Programs of Religious Activities with Youth

P.R.A.Y. Girl Scout News Bulletin

Third Quarter 2005

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

Best Practices

· Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, Judy Baldwin - We’re working on a series of open houses in various faith groups all over the council for February and March on the pattern of what we have been doing with the Boy Scouts in Prince William County, VA. This year we had 13 open houses – Buddhist, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Hindu, Jewish, Lutheran, Muslim, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Unitarian, Mormon, Sikh, and Baha’i. One troop leader said that these open houses were the only things the parents had offered to drive girls to all year. They really got into it. The girls and boys who attended at least seven and filled out an application, which asked them what they had learned from their visits, received a patch. For most of them we were able to promote the religious medals for those faiths as well as promoting the programs in general at all of them.

· Girl Scouts of San Francisco Bay Area, Becky Hodges - The Catholic Committee on Scouting in the Oakland diocese is offering religious award counselor training for all age levels in both Boy and Girl Scouts Sept 10, and a “retreat-o-ree the weekend of September 23 for all Boy and Girl Scouts, at a Boy Scout camp in the area. The focus will be Scouts and the Catholic faith.

· Girl Scouts of Mid-Continent Council, Inc. – Mid-Continent has developed a “partnership agreement” to be used with faith communities in lieu of a sponsorship agreement. “Partnership” denotes more an idea of working together. The partnership has “grades” or stages. A faith community may move from one to the other depending on their measure of involvement or support to the Troop or Council. For a copy of the agreement, contact Shirley Hamilton at shamilton@girlscoutsmcc.org

Updates on Religious Recognitions

· The National Episcopal Scouters Association has a website at http://www.episcopal-scouting.org/

· Sample Newsletter Article to Promote Religious Awards - “Active in Your Faith Community? Earn Your Religious Award!” is a sample newsletter article that encourages Girl Scouts to earn their religious awards. This article explains that while Girl Scouting encourages girls to become stronger in their faith community, instruction for the religious awards comes from parents and religious leaders (not Girl Scout leaders). Click here to read sample article.

Collaborating with the Faith Community

· “Increasing Membership through Religious Awards” – Religious awards have commonly been viewed as opportunities for program enhancement. This article presents the religious awards as tools for membership growth and opportunities to partner with religious institutions. Click here.

· Form a Faith Alliance – The May/June 2005 issue of What’s New (a newsletter for Girl Scout Program, Membership & Research Staff) included an article entitled “Building Faith Connections.” This article described the Cumberland Valley Girl Scout United Methodist Alliance (CVGSUMA). This Alliance brings together women and men from the local council who believe in the Girl Scout program AND are committed to their faith. Their goal is to encourage the growth and retention of Girl Scout troops and membership, as well as promoting the religious awards within the United Methodist Church. Collaborations with faith communities are win-win situations for both organizations. Click here to read the complete article.

· Sample Letter for a Mailing to Area Congregations – Here is a sample letter that can be used to introduce yourself and initiate dialogue with local congregations. The focus is on collaborations in order to benefit girls. Please note that the letter should be modified to fit your specific needs. Click here.

P.R.A.Y. Recipient Reports Provide Service to Girl Scout Councils

P.R.A.Y. recently distributed the 2^nd Quarter Recipient Reports and received some very positive feedback from Girl Scout Councils. The quarterly recipient report from P.R.A.Y. is a listing of girls and adults who have received religious awards out of the P.R.A.Y. office. Councils have used this information to not only recognize recipients, but to also identify congregations and pastors who have a connection to Girl Scouting through the religious awards programs. More and more councils are finding that religious awards are a valuable tool when it comes to collaborating with the faith community and building membership.

Please note that the P.R.A.Y. recipient reports are sent quarterly to the P.R.A.Y. contact at each council. That person is then responsible for sharing that information with other people in the council. If you want to know who the P.R.A.Y. contact is for your council, or if you have questions on our recipient reports, please contact Joan Walker at joanw@praypub.org. If you’re interested in knowing how many recipients your council had, you can find that out on our web site: http://www.praypub.org/god_country/girl_scout_usage.htm.

Adult Award Recipients

The adult recognitions are given to adults for outstanding service to young people through service to the faith community and Girl Scouts. During the first quarter of 2005, the following Girl Scout Councils recognized adults for their outstanding service:

Kentuckiana (Louisville, KY) – Shannon Avila, Presbyterian God and Service

Kentuckiana (Louisville, KY) – Laura A. Arney, Presbyterian Celtic Cross

Shawnee (Martinsburg, WV) – Karen L. Hardy, Episcopal St. George

Shawnee (Martinsburg, WV) – Betty K. Chapman, Presbyterian God and Service

Great Valley (Allentown, PA) – Nina Fritchman, Lutheran Lamb

Hemlock (Harrisburg, PA) – Joyce L. Schramm, United Methodist God & Service

Hornet’s Nest (Charlotte, NC) – Becky Waller, Lutheran Servant of Youth

Hoosier Capital (Indianapolis, IN) – Doris Louise Shellenbarger, Episcopal

St. George

Greater St. Louis (St. Louis, MO) – Kim Bongner, Lutheran Servant of Youth

Hawaii (Honolulu, HI) – Becky Gustafson, Lutheran Lamb

Totem (Seattle, WA) – Veda Moretti, Lutheran Lamb

Totem (Seattle, WA) – Sarah Newsum, Lutheran Servant of Youth

Totem (Seattle, WA) – Gwen Pazan, United Methodist God and Service

Please note that P.R.A.Y. does not handle all of the religious awards. The list above includes only those awards administered by P.R.A.Y. Click here for adult award applications.

P.R.A.Y.’s Training Schedule

· Girl Scouts Red Lands Council – Oklahoma City, OK – September 2005

· National Girl Scout Convention – Atlanta, GA – October 2005

· AGSES – Peachtree City, GA – October 2005

· Girl Scout Council of Red River Valley, Inc. – Paris, TX – October 2005

· Pine to Prairie Girl Scout Council – Grand Forks, ND –November 2005

· Faith Based Initiative Training – Texas – March 21-23, 2006

Please share this News Bulletin with others

Please forward this email to other people in program, membership/marketing, newsletter/publications, council store, volunteers, etc. who may benefit from this information.

Here is the link to sign up for our mailing list. Please pass it on to those who are not signed up. (If you received this in an original email, you’re already signed up!)

Unsubscribe

If you feel that you have received this email in error, or would prefer not to receive these emails, please reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or send an email to jenniferh@praypub.org to be removed. Thank You!