Wolf Duty to God Requirement

[scoutermomks]

I'm interested in getting some ideas for completing this requirement for boys whose families don't attend church. Requirements a-c are easily done at home but what about e - "Find out how you can help your church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or religious fellowship"? We do have our meetings at a church, could doing a service project for that church complete part e?

[shortridge]

That requirement should really be left up to the parents. If their religious fellowship is their family, then the Cub should talk and find out ways to help the family. On the other hand, if the family's OK with doing a service project to help the CO, that would be fine, too.

[Tampa Turtle]

I used to have the cub talk to the parents on what "duty to God" meant in their family and leave it at that. A couple times it led to some good explosions in the parking lot between spouses.

[scoutermomks]

I do intend to have the families do the requirement at home, I guess I should have specified that. I just know that a few boys (mine included) do not attend church and might have trouble coming up with something to satisfy that last part of the requirement. I don't think a scout should miss out on getting his rank badge because he can't complete one part of a requirement because his family chooses to not attend a church. I'm just looking for ideas to give the non-church families so they can complete the requirement at home.

[scoutermomks]

I should also mention that the church we meet at is not our CO. The local Lions Club is our CO but the building where they meet isn't big enough for our pack meetings. We just started meeting at the church so I thought doing a service project for them could be something to get us off on the right foot with the church and also help the scouts with their advancement.

[Tampa Turtle]

I used to explain that in Scouts we want you to believe in God --however your family defines it. If you are not sure then it is something you work on all your life. Regular church attendance is an issue for a particular faith/denomination. I wouldn't dare go there.

 

I think the intent IS to spur the conversation. In some cases it may lead to why don't we go to church if we are XYZ and believe in God. On the other hand some of the most evil people I know were regular church attenders.

 

The boy could answer a question "what does God mean to me" or "how do we see God in the world around us". It could be a picture. You could watch Veggie Tales or something similar. You could discuss how mommy and daddy belong to different faiths, etc, etc.

 

I wouldn't spend more than 15 or 30 minutes on it.

 

 

[CalicoPenn]

Cub_Mom,

 

If Shortridge doesn't mind, I'll clarify what was said about family.

 

The BSA was very crafty when they developed this requirement. Not only do they mention church, synagogue, mosque and temple, they also use the term "Religious Fellowship".

 

The answer to your question lies in what is meant by Religious Fellowship. For the BSA, it's a catch-all phrase, to bring in all the other religious traditions that don't neccessarily involve the "big 4"

 

And that catch-all does include, in the BSA's eyes - Family.

 

A Cub Scout doesn't have to go to church, synagogue, mosque or temple to complete the requirement. His "Religious Fellowship" may just be his family. So to complete the requirement, he can find out what he can do to help his family.

 

Now the question becomes "what kinds of things count as helping his family". The answer is pretty much anything. A Cub Scout setting the table for meals for his family is as valid a method of helping as a Cub Scout helping to set tables for a Church event. A Cub Scout picking up sticks around the family home is as valid as a Cub Scout picking up sticks around his Synagogue. A Cub Scout reading to his little sister is as valid as a Cub Scout reading to a pre-school class at Sunday school.

 

See where I'm going with this? Don't let the requirement scare you into thinking the "help" can't be something you might otherwise consider mundane. Almost everything a Cub can do at home is also a potential way that a Cub can help out at church.

 

 

[shortridge]

Calico said what I was trying to say, only better.

 

That's exactly what I did when I earned my Wolf badge. My family didn't attend church, though we had in the past. We had a family discussion about what I thought God meant or was, about why we didn't go to church, about how other families believe different things and do different things, etc.

 

"I don't think a scout should miss out on getting his rank badge because he can't complete one part of a requirement because his family chooses to not attend a church."

 

And no Scout *should* miss out. The BSA says its policy "is that the home and the organization with which the member is connected shall give definite attention to religious life." Just because a Scout doesn't attend church, synagogue, temple, etc., doesn't mean they can't be Scouts.

[Scoutfish]

My Webelos Leader asked me at the beggining of last year - how to handle the religious part of Webelos.

 

I told him that If I was him...I wouldn't touch it. I'd let each scout's parents handle it.

 

Why?

 

Because what I consider to be religuos and what you consider to be religious are two diferent things. Then add in another 15 sets of Webelos parents....plus any other rank's parents.

 

I myself do not attend church short of Scout Sundays, weddings and funerals.

 

But you'd be completely wrong to think I am not religious.

 

I have my faith and it is very strong. I have issues with organized religion based on past experiences in which politics and social drama were elevated by far above any faith or religious priciples.

 

In more than one church and in more than one denomination.

 

Myself< I feel much closer to God while fishing, or hiking, or watching fireflies come out after sunset.

 

I am close to God while watching dragonflies flit around a beautifuly calm pre storm lake while hearing the tree frogs cry out for rain.

 

Anyways, what it means is different for everybody.

 

 

I wouldn't try to judge or measure anybody elses experience within my own definitions or parameters.

 

 

[5yearscouter]

I often get a question from a parent,

we don't go to church so what do they mean here.

I ask them to think of things that someone might do to help their church.

it might be something to help the church itself[planting flowers, cleaning the pews]

or to help the church with something they are doing for the community[like collecting for a food bank]

and suggest they try to do something like that at the family level. We also plan a fall food bank collection, to give them something to help other people that they could consider using for this requirement.

 

but don't overthink it.

 

[SSScout]

"Reverence to God and reverence for one's neighbour and reverence for oneself as a servant of God, is the basis of every form of religion. The method of expression of reverence to God varies with every sect and denomination. What sect or denomination a boy belongs to depends, as a rule, on his parents' wishes. It is they who decide. It is our business to respect their wishes and to second their efforts to inculcate reverence, whatever form of religion the boy professes."

 

=Robert Baden-Powell, Aids to Scoutmastership

 

[packsaddle]

When I as CM, the pack I served, as a matter of blanket policy, left matters of religious faith to the families. This requirement fell into that category. We decided that persons outside the family should not poke their noses into the religious beliefs of any family. And interestingly, all the families seemed to like this approach. It's almost as if they valued their privacy or something.

[scoutermomks]

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. I think I'll just let all of the parents know that requirement 12 should be done at home and leave it at that. If they have questions beyond that then I will use what some of you said about helping the family. This also helps me since my family falls into the "religious but not church going" category. And who knows, maybe once we start the discussion my son will be interested in going to church just to see what it's all about.

[Basementdweller]

nearly a debate on faith, spirituality and church going.

 

Yes, leave it to the parents.

[Tampa Turtle]

Careful folks, the slope is just as slippery on the other side. If you avoid the topic at all costs than you might as well as cut out using the word "God" in the cub scout oath. Also a lot of parents want their kids in cubs because of traditional association with God, Country, and service. They hope it will be a good influence. The whole "God thing" in scouts is already pretty watered down.

 

We have never really had an issue at our (public school) Pack in spite of having a pretty diverse (Catholic, Protestants, Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist) scouts and scout parents. I usually tell them that it is important enough issue to think about and talk to your family and leave it at that.

 

Leave to the family, don't avoid it, be inclusive, and trust the kid when he said he did it. (my favorite was a kid who said "My mom says were lazy once-a-year jews" and I told him "yeah we got those too kid".)