Programs of Religious Activities with Youth
Boy Scout News Bulletin
Second Quarter 2008

Welcome to P.R.A.Y.'s Boy Scout News Bulletin. This Bulletin is how we share information about the religious emblems programs and ways to strengthen relationships with the religious community.

"FISH" PATCH WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH JULY
The FISH segment of the Duty to God Puzzle Patch is due to go off rotation at the end of July 2008 and won't reappear until 2010. Be sure to make a presentation on the religious emblems so that your Scouts and Scouters qualify for this patch. Making a presentation is easy. Click here for sample scripts . Patches may be ordered online. Plan to present your patches before the end of the Scouting year!



PHILMONT CONFERENCE
Openings are still available in the “Membership through Religious Emblems” course at Philmont July 26 through August 2, 2008. The course provides an overview of the Religious emblems programs from the various faith groups. It also presents how religious emblems may be used to supplement program in units and districts, and how they may be used for new unit sales. The course instructor is Mark Hazlewood. Click here for a sample syllabus .

NEW RESOURCES FROM PRAY
  PRESENTATIONS BY PRAY
 
  • January 26, 2008 - God and Country Training, St. Louis, MO
    P.R.A.Y. cooperated with the St. Louis Lutheran Association for Scouting to sponsor a God and Country Workshop to train church and scout volunteers on the God and Country curriculum. Participants received a general overview of the series and detailed instruction on two of the four programs.

     
  • February 11-12, 2008 - National BSA Meetings, Irving, TX
    CEO Mark Hazlewood represented P.R.A.Y. at the Religious Relationships Meeting.

     
  • March 9, 2008 - The Central Region Jewish Committee on Scouting invited Mark Hazlewood to present the keynote address at their Local Chairs Conference. It was the first such meeting in over 20 years, and it was very well received.

     
  • March 5-6, 2008 - Denomination Agency Conference
    The P.R.A.Y. Board of Directors hosted a conference in St. Louis to bring together denomination members and national youth agency representatives to strengthen collaborations between them. The following organizations participated in the conference: American Heritage Girls, African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Boy Scouts of America, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Original Free Will Baptist Churches, and the United Methodist Church.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE DONE
 
  • Duty to God Encampment - For over 20 years the Atlanta Area Council of Atlanta, Georgia has held a Duty To God Encampment in the Fall for Scouts of all denominations. Last October over 500 Scouts, leaders and family members attended and received training in how their particular faith religious programs work and how they can get started on their religious emblems for their faith.  There was also a “Faith and Beliefs” area with interactive booths for Hindu, Jewish, Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints, Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Sikh religions. In addition to their religious training the scouts also had the opportunity for age-appropriate orienteering activities. Scouts who completed the orienteering events and also visited at least 3 booths in the “Faith and Beliefs” area earned a Participant’s Pin (a small gold arrow) to put on the DTGE2007 Patch (pictured at right). This was to reinforce the lesson that Seeking God’s Path (the theme for the encampment) is a conscious decision that requires continuing focus. Saturday twilight worship opportunities included Havdallah, Protestant Vespers, and a Roman Catholic Mass.

     
  • Greater Boston Scout Shabbat - Temple Emeth in Brookline, MA hosted a special Jewish Scout Shabbat on Saturday, February 9, 2008. This was the first Greater-Boston area Scout Shabbat held in over 20 years. Scouts from Knox Trail Council, Boston Minuteman Council, Old Colony Council, Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, and Israeli Scouts participated in the event. Scouts young and old played active roles throughout the service by leading special prayers, opening and closing the ark, carrying the Torah, etc. A special aspect of the Scout Shabbat was the presentation of Jewish Scouting awards for Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts. In addition to the youth awards, five adults were recognized with the Shofar Award. A special Court of Honor was established at the end of the Service. All of the Eagle Scouts in the Congregation were asked to officiate as the badges were awarded.

     
  • The United Methodist Virginia Annual Conference held a Bishop's Dinner with the Commonwealth Girl Scout Council and the Heart of Virginia BSA Council. About 80 churches were in attendance. Larry Coppock, Director of the Office of Civic Youth and Scouting Ministries for the United Methodist Church helped to interpret the national youth agency programs as opportunities for youth ministry. The Bishop's Dinner is an effective tool to introduce Scouting to United Methodist congregations. Click here for a resource on planning a Bishop's Dinner. http://www.naums.org/INFO/GCUMM.HTM#Bishop
     
UPDATE ON UNIT AWARDS
The 2007 4th Quarter Bulletin included a list of unit awards. Here are some awards that were omitted from that list:
  • The Baptist Unit Award of Excellence is a three level program that recognizes exemplary units chartered to Baptist Churches. In the first year units earn the level 1 recognition. In succeeding years they may earn the level 2 and level 3 recognitions. Each successive award must be earned within two recharter years of the previous level recognition (not more than six years). A complete description may be found on the Association of Baptists for Scouting website: http://www.baptistscouters.org/10.html

     
  • The Catholic Committee on Scouting has two national unit awards:  The Quality Catholic Unit Award, aka the Pope Paul VI National Unit Recognition (this is an award that can be earned annually by any Catholic-chartered unit that meets both Scouting and religious promotion standards much like the BSA quality unit award); The Gold Medallion is a recognition of the best pack, troop and crew/ship in each of the 15 Catholic regions of the USA (the Quality Catholic Unit Award is basically a pre-requisite). Requirements can be found at www.nccs-bsa.org.
     
