Archive for Jason

A Coppell Venture Crew in 2014

July 2013 Blog, Circle Ten Council No comments

Over the past few months, there are have been more than a few small discussions (often 1:1) about starting a Venture Crew in Coppell. With that in mind, I am hopeful that we can gather those that are interested and consider launching a Coppell Venture Crew for 2014.

Here are a few topics to help start the conversation:

What is Venturing?

Venturing is an extension of the BSA program, often with a primary focus such as “shooting sports” as well as offering the ability to do consistently more “high adventure” activities than what might be feasible in a Boy Scout Troop. Venture Scouts can be between 14 and 21, including both young men and women.

What is a Venture Crew?

A Venture Crew is the unit equivalent to a Boy Scout Troop. In much the same way that a Boy Scout Troop is more youth-led than a Cub Scout Pack, a Venture Crew is even more youth-led than a Troop — with Venture adults actually being called Advisors.

Why create a Venture Crew for Coppell Scouts?

The primary reason is to offer a more diverse range of activities for older Scouts, who may not feel challenged by just their Troop’s outings. In addition, older Scouts often struggle to stay committed to their Eagle journey with the ever-broadening activities available to teenagers, such as year-round sports or church programs. A Venturing program brings diversity to those Scouts, as a compliment to their Boy Scout Troop experience — and extends their youth-experience from 18 (Boy Scouts) to 21 (Venturing).

Who should join the Coppell Venture Crew?

The ideal Coppell Venture Scout is a 15+ year old Life or Eagle Scout who is looking for more high adventure in order to retain them in the BSA program. Particularly for boys who may have already risen through the leadership ranks of their troop (e.g. former SPLs) or prefer mature activities over leading first-year scouts, again. In addition, for Boy Scouts who may have been through 4+ Summer Camps with their Troop, Venturing activities can provide the diversity to keep them committed to the overall BSA program (and finish their Eagle before the age of 17.5).

What will the Coppell Venture Crew do?

Whatever the Crew decides! (within BSA policy) Most of the adhoc meetings have discussed an interest in shooting sports and high-adventure outings – with secondary interest in supporting the athletic, music and media-arts programs that many of the Coppell teens are already involved in (often in competition with their Scouting participation).  The “theme” of the Crew will be one of the primary discussion areas when the Crew is being formed later this year.

Venturing membership vs. Troop membership?

There is no “versus” — the programs are complimentary. Boy Scouts registering with a Venture Crew will be dual-registered with BSA, and the activities (e.g. leadership service) that they perform within their Crew will count for their Troop advancement requirements. Certainly, there may be cases where a Scout may eventually shy away from his Troop, in deference to his Crew — but that Scout may likely have otherwise shied away from Scouting in general, if not for his Crew membership. One exception to this is for 18-year olds. Instead of transitioning to become an Assistant Scoutmaster (ASM) within the Troop, they can continue their youth-centric experience within the Crew until they are 21 — which can be ideal for college students.

Four more meetings and another weekend?

Definitely not. Venture Crews tend to be less structured than Boy Scout Troops, so they will define their own meeting schedule which will almost assuredly be far less frequently — such as perhaps one planning meeting per month plus a high adventure outing or a shooting-afternoon (or a movie-night) on a monthly basis.

Where do we get started?

While a Crew is typically less structured than a Troop, there is still some parent-led teamwork to create and then support the Crew. If you have a Scout who may be interested in eventually joining the Crew, or if you are other otherwise interested in helping form a Coppell Venture Crew, please email me.  Our next step is to gather the Scouts and parents that are interested — for an Informational Meeting, so that we can gauge interest and our capability to charter a new Scouting unit in Coppell. We will be gathering interested names in December and will then reach out in January to schedule at least one informational meeting.

If you or your Scout are potentially interested in Venturing within Coppell, please email me so that we can keep you informed on how the Crew is forming.

