All children have an innate need to engage in experiences that precipitate a spiritual awakening. Parents and community institutions (school, youth and family agencies, civic and faith organizations, government, and others) need to take on roles and responsibilities that support this awakening. Rites of passage have been a human pathway to such spiritual consciousness for more than ten thousand years. Yet in contemporary American communities, few socially sanctioned, community-based rites of passage exist with enough breadth and depth to have an impact on an individual's identity and sense of community. In this article, the author talks about the Rite of Passage Experience (ROPE), a three-phase, six-year youth and community development process that integrates ancient symbols and contemporary youth and community development strategies to create a powerful coming-of-age process for children within the entire community. Although ROPE has prescribed elements, the elements work together more as a structure for fostering a collaborative process within a community. Thus, its most distinguishing feature is not its program elements but its ability to mobilize a community, within a common language and shared emotional experience, to create and sustain a community-focused rite-of-passage initiative. A key ingredient in ROPE is the design of intentional opportunities for children to experience a sense of wonder, awe, and connection to things perceived to be greater than themselves in ways that contribute to their spiritual development, guiding them toward deeper meaning and strengthening their sense of identity and connection to the community.. (Contains 1 note.)