GOD AND COUNTRY FOUR-STAR RECIPIENTS
God and Country Four-star recipients are individuals who have completed all four levels of the Protestant/Christian religious award series (i.e. God and Me, God and Family, God and Church, and God and Life). Four-Star recipients receive a certificate and letter from the P.R.A.Y. CEO congratulating them on their accomplishments.

Here are the 4th quarter 2007 recipients:

Atlanta Area – Matthew Barget (Presbyterian)
Bay Lakes – Lucas Hash (Lutheran)
Crossroads Of America – Kenton Morrell (United Methodist)
Great Trail – Zachary McGraw (United Church of Christ)
Greater Pittsburgh – Jay Cadwallader (Protestant)
Gulf Ridge – Andrew Simpson (Episcopal)
Last Frontier – Jeremy Hillis (Baptist)
Longs Peak – Jacob Curtis (Protestant), Zachary Ramsey (United Methodist)
Mt. Diablo Silverado – Addam Janke (Protestant)
Nashua Valley – David Dickinson (Presbyterian)
National Capital Area – Joseph Esposito (United Methodist)
Sam Houston Area – Evan McClintock (Baptist)
South Texas – Timothy Hopkins (Baptist), Jacob Hopkins (Baptist)
Suffolk County – Raymond Ketcham (Lutheran)

Here are the 1st quarter 2008 recipients:

Atlanta Area – Cody Owenby (Presbyterian), Andrew Milota (United Methodist), Preston Cleveland (United Methodist)
Buckeye – Andrew Bailey (United Methodist)
Bucks County – Andrew Wambach (United Methodist)
Calumet – Theodore Atwood (Lutheran), Jonathan Atwood (Lutheran)
Capitol Area – Zachary Wirth (Protestant)
Central North Carolina – Addison Corriher (Lutheran), Carson Hatchett (Lutheran), Kyle Garcia (United Methodist)
Del-Mar-Va – Lawrence Cavins (Lutheran)
Denver Area – Alex Hoilman (Protestant)
East Carolina – Matthew Scarborough (Disciples of Christ), John Davidson (Episcopal), Jordan Byrum (United Methodist), Adam Lanier (United Methodist)
Great Rivers – Alan Dockery (United Methodist)
Great Trail – Joshua Weyrick (Presbyterian), Jonathan Dresser (Protestant), Nathan Jarosz (Protestant)
Great Western Reserve – Zachary Baer (United Methodist)
Greater Alabama – William Givan (United Methodist), Dakotah Kirk (United Methodist), Erin Lowe (United Methodist)
Greater St. Louis Area – Tyler Yost (United Church of Christ), Steven Kaiser (United Church of Christ)
Heart of America – Shelbea Love (United Methodist), Jeremy Thon (United Methodist)
Heart of Virginia – Brian Seal (Baptist), Baylor Dickerson (Episcopal)
Keystone Area – Andrew Benfer (United Methodist)
Lincoln Heritage – Alexander Blum (Lutheran)
Longs Peak – Grant Conquest (United Methodist), Mackenzie Nelson (United Methodist)
Mecklenburg County – Wiley Davis (Baptist), Zachary Linton (United Methodist), Zachary Brown (United Methodist), Ryan Hodge (United Methodist), Adam Williams (United Methodist)
Miami Valley – Jesse Keller (United Methodist)
Mid-America – John Schleef (Presbyterian)
Muskingum Valley – Robert Pollock (Presbyterian)
Narragansett – Nicholas Bodell-Kudla (Episcopal)
National Capital Area – Andrew Gallagher (Episcopal), Matthew Hyland (Episcopal), Zachary Ovington (Protestant), William Weber (United Methodist)
Okaw Valley – Clayton Paulsmeyer (Lutheran)
Old Hickory – Matthew Braxton (Baptist)
Overland Trails – Jordon Potthoff (United Methodist)
Piedmont – Andrew Jones (Presbyterian)
Pine Burr Area – Isaac McCoy (Baptist)
Pony Express – Jordan Hall (Lutheran)
Potawatomi Area – Kody Salewski (Lutheran)
Quivira – Jacob Lamb (Lutheran)
Sam Houston Area – Karl Verschuren (Protestant), William Strain (United Methodist), Tommy Willows (United Methodist)
San Diego Imperial – John Fischer (Presbyterian)
Shawnee Trails – Ryan Corrigan (Baptist)
Sioux – Robert Firedrichsen (Lutheran)
South Florida – Alexander Border (Lutheran)
West Central Florida – James Welch (Presbyterian)
York-Adams Area – Lance Kennedy (Lutheran), Brett Warner (United Methodist), Ryan Warner (United Methodist)

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