By Reagan Scott
for the Register
Thirty-three men gathered Sept. 13 and 14 at The Oaks, 100 acres of land east of Lincoln, for the second Forged in Faith X (experience).
The weekend served as an opportunity for the attendees to spend time outdoors and grow in faith and fellowship with other men.
On Friday evening, attendees arrived at The Oaks, set up their tents and settled in. Josh Fink, one of the experience’s founders and a member of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln, grilled burgers and hot dogs.
After dinner and a talk, Eucharistic adoration was held among the trees. The evening ended with time for reflection and conversation around the campfire.
The men began their day bright and early on Saturday, with a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, eggs and coffee. Deacon Matthew Hecker from St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln gave a talk on what it means to be a man. After time for reflection, the attendees were able to spend time forging metal, shooting firearms and smoking ribs for lunch.
After lunch, Michael Donlan, an instructor of OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) from St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln held a Q&A session. There was time for Mass and a closing activity.
While the Forged in Faith Experience is a Catholic one with Mass, confessions and Adoration offered when a priest is available, the men stressed that one need not be Catholic to attend. In fact, there was an attendee, originally from Rwanda, who wasn’t Catholic, but heard about the retreat on Spirit Catholic Radio and decided to attend.
“He was really embraced by everybody. He was so loved,” said Mike Czyz, another one of the Experience’s founders and a member of St. Joseph Parish.
Andrew Munger, the third co-founder of Forged in Faith X and member of Ss. Leo and Martin Parish in Palmyra and Douglas, said everyone told them how great the retreat was for them.
He said the common sentiment was, “I can’t believe this bond we’ve built with these men who were strangers yesterday.”
Czyz said one man who came from Grand Island with his sons asked about the potential for a Forged in Faith Experience to be held there. Already, the founders are seeing potential for the expansion of the retreat, to reach even more men.
The experience grew from a Friday morning coffee group that Mark Bohaty, also a member of St. Joseph Parish, had started. Munger, Fink and Czyz had joined, and enjoyed the community they found in the growing group.
Czyz said Bohaty, who died this spring, was really instrumental in pulling men together to try to find their faith.
“I think we’d all agree that it’s kind of the highlight of our week… just the idea that there’s a lot of men that don’t have that opportunity to bond with other good, Christian men,” Czyz said. “I remember one of the guys that came for the first time was like, ‘What’s going on here is like gold.’ So it’s such a blessing, and we really treasure it.”
In an effort to build on the community that was growing as part of their Friday morning group, Fink said that there was an idea to host a father/son retreat, but the men realized they needed to get themselves “figured out” first.
“We said, let’s see if we can just get a men’s retreat going, where it’s a weekend, where we get away and you’re out in the forest doing manly things. We’re shooting guns. We’re forging stuff in the fire. We’re cooking barbecue,” Fink said.
The hope was that the retreat would provide the time and space for men to step away from their daily activities and really get to know one another, have deep conversations and build friendship.
“So that’s kind of where we felt like the Holy Spirit was leading us first was, you know, ‘You guys get this going,’ it’s gonna lift us up as the organizers and the folks who put this on, as well as everybody who attends,” Munger said.
As the group met, the topic of working with their hands would come up frequently. Munger has always been interested in forging and making knives and said they started to see a lot of similarities between their faith and their different crafts. While Munger uses heat to manipulate metal, he said that in the same way, God can change people.
“I feel like I’ve been in the fire this year,” he said. “Being beat on and being formed isn’t comfortable, and you really don’t like going through it. But in the end, you come out of the process somebody better and somebody he wants us to be.”
It was this parallel that led to the name of the Forged in Faith X experience, with the hope that all of the attendees will allow themselves to be “forged” by God.
Sadly, Bohaty’s death came before the first Forged in Faith X was held, but Czyz said the retreat never would have made it off the ground without his intervention in the beginning. Munger added that it wouldn’t be continuing without his intercession and prayers now.
“I think we’re really letting the Holy Spirit try to lead this,” Czyz said. “I think our hope for it would be that this really reaches out and touches a lot of men, because I feel like there’s just such a need for it.”
While each experience is limited to 24 men, previous attendees have already asked if they can come help with the next one. The retreat is free to attend because the founders didn’t want cost to be prohibitive, but there is an option to donate on their website at forgedinfaithx.com.
The next experience is planned for November. Those interested can look for updates on the Forged in Faith website, Facebook page or on Instagram, at forgedinfaithx.
Courtesy photos
