September 2004
Welcome to the September 2004 edition of P.R.A.Y.’s Boy Scout News Bulletin. This Bulletin is how we share information about the religious awards programs and ways to strengthen relationships with the religious community.
We have put together a ‘Boy Scouts and Religious Awards’ PowerPoint presentation to help promote religious awards programs appropriate for all faiths. The presentation contains program information, promotional information and resources to be used along with the presentation.
You will also need the following resources to supplement the PowerPoint Presentation:
Adult Recognitions
The adult recognitions are given to adults for outstanding service to young people through service to the faith community and Boy Scouts. If there is someone in your pack or service unit or council who is active in his or her faith community and has done recognizable work with Boy Scouts, please consider him or her for recognition. Each of these awards requires a nomination. Click here for adult award applications.
See how your council is doing. Compare your usage (of the P.R.A.Y. programs) to other councils. We have updated the report with year-to-date figures for 2004. Click here to see the God & Country YTD usage report for your council. P.R.A.Y. recipient reports were sent the first part of July to each council. These reports list the recipients of all P.R.A.Y. programs within your council. P.R.A.Y. provides these reports as a service to local councils and encourages them to recognize these recipients in their newsletters.
We provide workshops on religious awards, collaborations with faith communities and more specifically the Protestant God and Country Series. We currently have the following trainings/events scheduled for the upcoming months.
o U.M.C. Conference with Scouting Coordinators and National Association of United Methodist Scouters – September 2004
o Christian Educators Fellowship, U.M.C. Conference – New Orleans, LA – October 2004
If your council is interested in having P.R.A.Y. speak at and/or present a workshop at a future event, or you would like more information about what we can do, please contact P.R.A.Y. for more information.
The relationships week was held at Philmont July 11-16, 2004. It was a great week of learning and fun. The participant and family evaluations both rated the week very highly.
Courses held that week:
o Membership Relationships Committee
Philmont Training Center 2005 Religious Relationships/Boy Scouting Week
A new course was announced for Philmont Training Center entitled “Religious Emblems for Youth and Adults.” It will be held during the relationships week August 7-13, 2005. Council professionals and volunteers responsible for membership, as well as individuals interested in promoting Duty to God and the religious emblems programs of all faiths, should plan now to attend. The course will focus on Religious Emblems as a membership tool, looking at retention, increasing membership from current chartered partners and as a tool for reaching under served areas of your council. The other emphasis of the class will be on Religious emblems as programs that can reinforce BSA values in boys as well as on how and why to promote them. Here is a link to the tentative syllabus.
The following courses are also being offered during Religious Relationships/Boy Scouting Week August 7-13, 2005:
Plan now to attend and bring some friends, staff or key volunteers. Additional information will be forthcoming in future email bulletins.
For more information check out Philmont’s website at www.scouting.org/philmont, contact your local council, call Philmont at 505-376-2281, fax 505-376-2629, or email Philmont at trainingcenter@philmontscoutranch.org.
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