How do you end your Troop meetings?

[NJCubScouter]

Line up by patrol, SPL at center court (we meet in a gym); announcements*; sign's up, SPL leads the troop in the Scout Law (we do the Scout Oath in the opening, though some SPL's have reversed them, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not); fold your arms and repeat the Scoutmaster's Benediction**; troop salute, retire the colors, two, troop dismissed.

*Sometimes the Scoutmaster's announcement will double as a Scoutmaster's Minute.  We do not have a tradition of SM Minutes on a regular basis.

**In our troop it is meant to be said quietly while looking down at your folded arms.  I have noticed that people are saying two slightly different versions. I was taught (in this troop) to say "Oh great Master of all true Scouts be with us till we meet again."  I notice that some other people are saying "Scoutmaster" instead of "Master."  To me, "Master" makes more sense because it better evokes the idea that we are analogizing the Lord to a Scoutmaster, and not talking about an actual Scoutmaster.  But maybe that's just because that's the way I learned it.

 

[blw2]

I have no memory really of what my troop did as a scout.

My son's troop.... they would typically 

SM minute (read from a book, never personal or from the heart)

rise

sometimes recite the law

Chaplin would lead a prayer

color guard would retrieve the colors....and 100% of the time they would do it wrong, crossing the flags on their trip to the back of the room.  Drove me nuts!

 

I recon my old troop as a boy did something along those lines too....not something that burned into memory.

[NJCubScouter]

2 hours ago, blw2 said:

I have no memory really of what my troop did as a scout.

Neither do I.  And I was SPL for a year, so one might think I might remember something about what I did.  I have a number of Scouting memories, but not about the opening or closing ceremonies.  Go figure.

[JasonG172]

ScoutMasters Benediction recited by a scout

And now may the Great ScoutMaster of the Universe be with us and guide us until we meet again. Amen

[oldbuzzard]

We circle up for the Scoutmaster Benediction but leave the circle broken to remember those not there.

[MattHiggins]

SPL closes by asking if there are any more announcements and then says the Scoutmaster Benediction and dismissed. No Scoutmaster minute, which I thought was odd.

[qwazse]

As long as we're talking about variations ...

On 4/6/2018 at 12:08 PM, NJCubScouter said:

... I was taught (in this troop) to say "Oh great Master of all true Scouts be with us till we meet again."  I notice that some other people are saying "Scoutmaster" instead of "Master."  To me, "Master" makes more sense because it better evokes the idea that we are analogizing the Lord to a Scoutmaster, and not talking about an actual Scoutmaster.  But maybe that's just because that's the way I learned it.

Like NJ, our SPLs use "Great Master", but say "May the" instead of "Oh" and drop "true".

I think this comes from paralleling the liturgical benediction which among most protestant churches around here opens with "May the Lord ..." So, yes, like NJ's troop we are trying to keep it clear that we are calling on the Divine, not some former or current SM who, like us, awaits resurrection.

"of all scouts"? No idea why we dropped "true." But it makes sense to me. By virtue of point one of the Scout Law, if one is not true, then one is not a scout. And the Master is lord of lapsed scouts as well as upright ones.

I think that's also the sense of leaving a break where two scouts don't hold hands and make room for one more. It hearkens back to the Appalachian hymn "Will the circle be unbroken, bye and bye?" Now, we have folks missing. We're looking forward to the day when all are present and accounted for.

[Chadamus]

SM Minute then the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout Motto and finally Scout Slogan.

[NJCubScouter]

16 hours ago, qwazse said:

"of all scouts"? No idea why we dropped "true." But it makes sense to me. By virtue of point one of the Scout Law, if one is not true, then one is not a scout. And the Master is lord of lapsed scouts as well as upright ones.

I suspect that "true" is in there mainly because the person who wrote it decided it sounded better with that syllable in there, and did not engage in the level of grammatical analysis that you have.    As for one of your other points, some people in our troop may be saying "May the..." at the beginning.  As I said earlier, in our troop it is meant to be said quietly, while looking down in contemplation, and what people are saying is generally audible only to those standing nearby, and maybe not even that in some cases.  So the SPL is not really "leading" it in the sense of prescribing the words to be said by everybody else.  I guess it is inevitable (and harmless) that some variations creep in.

[ItsBrian]

2 hours ago, NJCubScouter said:

I suspect that "true" is in there mainly because the person who wrote it decided it sounded better with that syllable in there, and did not engage in the level of grammatical analysis that you have.    As for one of your other points, some people in our troop may be saying "May the..." at the beginning.  As I said earlier, in our troop it is meant to be said quietly, while looking down in contemplation, and what people are saying is generally audible only to those standing nearby, and maybe not even that in some cases.  So the SPL is not really "leading" it in the sense of prescribing the words to be said by everybody else.  I guess it is inevitable (and harmless) that some variations creep in.

All we say is “May the great scoutmaster be with us until we meet again”

[andysmom]

Scouts and leaders circle up, SPL gives general reminders, announcements, recognizes scouts who have completed BOR that evening, that sort of thing.   Scoutmaster minute.  Join hands (right over left or left over right, I honestly forget) and a scout selected by the SPL starts the Scoutmaster Benediction and everyone else joins in (we say "may the Great Scoutmaster of all Scouts be with us until we meet again" ) and everyone says "Good night Scouts".

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by andysmom