Religous observeance

[818scoutmaster]

As we know many of the training weeks and weekends include Sunday (for simplicity I am using Sunday as the day of the religious observance).  Sessions are usually all day over the weekends and make attendance at Mass difficult.  Have any of you attended training where there have been arrangements for a religious service other than the usual Scouts' Own?

I have served on NYLT and WB staffs and it has always been assumed the Scouts' Own is sufficient.

I would appreciate any suggestions and experiences.

 

 

 

 

[qwazse]

Yes! I personally have excused a friend and his daughter to go to a local Saturday PM mass. Normally, he'd be fine with scout's own, but a particular life circumstance made him feel the need to attend mass.

At other large gatherings, friar or local priest is invited to come to camp and offer mass for any Catholics.  Often times a protestant service and Jewish service are available. If folks ask and I hear about it, I will find a way. Fortunately for me, other scouters have had the same attitude and I never had to prepare much.

That said, most priests who I've met give parishioners a pass if they are traveling and need to offer prayers at a scout camp.

[Saltface]

In my council, it's more common to find training that doesn't happen on a Sunday. Wood Badge is usually two sessions from Thursday to Saturday. IOLS is Friday and Saturday.

Summer Camp is Monday to Saturday (we leave town at 4:30am in order to get there on time).

[T2Eagle]

I think it's rare these days to arrange for Mass at scout camps.  It was the norm when I was a kid.  Frankly there just aren't enough priests available to do it as often.  I think it is something that should be taken into consideration for something like Woodbadge.  The leaders should at least find out local Mass (and Synagogue) times and make them available and make sure that attendance can be accommodated.

I'm not a fan of scout's own services partly because I find them almost inevitably not non-denominational enough, and partly because they don't fulfill my obligation to attend Mass so they don't meet my religious needs.

For my own troop, we're sponsored by a Catholic parish, if we're not going to be back home before the last Mass of the day, we find a parish near where we're camping and attend Mass there.  We've learned to give the locals a heads up because we're usually talking about really small parishes where we may double the congregation and we want to be sure there's enough communion wafers available.  One time we didn't and the priest asked us to let the regular parishioners go first;  we were getting 1/4 servings by the end.

Edited August 14, 2018 by T2Eagle

[Chris1]

In my Council we have to Wood badge courses each year one is Thursday through Saturday the other Friday through Sunday. Many IOLS courses or Friday Saturday While others are Saturday Sunday. Our last Council camporee there were religious services for Catholic Protestant and Jewish.

We have significant LDS. After the LDS church leave in 2020, We shall see if these offerings diminish. 

[Chisos]

I'll echo what T2Eagle said.  While the summer camp we went to last year did have a priest come in on Sunday, not everywhere does that.  When I did Wood Badge, I had to make it back to town for the last Mass of the day (fortunately we have a 9pm Sunday available!)

[The Latin Scot]

I have actually been postponing Wood Badge for two years because of this issue. It seems that all the WB courses within reasonable distance from me go two sessions, Thursday through Sunday. But as one who strives to observe the Sabbath day and thus avoid a somewhat secular activity on Sundays, this makes it difficult for me to justify missing two Sundays in order to take the course. I get a lot of grief over it from other leaders, even some light taunting (never becoming of a grown Scout leader), but I feel it's not a sacrifice I am willing to make. I do wish they would offer a course that didn't run Sundays in my area; I would take it in a heartbeat then.

[Chris1]

Have you contacted your Council and asked for information on a wood badge course that does not run on Sunday?

Perhaps no one knows that this is a problem or not a significant one.

 

[Eagle94-A1]

If you are Catholic, talk to your priest. If you are not, talk to your minister.

Growing up this was not a problem. Usually we got home in time for me to take a nap and attend 5:00 Mass. If I over slept, I could go to a neighboring parish's later Masses. That was New Orleans. Heavily Catholic.  Now I am in an area where being Catholic will cause people to look at you crossed eyed at best, cursed out at worst. Next parish is approx 40 minutes away, and I do not think the Mass is offered anywhere in the evenings in my diocese. So I had a chat with my priest about it. I recommend you do the same.

[TWCub]

Thank you for bringing up this topic.  Yes this is the exact reason I haven't taken Wood Badge too.

Other than Wood Badge, our camps usually don't start up on Sunday morning until 8:30.  One of the local parish's have a 7:00 am mass that I can make it to.  When we go camping I make it a point to find a parish near our camping site and schedule around them.

[818scoutmaster]

Thanks for the feedback.  Yes, I am RC and am aware that I can get a dispensation for missing mass, but as mentioned above, that don't seem the right way to address the problem.  I am a staffer and am concerned about the participants.  Because of the shortage of priests it is nigh on impossible to get one to come and say mass.  When I am a Course Director, I specifically mention at the participant meetings to let me know of any religious requirements, and then make a special arrangement.

Thanks again for your help and ideas.

 

JPS

[Sentinel947]

I left my wood badge for a very early mass on Sunday. Cleared it with the Course Director ahead of time. 

[The Latin Scot]

On 8/16/2018 at 4:07 PM, Chris1 said:

Have you contacted your Council and asked for information on a wood badge course that does not run on Sunday?

Perhaps no one knows that this is a problem or not a significant one.

 

In my area, they are all aware of the problem because I have been whining about it for the past year and a half. 

The nearest non-Sunday WB course is over three hours away, impossible for me to get to. And with the Church pulling out of Scouting at the end of next year, I wonder if I'll ever get the chance to take it. 

[gblotter]

In our council, Sunday collisions with scheduled Scouting events is very common. I don't view it as being hostile to religious observance in any way - I just think the organizers are unaware because the faithful don't speak up (go along to get along).

I have chosen to speak up whenever I am presented with a Sunday collision in scheduling. Each time I have been graciously offered an accommodation by the organizer that works for all.

BTW: I agree that a Scouts Own religious observance is insufficient for my personal belief system, so that is not the kind of accommodation I'm talking about here. Usually, I am granted permission for an early departure from the Scouting event on late Saturday night - just fine with me.

[John-in-KC]

Ok, WB Staffers,

Whats your Plan B for dealing with our Jewish brothers and sisters (Sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday)?

Ditto, for your Islamic brothers and sisters ( Friday prayers in particular, plus availability to meet the 5x daily prayers) ?

Does not the 12th point require us to respect all faiths?