God and Church

[LovetoCamp]

Good Morning. We're going to organize a weekday retreat this summer for the Scouts and Sea Scouts to work on the God and Church program. The Baptist minister has vounteered to be the mentor. My question is....can our Catholic youth earn the Protestant award? My opinion is "It's All Good" but I'm asking.

 

If the parents are alright with it, does anyone see a problem with this?

 

Secondly, are their any experiences with this program, good or bad, you can share with me?

 

Thanks in advance!!!

[Fat Old Guy]

I suppose that they could earn it BUT they wouldn't be eligible to wear it or a purple and silver square knot on their uniform to represent it. Why? Because the Scout is supposed to earn the religious emblem for HIS faith.

[John-in-KC]

Trail Pounder,

 

I'm a counselor for God and Church. Feel free to contact me by private message, and we can arrange email contact. Happy to share what I've learned so far. I've counseled youth through their Pastors, as well as in district wide programs that are almost evangelistic in nature (several of our young folk were unchurched).

 

We've had Catholic children in my area take Protestant classes, with the approval of their priests. Why? They want to know the differences in the belief systems of Christendom. Nothing wrong with that. BTW, our Council Catholic Committe is huge on the religious awards program.

 

DO, PLEASE, make sure you find the new edition of the God and Church curriculum. PRAY sent it went to press in November 2003. Scouts of confirmation age will find it far more interesting and conducive to Christian education than the older package.

 

Check with parents as you start this. There are denominations that have close practices. Not a good idea to give Christian offense

 

Finally, remember that PRAY and the religious awards program is external to, although closely linked with, BSA. It is legitimate to invite other youth serving organizations sponsored by your CO (GSUSA and Camp Fire both use PRAY for their religious program as well) to this education.

 

The peace our risen Lord be with you.

[LovetoCamp]

John & FOG,

 

Thanks a bunch. John, I'll keep you and your offer in mind as we get closer and I'm sure we'll have questions.

 

FOG, if his folks okay it, I'll just bite the bullet and let him wear his purple knot along with the rest of his buddies. You'd do the same thing.

 

 

[Fat Old Guy]

"FOG, if his folks okay it, I'll just bite the bullet and let him wear his purple knot along with the rest of his buddies. You'd do the same thing."

 

I couldn't prevent it but I'd explain that for him to legimately wear the knot, he needs to earn the Roman Catholic award (I think that it is called "Seige of the Holy Land").

[LovetoCamp]

His mom's Catholic and dad's Methodist, we'll call it the paternal God and Church award.

[OldGreyEagle]

The Roman Catholic Boy Scout Relgious Award is the "Ad Altari Dei" (To the Altar of God, for the Latin impaired), another award for the older scout or Venturer (both male and female) is the Pope Pius XXII.

[John-in-KC]

As a pragmatic matter,

 

I would consult with the Council Catholic Relationships Committee and the Scouts' parish priest to see how they want to do his work. You may find 6th-8th grade CCD parallels what he needs for Catholic award.

 

Good idea to consult anyway

 

 

[dan]

Trail Pounder

The God and Church program is for 6th through 8th graders. Are the Sea Scouts that young?

When you say you are going to have a weekday retreat, do you mean throughout the summer?

The pastor of the Lutheran Church, were the troop meets, offered to be the consoler for other faiths. You may want to ask your minister if he would be willing to do that? If one of the scouts want to earn the award for his faith.

The program has a optional side where a parent can be a mentor, I would suggest if possible to have the parent be a mentor, I enjoyed it along with the other 5 parents.

[Adrianvs]

The Catholic (Latin Rite) award for Cubs is "Light of Christ." The one for Webelos age boys is "Parvuli Dei." For younger Boy Scouts, the award is "Ad Altare Dei." For older scouts as well as Venturers, the award is "Pope Pius XII." Eastern Rite Catholics earn "Parvuli Dei" as Cub Scouts and "Light is Life" as younger Boy Scouts. The older Scouts and Venturers earn the same award as the Latin Rite Catholics, "Pope Pius XII."

 

I am not familiar with the God and Church program, but I would wager that it requires more than simple understanding of the teachings involved. The youth awards are designed to recognize knowledge of and devotion to the religous teachings of the particular faith group. The boy should be encouraged to earn the award of the Church or ecclesial community in which he is being raised and educated. It is great that he wants to learn about other faiths, but he should first seek out the program and award for his own faith. He should at least be given the opportunity to do so and not simply thrown in with the other boys because most of the troop is Protestant. These emblems are awarded by faith communities to members of those faith communities. You should respect that. Find out from the parents the faith in which the child is being raised and find an appropriate director for him.

 

 

"I couldn't prevent it but I'd explain that for him to legimately wear the knot, he needs to earn the Roman Catholic award (I think that it is called 'Seige of the Holy Land')."

 

FOG, you must be thinking of the new pan-Protestant award, "Razing Of The Monasteries."

