David and Steven Arms

David Arms is a Catholic Deacon in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and a co-author of the book Milestone to Manhood. David invented the Rite of Passage weekend to create an opportunity for fathers to affirm their son’s masculine identity by bestowing the title of “man” upon him. David is a husband and father to four grown sons: Oran, Steven, Kevin, and Michael.

Steven Arms lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Emily, and is the proud father of two young children. In Milestone to Manhood, Steven shares his firsthand experience of his Rite of Passage weekend and reflects on how it shaped him into the man that he is today.

Milestone to Manhood shows how fathers of pre-teen boys can help their sons to successfully make the transition from boyhood to manhood. If a boy is never told that he is a man, then he will try to “prove himself” through dangerous or reckless stunts. Therefore, it is a father’s responsibility to bestow the title of “man” on his son, and the book outlines a once-in-a-lifetime weekend to help a father do so. The weekend involves the other male role models in the son’s life as well, like his grandfather, uncles, and older brothers, who all participate in order to make it crystal clear to the boy that he is now considered to be a man. This coming-of-age ceremony is called his Rite of Passage.

Milestone to Manhood will give the reader a firsthand account of a Rite of Passage weekend from the perspective of a boy who experienced one, explain the rituals behind the weekend, and it will give the reader the tools needed to organize a Rite of Passage for a boy in their own life. The major themes explored in the book are virtuous manhood, the importance of family, and the importance of faith.