Rituals from being a child to an adult

I've been sharing that I believe rituals are an effective means of letting us know when we pass from one stage to the next in life.  I also believe that these same kind of rituals could serve us as we grow in our Christian faith.  So, while I may be generally speaking in terms of life stages, I believe that we would be wise to look at how these various rituals or rites of passage could mark our growth in our faith life.  Of course, I understand that they are much more challenging to discern, but it seems that the absence of them in our North American context sure hasn't done us any favors when it comes to growing in our faith life.

What marks the transition from being a child to being an adult?  I think this is a tough question for us to answer since we don't really have a set "time" marking when a child becomes an adult.  Is it when they move from Jr. High to High School?  (That's the age that many cultures mark as the transition from childhood to adulthood.)  Is it when they complete the education system around age 18?  Is it when they complete any higher education that they may be striving for?  Is it when they move out and get a job and a place of their own?  I think by posing these kind of questions, we may come to realize that we aren't really sure where the boundary is between child and adult in our day and age.

Could this also be the case in our faith lives?  In my tradition, we have the confirmation ceremony around the 8th grade, but there really aren't any more significant transitions or rites of passage in regard to growing up in faith.  (And perhaps not so coincidentally, this is also around the age where many young people stop attending church related activities and worship, since they have nothing left to achieve.)  I'll be the first to admit that I would have to do a lot of thinking to come up with some of these rituals, or what marks the transition in growth, but I've also really started to see the importance of them, and the damage that their absence can have.

Understandably, these would not only involve knowledge, but also components of life in the faith.  I could see that the passage from, say, Jr. High to High School would be marked by more service time toward others, and perhaps an emphasis on how to serve others in love.  Then, at the age where most young people move from High School to college or work, having a rite of passage that has both accompanying knowledge components, but also active faith life components.  I'd have to do more thinking on this to come up with some suggestions, but recognize that some of you may have ideas on this, too!