and choosing another month in the drop-down
  • Changing the year using the year drop-down at the left

If you have any content planned for a particular day, it will show here. If a full lesson has been planned, it shows that title. Click on the arrow tool at the left of each row to expand any listing. If the content belongs to a Plan you’ve created in the planning area, the name of that Plan is shown. Directors can click on this to edit that Plan.

In the expanded view of any listing, download resources and see who has been assigned to lead that lesson for each age level. If your name is listed, it’s highlighted to draw your attention to your assignment(s).

If you are a Director, you can click the Edit button at the right of each listing to produce an overlay, allowing you to edit all aspects of that listing.

In addition to the monthly view, you can see a weekly view by clicking on the Week View button at the right. The Week View provides the information you see in the expanded listing view in the Month View. Switch between the Week or Month View by using tools similar to those on the Month View.

On either view, Directors will see a “New Lesson Plan” button at the lower right. This button takes you to the beginning of the planning workflow – the same as the link in the top navigation.

Plan is restricted to users with Director permissions. There is no limit to the number of directors that you can have on your team per Age Group. Permissions are set in the Account area.

Once you enter the planning area, you will walk through three easy steps to put together your plan for a timeframe that you designate.

Step One:

The first step is to set the Start and End Dates for your Plan, and to the day(s) of the week for your Plan. Once these are set, click the Next button. (If you need to make changes to this in the future, you can manually edit your choices later in the planning process.)

Step Two:

In step two of the planning process, choose a module and the system will populate the Units. Choose the ones (you can select more than one) that you need for your plan. Once selected, click next.

Step Three:

In step three, you customize your Plan based on your needs. At the left, view a list of all lessons that are in the Units you selected. Use the Plan More Lessons button at the bottom of this page to return to step two and make any changes or updates.

Drag any lesson at the left to a date in the main panel. Once you drag the lesson on top of your chosen date, it will highlight to indicate your selection. Releasing your mouse on that date will schedule the lesson for that date and the title will appear on that listing. Continue to follow this process until your Plan reflects the content and dates for your needs. Use the tools at the top of the page to advance the month, which are the same as on the Calendar page.

Once you assign a Lesson, expand that listing to see the Leaders assigned, which you can attribute in the Account area. This view also allows you to download the resources for each planned Lesson.

Edit any listing in your Plan by using the Edit tool (indicated by a pencil) on the right side of your screen. When you click Edit, an overlay will allow you to change any aspect of this listing: date, module, unit, lesson, or leaders.

For Leader assignments, view who is assigned. If you need to make a change, remove any Leader from this item by clicking the “x” by their name. Add another enrolled Leader using the “Add Leader” drop-down on the right. This screen will also allow you to Delete the entire listing. Click the Save button to save your changes and close the overlay.

Important note: All of your work continuously saves as you work on your Plan.

My Account allows you to manage all aspects of your Journey to Adulthood subscription, including subscription status, downloaded files, and enrolled Leaders.

Directors control who accesses your Journey to Adulthood subscription. Leaders can edit their own profile here but cannot view or edit other users’ profiles.

Click on Add New Leader in the upper right corner to create a new record in the list. Fill in name, email address, and password. The site doesn’t notify this new Leader automatically, so do remember to let them know that they now have access and possible assignments.

Directors can edit anyone’s name, email address. In addition, a Director can help a locked-out user by clicking on the “Change Password” link under the Password field, which will trigger an email sent to the email address shown. (Note: Users will also see a “Forgot Password” link when they log in, triggering this same workflow.)

For questions, or to get help with Journey to Adulthood, please contact our software support team by email, or call 844-993-3811, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (Central Time).