encourager 10 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Hi guys, I just got trained as a religious emblem counselor for the Catholic faith. Other than working with the members of my son's troop, how best to approach other troops? Should I limit contacting other troops to those chartered by a Catholic Church? Sylvia Link to post Share on other sites
SWScouter 34 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Sylvia, I would work through the parishes, not necessarily the troops. I'll assume the CO for your troop is your parish church. There are probably some boys in the parish that are in a different troop than the parishes, or a nearby parish may not have a troop. If, e.g., you're planning to counsel for the Ad Altare Dei, advertise in your church bulletin and those of the nearby parishes that don't have a troop. If a nearby parish has a troop, then talk to that troop and see if it is offering the program or not. I hope that helps. By the way, I'm a trained Catholic REC too but I am involved with Cub Scouts right now. SWScouter Link to post Share on other sites
NWScouter 9 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 You might want to connect Sunday School/Religious Ed classes in your parish and neighboring ones. There are many Catholic scouts in units not chartered to a Roman Catholic Parish. The man that became Scoutmaster after me at my Lutheran Church's troop is a member at the local Catholic parish. Don't forget the girls, there is a program for them too. Link to post Share on other sites
Bob White 20 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Check with your council to see if there is a Catholic Committee on Scouting in your area. They could help connect units and scouts looking to earn this recognition to you. If there is't one consider starting one. BW Link to post Share on other sites
encourager 10 Posted October 6, 2004 Author Share Posted October 6, 2004 Thanks to all of you, Bob, I belong to our diocesan Committee and they came up with the idea of sending letters to all the churches in the area that charter troops. A draft letter is being done, but I like the idea of a bulletin announcement. I'm involved more with the Cubs at this time, but my oldest Scout wants to do the Pope Pius. But for the cubs I can sign the application where it requires the CM or REC (the wonderful world of acronyms) to sign on Light of Christ or Parvuli Dei. I love the spiritual element in Scouting and I would like this to be as permanent a ministry as possible. Sylvia Link to post Share on other sites
johndaigler 10 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 Congratulations, Encourager! With your permission, I'd like to come at this from the other direction . . . I'm planning to introduce my Cubs to the religious awards program. This would include several [if not one for each Cub!! ] different religious organizations. In addition to suggesting my Cubs go to their religious orgs. for info on their specific religious awards, is there an appropriate "Scout" connection I should look to help them make? BW, you suggested the Council for Encourager. Is that where I should look as well? Other than the obvious respect necessary for the varying faiths of my Cub families, is their any pitfalls I'm likely to unknowingly jump into?? Any words of planning or caution? Encourager, would a Catholic REC be a useful guest for my Cubs, even if several (many) are not Catholic? Can you speak to generics of other programs? Would my Catholic families struggle if the speaker I bring in is Buddhist or Jewish? I'm going to take this slowly, but I'd rather spend time researching and planning, than spend it with individual Cubs/Awards. I know these are not Scout awards, per se, and the individual religious orgs. are truly their "home base". Can I trust that there are consistencies amongst the programs, or do I need to focus on and be familiar with each program's uniqueness?? My personal beliefs would have me searching for similarities, but I'm afraid that might unintentionally be discomforting to others. jd (This message has been edited by johndaigler) Link to post Share on other sites
encourager 10 Posted October 6, 2004 Author Share Posted October 6, 2004 Hi JD, There's a lot in your post but here goes: 1. I have a full-color flyer that shows the different emblems for all faiths from BSA. I ran across a website http://www.scouting.org/awards/religious/awards/ that has more info for the emblems. Also, the Church publishes its own series for Light of Christ and Parvuli Dei (Which was just updated over the summer to include the Spanish version.) But for the protestant faith, the website for the publisher is: http://www.praypub.org 2. Cub Scouting includes the earning of religious emblems as part of their program. It's in the Tiger (though I forget where) but definitely in the Wolf and Bear books listed as part of the achievement. 3. I would imagine that you should speak to the REC if you would like him/her to give info on all of them at a pack night for instance. They could relate it to their experience but present it as universally as possible. After all, Scouting asks us to believe in God, not a particular faith. I'll offer this insight (limited as it is,) a good religious emblem counselor should be able to give information and not make anybody feel uncomfortable. Keep us informed as to your efforts--I'll be here at the campfire stroking the flames. Sylvia Link to post Share on other sites