When to do an Interfaith Worship Service — and when not to

January 2013 Blog, Interfaith No comments

The Scenario

A few weeks ago, I helped organize an Interfaith Worship Service (IWS) during our Council’s Winter Camp between Christmas and New Year. It was a five-day camp that crossed a weekend, so we delivered a 30-minute all-faiths service on Sunday morning, which included singing God Bless America, reinforcements of the 12 points of the Scout Law through multiple worldly passages, an opening prayer sang in Aramaic and a sermon from a Baptist pastor. Most folks seemed to appreciate it, including one Scouter who really enjoyed the “undiluted” presentation that included passages from multiple faiths. It was also attended by members of an all-Muslim troop and an all-Protestant troop. Interestingly, a few Muslim scouts came up afterwards and thanked me for their inclusion, while some of the Protestant Christians seemed upset over the mixing.

Later, I was asked:

“If the BSA advocates Interfaith worship … why do large scout camps like Philmont or Bartle provide separate facilities for Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, etc. ?”

It’s a good question, and perhaps a teaching-moment with your Scouts:

Consider how we teach First Aid in Scouting

From the 2nd grade Wolf program, we teach very basic first aid. In Webelos, we teach the Readyman pin. And by Boy Scouts, every Scout learns basic First Aid through a required Merit Badge, along with additional training in Lifesaving. But all of those classes presume that you are the first responder to an incident and that while you are rendering aid, someone is calling 911. Your job is to provide immediate and short-term care until the professionals arrive.

Scouting also provides training in Wilderness First Aid, a much more advanced course that presumes that 911 is not a fast phone call away. The standards of care are somewhat different, because of the presumption is that your aid is all that will be available for a considerably longer time period (e.g. during a Philmont Trek in the back country).

Choosing a Religious Service Style and Venue(s)

When my Boy Scout troop did its 10-day summer camp at Bartle last year, the Sunday schedule was relaxed and provided a few hours where the troops could organize sending the boys to the chapels, temples and mosques that were most appropriate for their faiths. Each was staffed with clergy of that faith and the services were familiar and beneficial to all of those that attended. After that period, we all came back together to resume our Scout camp. If you have the staff and the downtime, then I am the first to agree that that is a better format to help each Scout worship and grow in the manner that they are most accustomed (which is what the Reverence mandates are about).

At the Winter Camp described at the beginning of this post, Sunday was the 3rd of 3 merit badge and activity days, prior to leaving on Monday. We didn’t have three hours to separate and then reconvene, nor did we have clergy on staff, nor separate facilities nearby. We did a single all-faiths service in thirty minutes, and then the boys headed off to classes.

So, in that way, you might think of Interfaith Worship similar to Wilderness First Aid. Is it ideal? No. Is it better than not providing any service at all? Yes.

You probably won’t like everything in an Interfaith Service

If you are devout in your faith, there will almost assuredly be things that happen in an IWS that you don’t care for. There are many passages of worldly wisdom that, if you didn’t know which religious text that they came from, would be perfectly acceptable as prose from the worship leader – giving praise to God, thanking the Creator, asking for blessings/wisdom/protection, etc. And if those are used in such a way as to help every Scout and Scouter connect with their understanding of God, that is ideal.

Every once in a while, a word or phrase will sneak in that you may not like – e.g. Allah, Jesus, etc. And it can cause you to be distracted from why you, as an individual worshiper, are there. Candidly, even within my home church that I attend when I am not camping, there are sometimes things that I don’t like – e.g. the tempo of the music, the screens were too slow/fast, the guest speaker talks too long, etc. When that happens, I have two choices:

  • I can let myself be distracted by what I didn’t like – and not take the opportunity to commune with God
  • Or, I can focus on the other elements of the service that I did like – and commune with God

Some Troops choose to deliver their Reverence programs with a single-faith basis, which is perfectly fine (and arguably more ideal) as long as they don’t restrict membership through it and show respect to others of differing faiths, per BSA guidelines. Even for them, it is occasionally beneficial to attend an IWS, if only to see what how other Scouts do it.  But for most BSA units, my advice is to take advantage of separate religious services when your camp offers it, and do the best you can for inclusion when you can’t – like your monthly campouts.

