Classes for Awards

[Beavah]

I am going to be leading Parvuli Dei and Ad Altare Dei classes.

 

Yah, this comment from da previous thread caught my eye, eh?

 

I think most of the trained and experienced scouters have at least some level of aversion to "merit badge classes" as being a generally weak thing to do. Yah, sure, we allow for it sometimes at camp, but even there we recognize it's a weakening of both the spirit and intent of the program.

 

Do the folks offering religious awards to youth follow that same scouting program intent? Should religious awards be pursued individually with a counselor like a merit badge? Do we really want any award in Scouting, but especially religious awards, to be school-like classes?

 

I'm not particularly familiar with da current Catholic awards the poster above mentions. Parvuli Dei is a cub award which yeh might imagine a catholic pack having a den pursue as a group. But Ad Altare Dei is a Boy Scout award. Wouldn't it be better, and more in keeping with both da spirit of scouting and the spirit of religious formation to have 'em pursue it individually?

 

Beavah

 

[MomToEli]

All of the religious awards my son has earned to date have been completed one on one with the Youth Pastor at our church. I am very grateful, as a mom, for the time these men have been willing to invest in our son and his religious upbringing. His working on these awards have resulted in some very deep conversations - both with his Youth Pastor as well as with his dad and I.

 

That said, I realize there are boys in our units who don't have a Youth Pastor of their own, and their exposure through a group setting may be the only religious study they are even exposed to.

[Eagle92]

Well different religions have different requirements as to who can work with the youth. Also within a faith, there can be differences with who can work with the scout.

 

I know for Light of Christ and Parvuli Dei, TC/ Wolf and Bear/Web awards respectively, you work with your parents. Working with oldest on Light of Christ currently.

 

BUT when you get to the Boy Scout and Venturing Awards, Ad Altare Dei and Pope Pius XII respectively, a certified counselor is needed. I want to say the certification is standardized, but do not know for sure. In my diocese a counselor must be approved by the pastor, be registered in the BSA, take both BSA's Youth Protection Training AND the diocese's version of youth protection, and attend a training class.

 

Now when I did my Parvuli Dei, it was basically coinciding with what was being taught at the parochial school, so it was a 'gimme" to a degree as we were already meeting the requirements at school. Just talk to the parents and have them sign the book off.

 

But when I earned both the Ad Altare Dei and Pope Pius XII, I had a counselor, and a small group of us who were interested met and worked together. Call it class, call it a counseling session, whatever, but about 5 of us worked on it an met at the same time. We repated the process with 4 a few years later.

[John-in-KC]

I work God and Church.

 

I do it two ways: First, in the context of my parish's confirmation class. I know Pastor's curriculum. They cover 95% of the course material in what they do just by doing his stuff. I close the gap by having them go outside their comfort zone in worship. ... synagogue trip is pretty typical.

 

A church in our District sponsors an annual program. I counsel there as well. Each kid, each session, has a 1/1 time with my partner or I. We go over what they've done in detail, in addition to doing group things, as we would in a middle school SS or youth group class.

 

God and Church is the toughest, imo, of the PRAY curriculum. The two Cub courses, theologically, can be summed up in "I LOVE JESUS. NEXT!!!" They are designed for short attention spans of 7-10 year olds. God and Church requires the youth to have about a 40 minute attention span each time. It's not an outdoor curriculum item. It's not full of fun things to do. It's digging a bit into the Bible and pulling info out.

 

I do counsel at a local college's annual merit badge day. I counsel Cit in World. In fact, I'm making my final prep now. My Scouts have to be prepared. There is no way to cover Cit in the World, soup to nuts, in 3 hours. They have very specific things they have to DO, and bring in. I use unit adults to look at the "DO" work. Frankly, about half the Scouts don't do the work. They do not earn the badge that day.

 

I once was asked to volunteer at another districts' internal MB day. I was told to do Cit in World in 2 hours, soup to nuts. I told that DAC to find another counselor, as he was asking me to shortcut the requirements.

[camilam42]

The Parvuli Dei award is intended for work with the parent or guardian, but there are also parts which can be molded into a group setting with the Scouts so that they are getting consistent teaching from a Catholic perspective. It is both family and parish oriented. Some choose to allow for it to be done strictly with the family, then meeting one on one with the priest or his representative who is the facilitator. Some choose to allow for it to be done in a mixture of class and home work so that the teaching is consistent with Catholic teaching. That is how I did it when I was a Cub. Either method is acceptable. While it can be accomplished in 4-6 hours, it is expected that this will take several weeks to several months, depending on the participation level of the parent and child.

 

With regard to Ad Altare Dei, there are weekly meetings which will take place and the Scout is expected to assist at Holy Mass. There are parts to each step and the final step is to go before a review board. This process is designed to take 6-8 months.

 

This also assumes that the regular conditions are met by the Scout before starting either program.

[Eagle92]

How I could forget about the BORs for Ad Altare Dei and Pope Pius XII?!?!?! Yes Catholic scouts have to go through a BOR to get the award.

[camilam42]

@ Eagle92,

 

BOR's were so stressful. I know they are not meant to be cakewalks, but from what I remember, I used to get so nervous....good thing I got over that....

[Eagle92]

Cam,

All I remember about my Pope Pius BOR was the butt chewing I got prior to the start of it by the head of the BOR. I was in a Catholic HS and my theology class mirrored the archdiocesan confirmation program. Pastors had the option of allowing those of us in Catholic HSs the option of not having to go through any of the parish's prep course, or making us go through a one day prep class. My parish made us go through a one day course, schedled the same day as my BOR. I was ticked off at A) having to go basically be examined for stuff I already knew and had been tested on, and B) felling like I was wasting the BOR's time waiting for me to get out of class. Well the chair was not a happy camper with my attitude towards my parish and gave me a new one. The after the BOR I was asked what school, told him, and all he said was "good school" When I worked Summer camp with him a fwew years later, i discovered he was an alum.

