What is the 3rdF?
Faith is the least understood of the three Fs – and it’s what probably makes F3 appear a little suspicious and cultish. Faith is a bit of a misnomer since F3 explicitly says it is “open to men of all faiths and no faith.” It’s not about religion, ascribing to any doctrine, or providing the answers to life’s mysteries. Rather, it’s about taking a chance, being vulnerable, and asking one another the deeper life questions we all share. Faith is a belief in something outside of ourselves and what’s empirically knowable.
As participants in a rotating peer led group, we open ourselves to be led. It begins with Q’ing workouts like almost all of us have done this year. That can lead to an AO having a shared purpose and broader impact beyond the 1st and 2nd Fs – for our marriages, families, and the larger community.
This potential impact is why Dredd, F3’s founder, calls the 3rd F the dynamite. Male community involvement rates are dropping at faster rates than male friendships and the 3rd F provides a counterweight to this trend.
So, if you’ve got an idea for making an impact big or small in your life and the lives of others, please remember you’ve got a built-in support team in the TheCapital Region and across F3 Nation to help you realize your vision.
Ok, I get that, now what?
Consider Deepening Your 3rd F with QSource, Whetstones, & Shield Locks
To engage in these deeper conversations in an inclusive way, you should have good content that facilitates discussion and introspection. It can’t be one person lecturing, but rather rotate leaders to prompt the discussion and crowd source the topics. Often, the most meaningful conversations dig into what stresses us out the most (worrying about finances, difficulties in our marriage, in our roles as fathers, and at work.
QSource
Self-study with QSource and engage with Nano, Nan’tan of The Capital Region, on Slack’s #qsource channel. QSource is the integrated expression of F3’s leadership philosophy – a leadership manual. As such, it is designed to be used by F3 members to improve their leadership skills for the benefit of their families, workplaces and neighborhoods. Because it is based on timeless principles, it is also useful for any group that wants to improve the leadership skills of its members.
Whetstone
Engage in mentorship by serving as a Whetstone. To be a Whetstone means to sharpen as a mentor sharpens his protégé. The unsharpened man is dull and lethargic, ineffective as a Leader and ill-prepared for the obstacles he will face in his life. Just as a man’s appetite for pure food must be whetted, so must his appetite for the heavy responsibility that comes with leadership. The HIM acts as the Whetstone to the younger man’s Blade, providing the hard surface against which he becomes sharper and whetting his appetite for greater responsibility.
Shield Lock
Connect with other men by forming a Shield Lock: Like all humans, men have blind spots. When we drive a car, we use mirrors and occasionally others to give us a new perspective. A healthy community needs a Shield Lock, a group of 3 to 5 men who form the horizontal relationships that protect and enrich us. The HIM recognizes his Shield Lock as one of his most important teams to continually nourish his family, professional, and leadership roles.
Consider Broadening your 3rd F with Faith-based Study Groups, Community Service Projects, and the F3 Foundation
Faith-based Study Groups
It’s not F3’s mission to turn men into Christians, Jews, Druids or Atheists, etc. – it’s to help those men be the best Christians, Jews, Druids or Atheists they possibly can be as leaders in their respective faith – or non faith – tradition. One component of that is to study together the doctrine that forms the basis of faith from across the spectrum of religious traditions.
Our own Anchorman’s Bible Study focused on the Gospel of Mark is a recent example.
Religious strife comes from three primary sources:
1) lack of fellowship between men of different faiths;
2) lack of understanding of the doctrinal basis of different faiths; and
3) lack of understanding of one’s own faith.
Because group study ameliorates one or more of these three problems, it’s probably a good thing, and a thing to be encouraged. So, you are encouraged to encourage it, in the manner you deem to be most effective.
Community Service Projects
As Dredd pointed out in “Freed To Lead,” the desire to take on tough community problems manifested itself almost immediately after F3 got off the ground. What better way to invigorate male community leadership than to give men the chance to lead Service Projects that benefit the community itself? The key (as with all things F3) is the leadership component. From (almost) the start we have not cared that much about what the project actually is, it’s the man leading the doing of it that is important to F3.
Recent examples include:
2023 Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser for Donovan & Bank Foundation: Raised $23,000 to help United States Special Operators bring closure to their warrior story and transition to a life of peace, contentment and balance.
GTE35 Service Project: Joined forces with Miriam’s Kitchen for a team-building activity creating seasonal packs full of needed items for Street Outreach and Social Services Teams to distribute to those experiencing homelessness.
Many of our AOs work with Adopt-a-Highway to give back to their community and provide opportunity for 2.0s to earn service credits.
The easy part is that nothing needs to be done to inculcate a sense of community service. Men are born with it, and the PAX who Q and post consistently to F3 workouts are a self-selected cohort of men dedicated to servant-leadership. Some suggestions for Community Service Projects:
- Ensure There Is a Q. This is a great screening device. The only thing that distinguishes a potential 3rd F Project is the existence of a Q. So, when you get those messages (and you will) from well-meaning PAX about problems besetting the Region, your first response should be, “Will you Q this?” It doesn’t matter if it is a good idea or not. If the messenger won’t Q it, it won’t go anywhere, so screen it out.
- Align with F3 Core Principles. Anything that violates a Core Principle or creates excessive factionalism should be screened out. Obviously, for example, a Service Project that excludes specific PAX is a loser. Likewise, a project that forces a man to choose between the project and participation in F3 itself is excessively factional. If we assume our fellow PAX operate based on conscience, we should avoid supporting projects where there is potential for conscientious opposition.
- Create Space for Leadership. No how matter how much you love the thing, don’t try to run it. The ideas come up from the PAX and are put in motion by the PAX. Once a Q is identified, the job for Regional Leadership is over except as cheerleader and supporter. Leave the doing to the Q. Because it’s his idea, he will do a better job of it.
- Publicize! For two reasons. First, it’s great encouragement to the Q and participating PAX. Second, good ideas spread quickly.
The F3 Foundation (F3F)
F3F’s mission is to accelerate F3 Nation’s mission and impact through generosity. It does this by raising funds to support operations for 1) F3 Nation and F3F, and 2) making grants, in support of PAX-led projects, to achieve measurable community impact. F3F has three pillars:
Transparency: Operations and finances are an open book for everyone to see.
Efficiency: No bureaucracy. We’re just going to get stuff done.
Impact: Expand F3 Nation. Make grants. Create impact. Tell the story.
Horshack recently joined F3F’s Advisory Council providing strategic guidance, raising awareness and assisting with raising funds to help ensure the Foundation’s success in achieving its goals.
If you’re looking to raise funds to support your Community Service Project, consider these channels:
Work with Horshack to use F3 TheCapital’s PayPal Fundraiser app to collect and disburse money to non-profit organizations. It’s simple.
Apply for an Invigor8 Grant to accelerate the charitable impact PAX are producing throughout the Nation. Applications are reviewed and scored by the Advisory Council on the following criteria:
Missional alignment (including broad and deep PAX involvement and not just writing a check to solve the problem).
Financial viability (clarity on how local funds will be raised and utilized with PAX having “skin in the game”).
F3 The Capital 