Grace City Church Celebrates Its Inaugural 'Project ManCard' Class' Rite of Passage
And a GCC 'Stronger Man' admits they gave away a gun at the 2021 men's conference in Wenatchee, Wa.
The men of Grace City Church celebrated the “rite of passage” of 20 boys who completed their “Project ManCard” course at an event in Wenatchee, Wa. on Dec. 7, 2022.
After screening a recap video that showed the boys doing hand-to-hand combat training, small-team firearms tactics with replica assault rifles, rappelling, blindfolded marching, log carrying, and more, Executive Pastor Josh McPherson made some remarks before hearing testimonials from fathers who attended with their boys.
“Man, is there anything sweeter than dads with their boys? I don’t care who you are, you know, if you can watch that and get through it with a dry eye, something’s not right in your heart,” McPherson said.
He said the dream is that GCC could start doing these Project ManCard courses on a regular basis, and they already have a waiting list for the next class.
“It’s our prayer that we could be doing dozens of these a year,” he said.
That’s going to take property and staff, he said.
“I’m not even joking. If you’re here and you’ve got 1000 acres, come talk to me afterwards,” he said. “We’d love for you to give it to the church.”
Then four of the fathers who attended with their sons spoke.
Jacob Morgan spoke first. His 16-year-old son received the nickname “Freight Train.” He admitted that he started to regret putting his son in the program after the boys had to ford the Entiat River.
“He came out, and I get my arms around him, and my boy was crying,” Morgan said. “And so I talked to Josh on the walk back and I’m like, ‘I broke my kid.’ What am I doing here?”
But he said by the next day, he realized his son was “all in” and “locked and loaded,” and it was he who had to step back and “let my boy go.”
Morgan said it was different from military training because that is about breaking the individual down and then building him back up. This is about them already knowing their “identity in Christ” and having a group of men around them they could trust.
Morgan also spoke about how strenuous the weekend was on the boys physically.
“We knew that we burned their tank when I think all of them either got sick or slept for 12 hours after the event,” he said.
“Or 48,” McPherson interjected.
After that GCC’s Pastor of Finance Kyle Strong spoke about his experience with his son, ranking the weekend among the finest experiences of his life.
The last man to speak was Clyde Foreman, one of the Project ManCard instructors and a retired FBI agent. He’s also the father of Chris Foreman, a member of Chelan County Sheriff Brian Burnett’s “God Squad,” according to fellow law enforcement officers. McPherson counted the younger Foreman among his best friends after the elder Foreman finished a story about a Vietnam vet and former POW who turned to his faith to summon the strength to persevere during a years-long stay at the “Hanoi Hilton.”
McPherson thanked Foreman and all the other instructors, many of whom are former military and law enforcement professionals.
“Hopefully, what you’re seeing is generational legacy and blessing when men come together and get serious about following Jesus,” McPherson said.
You can watch the entire video below.
Stronger Men and Guns
Project ManCard is an extension of GCC’s “Stronger Man Nation” initiative, and at the end of the recap video on YouTube, you can hear the boys chanting the Stronger Man catchphrase: “Kill the dragon, get the girl.”
I covered the 2021 Stronger Man event and the fact that GCC advertised a “Second Amendment Giveaway” as one of the door prizes for attendees. That phrase caught the attention of a few folks in the Wenatchee Valley, but no one from GCC responded to questions about what a “Second Amendment Giveaway” meant.
According to current GCC member and Stronger Man Nation member Luke Boyce, it’s exactly what it sounds like.
“At the Stronger Man Nation Conference there was an amazing hand crafted gun given away as a prize and I wished I had won it!” Boyce wrote.
Also Notable: The City of Wenatchee Gives GCC Green Light on Its ‘Children’s Training Space”
According to the Wenatchee World, the City of Wenatchee and GCC this month reached an agreement on a conditional use permit for GCC to construct a 12,000-square-foot “children’s training space” on its 12-acre compound at 277 Melody Lane. It will be the fourth building erected on GCC’s Sunnyslope property, and it’s meant to accommodate the children who attend during church service, according to the World.
What’s notable is how the city countermanded many of the decisions made by Wenatchee hearing examiner Andrew Kottkamp after neighbors showed up to a hearing at city hall to make their concerns about GCC’s expansion and, in their eyes, disregard for others at a hearing earlier this year.
A conditional use permit is not the same thing as a building permit, so there will be more developments in the saga of GCC’s mission to build a “children’s training space” on its compound.
If you have any additional information about Grace City Church and its relationship with firearms, I’d like to talk. Reach out to me here or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Strength, courage and "manliness" are conditions of the mind. I have no problem with teaching some of this stuff (but no, it has nothing to do with Jesus), but what about kindness, compassion, etc? They say "Kill the dragon, get the girl," but is any of this training going to teach a young man to be respectful of women, to not be an abuser, to realize that many, many women need a safe man to help them heal and come to fulfillment?
While this relentless obsession with "battle", guns and "manliness", coupled with the attempt to justify it with Jesus, may be typical of Christian Nationalism, it also seems too personal for Josh...an unhealthy obsession exacerbated by a specific, private, deeply rooted issue.