[John-in-KC]

Adrian,

 

Here is the executive summary of the curriculum, direct from PRAY's website (http://www.praypub.org/New_God_Family/god_church.htm):

 

GOD AND CHURCH

 

Eligibility Guidelines:

Girls and boys in grades 6-8 are eligible to participate in the God and Church program even if they do not belong to a Girl Scout, Boy Scout or Camp Fire group (youth group and Sunday School members are eligible to participate in this program). This program requires that students have original workbooks and present their work to the pastor for final approval.

 

Curriculum:

The God and Church program will lead young people on a journey. It will be a faith journey with three parts: meeting Jesus, worshiping God, and witnessing and ministering for Christ. Participants will create either a video or a photo album to share what they have learned on their faith journeys.

 

My Journey: Meeting Christ

1: Meeting Jesus, the Person

2: Meeting Jesus, the Son of God

3: Meeting Jesus, the Head of the Church

Project: Daily Bible Reading

 

My Journey: Worshiping God

4: Learning how Christ Worshiped God

5: Exploring How My Congregation Worships God

Project: Discovering How I Can Worship God

 

My Journey: Witnessing and Ministering for Christ

6: Learning How Christ Witnessed and Ministered to Others

7: Exploring How My Congregation Witnesses and Ministers to Others

Project: Discovering How I Can Witness and Minister to Others

 

The God and Church Program provides young people with the opportunity to work with their pastor or other Christian adult, to understand the church's structures and objectives, and to participate in service projects that will give them a better understanding of the mission of the church.

 

The God and Church program can take from three to five months to complete. The program is very flexible and can be structured in a number of different ways. Ideally, the youth will complete this program in his or her own church under the supervision of his or her own pastor. However, it is possible to teach the course to a group of young people who belong to different denominations. In this situation, the individual churches should be contacted ahead of time. The pastors need to be invited to the class sessions that deal with specific church history and doctrine. The young people can benefit from this type of comparative study and learn to appreciate the unique aspects of their own denomination.

 

The God and Church curriculum was developed without theological bias; yet it was designed to permit the introduction of particular theological and denominational viewpoints on the material being studied. It is the responsibility of the counselor to provide this specific instruction. Therefore all students use the standard God and Church curriculum regardless of church membership.

 

It is at the God and Church level (when students study their specific denomination), that the following denominational logos are available on certain recognition items: African Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church in America, and United Methodist. Information on ordering these recognition items is contained in the Student Workbook. (Note: These denominational medals are available only at the God and Church level.)

 

Adult Mentor Program:

The God and Church Adult Mentor program is an optional program for parents. Rather than having just their children go through the program by themselves, parents may choose to work on the program alongside their children. In the Adult Mentor program, parents have a workbook with lessons and projects to complete just like the child. Parents will be challenged to learn more about their faith and to talk about their faith with their children.

 

(award stock numbers snipped)

[John-in-KC]

Trail Pounder,

 

Adrian is right. You will want to consider God and Life for young folks in 9th grade and up!!!

 

Adrian,

 

The level of effort for God and Church (immediate past version) was targeted (so it seemed to me) to a seventh grader. My own son is in 8th grade, and a confirmand in our church. The requirements of G&C were easier in rigor than what Pastor is doing.

 

If my son had taken this as a sixth grader, he'd have found the coursework somewhat tougher to complete.

 

OTOH, an unchurched boy will need help from a churched boy or his Counselor.

 

Pastoral involvement is VITAL to the new (Nov 2003) God and Church. TP will want to get with his Scouts own pastors. There will be times where the boy will interact with pastor one on one.

 

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, this Holy Week and always

 

John

[NWScouter]

I in have four youth working with me on their God and Church Award. It is designed for youth to do in the own home congregation and many of the activities pertain to the their denomination. It would be easy to include non-churched youth but youth active in a congregation need to working with their pastors or counselors appointed by them to follow the requirements. The Roman Catholic youth would get more out of their own program. Also PARY is a publisher of the materials, the requirements are approved by the various denominational committees on Scouting.

 

The God and Life Award in the God and Country program as an upper age limit of 18. I believe the only one I know of for 18 to 20 yr old Venturer is the Roman Catholic Award.

 

I have helped over 100 youth earn the awards, this year I had 5 God and Me, 12 God and Family and have 4 (2 BS & 2 GS) working on God and Church.

 

BTW the insignia guides just say you have to have earned a religious award to wear the knot. The adult knot is for the recognition awards (Lamb, St. George, Good Shepard, etc.) which are awarded like a Silver Beaver by nomination. and the LDS which is earned not the mentor award which is just a pin to be worn on civilian wear.

[LovetoCamp]

Great learning experience. I'm copying all your posts and printing them out, we almost have a book. Thanks for everything.

[Fat Old Guy]

"BTW the insignia guides just say you have to have earned a religious award to wear the knot."

 

As we know, BSA publications often never give the entire story. In any case, we need to look at the spirit of the rule. Did the writers of the insignia guide itend for Bhuddist boys to earn Parvuli Dei? Also, doesn't it say in the God and Country book that the Scout's pastor needs to sign off?

 

No matter which way you're trying to twist the rules, the program works better if implemented as designed and each Scout works on the religious emblem for his faith.