House Rules
What every member signs.
Four rules, a handful of commitments, and a plain account of what happens when one is broken. This is a working draft. The founding table finishes it together.
What we stand for
No man leads alone.
The House Rules of Fathom House
The four rules
Four rules make it safe for leaders, including ones who might compete for the same men, to share openly. Every member signs them.
Share freely what lifts us all, and always name the source. Tide resources can be used, adapted, and passed on inside the fellowship. Credit is how we honor the man who gave something away.
In the room: “I can raise the tide on this one.”
A man’s wisdom is valuable, and intellectual property is a real thing. When he says something’s in his vault, that’s the end of it. No justification is needed and no pressure follows.
In the room: “That’s in my vault.”
What’s shared here stays here. Personal disclosures, case stories about the men we serve, and our own struggles stay in the room. Only tide resources travel beyond it, and when we discuss men from our groups we protect their identities.
In the room: “This stays in the room.”
Learn from every tradition. Convert no one. Men of every faith, training, and method sit at this table. We share what works and learn from one another’s traditions, but no one proselytizes or recruits others into his faith, his medicine, or his method.
In the room: “Every tradition has a seat here.”
What members commit to
Show up.
Come consistently and be present, not just logged in.
Contribute.
Raise the tide when you can, in whatever form suits you.
Respect the vault.
Honor other members’ private work and what’s shared in confidence.
Hold space for the holders.
Bring your real challenges, not just your wins.
Serve the mission.
Lead your own group in a way that makes men more honorable, not more dependent on you.
Sustain the fellowship.
Founding members contribute their presence and their wisdom. After launch, members contribute financially at whatever level they are willing to pay.
When a House Rule is broken
First
The council.
An Ethics Council of five: the founder, who chairs it, plus four members chosen by him, two who know the member well and two who don’t.
Then
The member is heard.
Before any decision is made.
Then
The council decides together.
No action, a conversation, repair, a written warning, conditions, suspension, or removal.
Always
It stays in the council.
The outcome is shared privately with the member.
If the matter involves the founder, or he’s unavailable, his designated second in command chairs the council and chooses its members. Repair means an apology to the men affected and putting right what was done, for example correcting credit in the Chart.
What we are not
Not prescriptive.
No one here will tell you how to run your group.
Not a certification.
Membership is not a credential and won’t be presented as one.
Not therapy or crisis care.
We share practices for recognizing when a man needs professional help. We don’t replace it.
Our five-year hope
A man who has never led a group looks at our fellowship, sees dozens of real groups serving real communities, and thinks, “I can do that,” and knows he won’t be doing it alone.
Signed by every member of the House
Working draft, to be finished with the founding table. Facilitated by Dan Russell.
Ready to sign?
Request a founding spot
By request · No cost to founders