Adult Religious Awards
John E. Bush (jbush@OKWAY.OKSTATE.EDU)
Thu, 17 Feb 1994 17:44:15 CST
Friends on SCOUTS-L:
I suspect that few US Boy Scout, Girl Scout, and Campfire leaders are
aware of the religious awards for adult leaders who are members of
Protestant denominations. In our district/council, the Catholic diocese
regularly awards its adult religious award (I believe it's the St.
George Award) and I know several scouters who have received it.
However, I only know of two local leaders from Protestant churches who
have received the God and Service Award for Adults.
One of those two is the Scoutmaster of the troop I work with. One of
the other committee members let me know about the existence of the award
and suggested that as the committee chairman I should coordinate the
nomination process. We timed work on the nomination so that we could
present the award on Scout Sunday. Despite getting behind schedule, the
award was received during the week before Scout Sunday and we were able
to present it during the Scout Sunday service of the church to which
Troop 828 is chartered.
The God and Service Award is sponsored by the Commission for Church and
Youth Agency Relationships. The literature for the award also mentions
the acronym "PRAY". I believe that stands for Protestant Religious
Awards for Youth, but I could not find that spelled out in any of the
literature I have.
The award is not available by self or spouse nomination. The nominee is
not supposed to be aware that he or she is being recommended for the
award. I suspect that is one reason why it is not common--it takes
initiative and from someone other than the recipient. Unlike the Vigil
Honor in OA and the Silver Beaver for BSA Councils (which are also not
open to self-nomination) there isn't a regular time for churches or
Scout units to look around for potential nominees for the adult
religious award.
Letters of recommendation from the pastor of the candidate's church and
from the Council Executive of the youth agency (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,
or Campfire). Other recommendation letters are permitted (we had a
total of six). A write up is required of the candidate's
accomplishments in service to youth through the church and through the
youth agency according to seven criteria. In working that up, I found
the materials that had been prepared for our Scoutmaster's Silver Beaver
nomination several years ago to be very helpful. Be aware that getting
the information together and written up, getting the letters of
recommendation, and putting the whole "package" together is quite
time-consuming!
I wanted to post this to spark the interest of anyone who might be
interested in nominating an outstanding Scouter they know for the award.
Further details are available by writing to:
The God and Service Award
P. R. A. Y.
8520 Mackenzie Road
St. Louis, MO 63123
They also have an 800 number: 1-800-933-PRAY
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| John E. Bush E-Mail ID: JBUSH@OKWAY.OKSTATE.EDU |
| or IRXXJEB@OSUCC.BITNET or IRXXJEB@MVS.UCC.OKSTATE.EDU |
| Senior Budget Analyst, Office of Planning, Budget, & Institutional |
| Research, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA |
| Eagle Scout; Committee Chairman, Troop 828, Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| Unit Commissioner and Roundtable Staff, Pawnee Bill District, |
| Will Rogers Council; Brotherhood Member, Inola Lodge #148, WWW |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