UoS Cub’s Duty to God PPT

January 2013 Awards and Programs, Cub Scouts, Interfaith, What BSA says No comments

Last week, I had the opportunity to teach at Circle 10 Council’s University of Scouting … including course CUB033 Duty to God:

  • What the BSA says about Faith – in order to prepare leaders for some of the questions that parents will ask
  • Fundamentals of the Religious Awards programs that are available to Scouts through PrayPub
  • Planning a Religious Study and a Pack Worship Service
  • A sample service given in my Pack

Here is the PPT from the course.

If you use it to teach a course, here are two requests for your consideration.  1) please let me know how it might be improved and 2) please point people back to ScoutingForGod for supplemental content and insight.

How to Deliver God & Family as a Weekend Lock-in

October 2012 Awards and Programs, Blog, Religious Programs No comments

Many Cub Scouts initially earn their purple knot (youth religious award) through God & Me for 1st-3rd grade – but don’t continue through the progressive program for higher ages.

By the time that they are Webelos or Boy Scouts, they often have so many other activities that they (or their parents) don’t want to sign up for 6 to 8 weekend meetings.  So, in our district, we tried delivering the God & Family (4th & 5th grade Protestant) program as a weekend lock-in.

The boys checked in at 6PM Friday and walked out 4PM Saturday, with the next part of their discipleship journey complete … along with some new purple knots or gold pins.

Click here to download a Guide to How to Deliver a God & Family Lock-in.

 

My hope is that you’ll consider delivering this in your own Councils and Districts – and provide feedback for how we can improve the guide.

Good Scouting and Many Blessings!

One Speaker with Three Shadows

September 2012 Blog, Interfaith, Sermons and Devotionals No comments

A few weeks ago, while at church, one of my sons pointed out that the speaker on-stage was casting three shadows. Later, I explained that there were three spotlights on him from different directions — and each light was casting a shadow in-line with that light.

Christian Perspective

For my son, I went on to explain that the speaker and his shadows was one way to understand the Holy Trinity — God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. The speaker was the same speaker — but depending on the relative perspective of the spotlight, different shadows were cast. In much the same way, while there is but only one God, He casts multiple shadows depending on your perspective — as the all-powerful original Creator, as a sacrificial savior for the sins of the world, or an all-knowing and ever present source of righteousness and discernment — or other perspectives, such as Healer, Redeemer, Counselor, Defender, Provider, etc.  The key to remember is that all of those impressions are simply shadows of our God, based on the perspective that you are looking at Him. Of course, in the bigger picture, there can be no shadows without light, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone to find so many shadows (facets) cast by that which we call the Light of the World.

Multi-Faith Scouting

The key idea of interfaith scouting is to enable each scout to grow in their own faith – according to their own understanding of who God is. As a Chaplain (adult) or Chaplain’s Aide (CA) youth, your role is to facilitate an environment for that growth — even though some scouts may not share the same faith as the C/CA. When you, as the C/CA, are delivering the reverence aspects of your scouting program, you are like the speaker in the initial analogy. Each scout will have a different perspective, but hopefully they will hear wisdom and see opportunities to give thanks in the shadows of their understanding of God that are enabled through the reverence program that you deliver. As the C/CA, you may be a speaker, but your goal is to deliver a program that helps each boy recognize a shadow.

As always, thanks for reading.

Wood Badge 98 Interfaith Materials

August 2011 Circle Ten Council, Interfaith, Sermons and Devotionals No comments

Each Wood Badge course has two Interfaith services:

1.The first delivered by staff, in order to not only provide opportunities for Reverence but also to instruct the participants in how to deliver an Interfaith service.

2.The second is delivered by the participants, with coaching provided by the Course Chaplain.