Bob White 20 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 "Can I trust that there are consistencies amongst the programs, or do I need to focus on and be familiar with each program's uniqueness??" You need to understand that the BSA has no control over the content of the manuals or the requirements of the individaul programs. These are not scouting awards. These are awards created by and presented by the individual religion and approved for wear on the official BSA uniform by the BSA. So the only thing you can be sure is that each is consistant with the specifc religion it represents. I have served on two different Catholic Committees for Scouting and both promoted all religious programs among scouts. I would not be surprised if all others did as well. My recommendation would be to talk to whoever you invite ahead of time and make sure they understand they are there to promote the activity of being active in your faith and the recognition programs offered by many religions. BW Link to post Share on other sites
SWScouter 34 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 JD, I would start with your council. They should be able to give you some contacts, especially if there are any religious committees associated with scouting. For example, in my council there is an Interfaith Committee. It has published a wonderful booklet, I think called, "A Scout is Reverent." It also organizes a Ten Commandment hike every year, the day after Thanksgiving. It's about a five mile hike that stops at different churches of different faiths. Also, the council service center or scout shop may have religious emblems work books for various faiths. You could either purchase a few or browse through them to get a better idea of what the different programs are like. I think I would also find out what faiths the boys in your den practice. That way, you can limit the scope of your search. Also, it seems that several of the Christian religions use the same RE program, so there may not be as much RE diversity in your den as you may think. Hope this helps. SWScouter Link to post Share on other sites
johndaigler 10 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 Thanks Encourager, BW and SWS, good thoughts. I'm on it. "in my council there is an Interfaith Committee. It has published a wonderful booklet, I think called, "A Scout is Reverent." It also organizes a Ten Commandment hike every year, the day after Thanksgiving. It's about a five mile hike that stops at different churches of different faiths." SWS, these are great ideas and programs!!! Thanks for sharing!!! jd Link to post Share on other sites
fgoodwin 23 Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 Sylvia wrote:I just got trained as a religious emblem counselor for the Catholic faith. Other than working with the members of my son's troop, how best to approach other troops? Should I limit contacting other troops to those chartered by a Catholic Church?Sylvia, its great that you want to emphasize the faith element of Scouting! In addition to all of the other great suggestions you've gotten, you might consider putting a poster up at Pow Wow offering your services, because I can see how it might be difficult to reach Catholic boys in non-Catholic units. Also, you might announce yourself at the various district Round Tables. Good luck! Fred Goodwin Alamo Area Council Link to post Share on other sites
Strawberry Switchblade 10 Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 I don't suppose there is an award for Pagan/Earth-Based faiths, is there? Link to post Share on other sites
fgoodwin 23 Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 strawberry switchblade wrote:I don't suppose there is an award for Pagan/Earth-Based faiths, is there?As long they believe in God, they are free to develop their own religious award. Go for it. Fred Goodwin Protestant Committee on Scouting Alamo Area Council Link to post Share on other sites
queenj 10 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 What about a non-denominational Christian award? I'm positive that the religion I'm (somewhat) following would not develop their own emblem but I want to give my son a choice if he wants to do this acheivement for the religion section or the other one. Link to post Share on other sites
encourager 10 Posted October 15, 2004 Author Share Posted October 15, 2004 Hi Queenj, First check to see if a non-Denomination Award exists by visiting this link: http://www.scouting.org/awards/religious/awards/ I took out my BSA "Duty to God" brochure (5-879B, 2002 Printing) and I can offer this feedback. Some of the Protestant denominations use similar emblems and perhaps that is as close to non-denomination as you get. The brochure has God and Me & God and Family with the same emblem for the following faiths: AME, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, United Methodist, Protestant/United Church of Christ/Community Churches. There may be others, do your research. We support your efforts, perhaps its time to reconnect to your faith community or a Higher Power Sylvia Link to post Share on other sites
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