[ScoutNut]

>>"The Parvuli Dei award is intended for work with the parent or guardian, but there are also parts which can be molded into a group setting with the Scouts so that they are getting consistent teaching from a Catholic perspective. It is both family and parish oriented. Some choose to allow for it to be done strictly with the family, then meeting one on one with the priest or his representative who is the facilitator. Some choose to allow for it to be done in a mixture of class and home work so that the teaching is consistent with Catholic teaching."

[camilam42]

@ ScoutNut,

 

Greetings....I don't know if you're Catholic or not, honestly it doesn't really matter, but from a Catholic perspective, our parish has found that some of the parents don't know that much about their own faith. The Catholic Church has very clear definitions on what the Truth is regarding the Faith of her members. With that being said, the parish I belong to is a more traditional one and puts a high emphasis on said Truths. The pastor feels that it is a better thing to assist the parents teach aspects of Parvuli Dei to the Scouts in a more formal setting, as opposed to a less formal one.

 

So, to your point, "The job of the Cub Scout Coordinator is to communicate with, and to help, the parents work with their son on the emblem program."

 

That is just what is happening. It is just a more formal setting. It is to help the Scout and his parents/guardians to better understand the Catholic Faith. It works out well, because alongside a Bachelors in Philosophy, I also have a Masters in Theology from a Catholic University.

 

You also state, "I find it interesting that you, and I assume your parish, are more concerned with presenting a consistent "Catholic perspective" than in helping parents, to help their sons "discover the presence of God in their daily lives as members of their families and parishes, and also to develop a good, positive self-image through the contributions they can make to the group or community.""

 

One of the tennents of being Catholic is that there are objective Truths which exist regardless of personal opinion. As such, as Catholics, we are to assent our will first to the Truth, then we can come to a fuller understanding of said Truth. So, with that being said, it is important that Catholic Scouts understand first that the Truths held by Catholics are paramount. If those who are Catholic Scouters can facilitate that, then there is no conflict or concern that we are somehow interfering. For Catholics, the Catholic perspective on religion is how we are to form our consciences. Not the other way around, which is how many Protestant communions view it.

 

The reason behind having a more formal setting is simple. It is for the Scouts to better understand their faith and to help the parents/guardians facilitate that.

 

Remember the program is designed a certain way, however, there is nothing that says it cannot be modified for the betterment of the Scouts. I am not in control of how or why. I am simply facilitating in the way that has been presented to me. As an aside (and as I mentioned above), I got my Parvuli Dei in the same manner as is going to be presented to the kids this time around. I earned mine in 1985.

[OldGreyEagle]

Parvuli Dei = Children of God

 

Ad Altare Dei = To the Altar of God

 

for the Latin illiterates amoung us ...

[BrentAllen]

For the Baptist Middle School program, one of the requirements is to make either a photo album or a video. Making a video would be kind of hard by yourself. When my son earned the award, there were 3 other Scouts from our Troop going through the class with him. Our Youth Minister (an Eagle Scout) conducted the class. I think small group settings are a very appropriate venue for the program.

[Lisabob]

When my son earned one of these awards as a cub scout, the church ran a 6 week class for boys of cub scout age (and their parent) who wanted to earn the award. This seemed to work out well because a number of boys who are not church members participated. If the boys had been required to do the award one-on-one, those who do not belong to a specific church probably would not have had the exposure to the material at all.

 

 

[Beavah]

Yah, hmmmm....

 

Yeh all are starting to sound like the Mormons, camilam42 .

 

That's a fairly major departure from da philosophy of the Scouting program, eh? And as close as I can tell it's a fairly major departure from your own religious emblem materials.

 

It presupposes a very authoritative, top-down approach to knowledge and faith, where the emphasis is on being taught rather than on learning, on recitin' knowledge of the faith rather than on living the faith.

 

Scouting is all about living, eh? It's about learning-in-action rather than learning-in-classroom. It's about discovering Truth rather than being told Truth. Why? Because there's a fundamental difference between learning that yeh need to do your share of the work for your patrol members to respect yeh and so that you can do other fun things together, and being told that you need to do your chores by an adult authority. The first makes for a fundamental change of heart and character, eh? The second, only for temporary begrudged obedience or limited compliance.

 

Seems like your tweaks of da program make it less likely to reach your goals with the boys, eh? Unless your goals really are all about declaring your own authority rather than leading the children to God.

 

It's not unusual, eh? New Patrol Leaders and new teachers tend to rely more on their own authority rather than focusing on servant leadership, and yeh seem like a young fellow. But why don't yeh try using your NCCS materials and scouting properly for a couple of years before yeh write 'em off and do your own thing? I think you'll find you get better outcomes. There's a reason why your own Canon Law refers to the primacy of the parents in the religious education of the young, eh?

 

Yeh might also find that by following your own program and the scouting program you offer a more Christ-like example as an adult. The Teacher always met each student where they were at, eh? It was those other Pharisee fellows who took the tack that the ordinary faithful were ignorants who had to be told what to think.

 

Beavah

(This message has been edited by Beavah)

[eaglescout1996]

I earned the AAD in a classroom setting. Our Parish Priest (overseas militry base) allowed the Catholic scouts to attend an AAD course, which replaced our regular CCD class for the year. So for the year, there was about 10 Catholic Scouts who attended and earned our AAD at the end of the year. Our parish priest and two others sat on our BOR....and to tell you the truth, we learned a lot more in the AAD course than CCD...since we all really wanted to be there and CCD was always 'forced' on us!

 

(This message has been edited by eaglescout1996)