Once again, the Biblical Families newsletter is resurrected, in order to share with you a few thoughts and some important opportunities for fellowship this year. If you thought that Biblical Families itself was on hiatus, that is not the case! Forum activity has increased, and we’ve had two great retreats: last August we had our largest group in 4 years in Tennessee, and in January we had a slightly smaller, but still room-filling crowd in Houston. This year the frequency of events looks to be increasing, and we are offering more online options as well. If you are looking to not just learn more about Biblical plural marriage, but fellowship with and get support from other families who are living or considering it, and understand and accept its Biblical validity, then we encourage you to get involved: our forum now has a calendar page that will make it easier for everyone to keep track of both online and in-person events. Read on for some more info on events.



“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" We trust that you and your family will be giving all the glory and praise to the only true King this holy week. As the world around us grows ever darker, the light of this week’s events at the Triumphal Entry, Passover, Crucifixion, and Resurrection, shine brighter into the rotting corners of this World. Though many still shield themselves from the light, our prayer is that we will be used to focus His Light in the places we visit, this week, and this year. It may be ironic that as plural marriage gets slightly more acceptable, the Gospel becomes even more offensive to many – let us not be afraid to share the truth of the Gospel first and foremost, whatever the cost. ‘He is Risen! Hosanna, indeed!’



Did you know that there are quite a few resources available that make the Biblical case for plural marriage simple to understand? Of course, there are none so blind as ‘those who will not see’, so ‘simple to understand’ does not equal changing someone’s closed and locked mind, but if you are in a place where you need to share this Truth, these resources can be of help, and then the changing of someone’s heart is up to God.  Most of the books on our Books resource page are still available, and very worthwhile.  But we also have a number of folks at Biblical Families who have written, or are still working on, documents that bring a slightly different perspective in each case to the this Biblical study. We think many of you will benefit from these documents (some of which have already been posted in the forum), so we are going to try to include a link to at least one of these in each newsletter going forward. This month we start with Pete Rambo’s new article on academia.edu, which we think you will find helpful, both for yourself or to share.

Events

BF Men now have a video chat twice a month on Wednesday evenings (8p Eastern).  And the women’s weekly chat now alternates between their old text-chat, and a new video chat. New people are always welcome. Keep track of the dates and times on the BF Calendar. You'll also find the events below posted there.



Upper Midwest Retreat, May 12-14^th, Rapid City, SD
We have been to Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma repeatedly, but we’ve never been north of these in the Midwest, and it’s been 4 years since we’ve been to the far west. So trying to give everyone a chance, we will be doing this as a hotel retreat, just 6 weeks from now! While this will likely be a smaller event, we are starting with at least 2 plural families represented. We may do some outdoor activities in the area together, depending on what the group is interested in – and there are plenty of campgrounds nearby if you prefer. We will get started Friday evening at 7pm, but you can show up on Saturday if needed.  If you’d like the info for this retreat, write us now at: [email protected]. Discuss this retreat online here.



This is new: Tactical Masculinity!!

What a name! One of Biblical Families’ great desires is to create a ministry arm that specifically addresses helping men, both fathers and sons, to step into the leadership roles God has designed them for and expects them to fulfill. PeteR (Pete Rambo) and TheRevoltingMan (Zec Austin) are running ‘point’ for this endeavor.

Tactical Masculinity broadly encompasses all aspects of a man providing for, protecting, and leading his family as well as planning career, life, and both short and long-term direction. Our goal is to be intentional in building men and masculinity with events and a YouTube channel.  We are very new and working to create some content as well as prepare for our first ever weekend event!:

May 26-28, 2023 in the mountains of North Georgia, Tactical Masculinity will host a Father-Son (all men welcome) primitive camping weekend at a small arms range. We will have several campfire discussion sessions based out of Scripture and Jack Donovan’s The Way of Men as well as hands-on small arms training and basic weapons skills. This weekend is especially well suited for younger men and for those who have limited or no handgun training. The weekend is not limited to Biblical Families Members, so bring a friend or two!

For details, please contact Pete and Zec at [email protected], and discuss this event here.



Summer Retreat and Family Conference, Dandridge, TN, 

August 17-20, 2023

The retreat so sweet, it needed a repeat! Except with A/C this time – yes, we are returning to the same place as last summer (and a few other years), because of its centrality, mostly.  This is always our most important event of the year.  Put this date on your calendar, we expect one of our biggest turnouts ever – and if we fill up all their rooms this year, well, we’ll send some of you to nearby hotels.  Discussion available here.  If you'd like to be on the list for more info, email [email protected], and let us know which event you are interested in.



Women's Retreat 2023

We are planning our Women's Retreat for October 13-15 in the beautiful city of Charlotte, NC. It has been a while since we were in this area of the country so if you are close by this is your chance to attend. We are looking forward to seeing new faces and old friends. Women’s Retreat is always a refreshing and encouraging time so please pray about attending this year. You won't regret it! If you have any questions regarding the Women's Retreat contact Julie at [email protected].



We are also looking at a Florida retreat in early December, for both Southerners and anybody needing an early break from the winter. Details to come.



If you are wondering what a BF retreat is like, there’s plenty of folks in the retreat threads who can help answer that – but know that we are very informal, and everyone gets to participate. Expect to worship, fellowship, laugh, discuss, pray and make new friends.  We can’t wait to meet and see many of you this year!