I was honored to serve as the course Chaplain for Circle Ten’s Wood Badge 98 course, at Philmont in August 2011. Here are their materials:

 

Staff-led Service — Sermon (only)

Staff-led Service — Sermon and Interfaith instructional info

Staff-led Service — Program handout

Participant-led Service — Program handout

 

 

Religious Recognitions for Scouts

November 2010 Awards and Programs No comments

All religious courseware and programs are prescribed by the various religious institutions that have chosen to develop them. The programs are not created or maintained by the Boy Scouts. BSA simply approves the program structure and provides a method of recognition via the Uniform Knots for Scouts and Adults.

Youth Religious Award

Many religious study programs offer a multiple courses, based on the age of the Scout:

Upon completing the first course of a religious study program, the Scout is authorized to wear the Scout Religious Award, otherwise known as the “Purple Knot”, which is available from most Scout uniform shops.  If a Scout completes additional religious education programs, they are authorized to wear a small metal ‘device’ (pin) on their Purple Knot for each subsequent program completed, so that one Purple knot is worn throughout their scouting experience.

Cub Scout DeviceWith Cub Scout device #926 Cub Scout Device

with Webelos device #932

 

 Boy Scout DeviceVarsity DeviceVenturing DeviceSea Scout device
Boy Scout, Varsity, Venturing and Sea Scout devices

 

The Purple Religious Youth knot earned earned as a youth can be worn on an Adult Leader’s uniform, as well.  Adults can also be awarded earn a different religious knot.

NOTE : If a Pin or Medal is awarded by the religious institution for completing a course of study, the pin/medal OR the purple uniform knot can be worn — typically not both, as it is redundant.  The exception would be a necklace-based medal which can be worn for formal award ceremonies such as Boy Scout Courts of Honor, whenever other formal saches or similar regalia are worn.

If you know of other resources related Religious Programs, Awards or Rank Advancements, please let us know !

 

 

Book – In our own way

November 2010 Interfaith No comments


One of my favorite books and worship aids for interfaith scouting is
In Our Own Way, edited by Robert Lee Edmonds.

From the publisher:

In Our Own Way is an extraordinarily rich compilation of thoughtfully selected and specially written prayers from over 30 faith groups and denominations that embody Scouting’s founding moral principles. It also includes an expansive collection of popular Scout prayers, graces, benedictions and other devotions chosen from historical and contemporary sources spanning a century of the Boy Scout movement.

A must have inspirational handbook for every Scout and leader! In Our Own Way is an excellent personal companion and indispensable for use at pack and troop meetings, ceremonies and banquets, Courts of Honor, camps and outings, and leadership training programs. This remarkable treasury of prayers is an important and invaluable guide for anyone wanting to discover,
embrace, and share a Scouting way of life enriched through faith, reverence, and devotion.

 

About the Editor

Robert Lee Edmonds has more than 25 years of volunteer service to Boy Scouting. He is an Eagle Scout and a recipient of the Honor Medal conferred by the Boy Scouts of America’s National Court of Honor.

Dr. Edmonds has received numerous national and international recognitions and awards for his contributions to industry, education, science and technology. He is the author of High Honors: A Century of Heroism and Meritorious Action in the Boy Scouts of America, scheduled for release in 2010.

 

It is small enough to fit in your daypack or comfortably in a Scout’s pants’ pocket — and includes prayers and blessings from several faiths, as well as commentary as it all relates to Scouting.

 

What BSA says on Faith – Cub Scouts

October 2010 Cub Scouts, What BSA says One comment

What does the BSA says about Faith and Religion — for Cub Scouts

For Cub Scouts and Leaders:

The Cub Scout Promise states:
I ________ promise to do my best
To do my duty to God and my country,
To help other people, and
To obey the Law of the Pack.

The BSA scouting.org website offers clarity and commentary on each aspect of  the Cub Scout Promise.

To do my duty to God:  This  phrase means to remember to thank God for good friends, good health, our  well-being, our family, and all others who love and help us. Going to worship  services is another way of doing our duty to God. We should respect other  people’s religious beliefs even if they are different from our own.

from www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/AboutCubScouts/Ideals/promise.aspx

 

See also the Religious Programs available to Tigers, Wolves,Bears and Webelos.

How to ask about faith

October 2010 Interfaith No comments

 

How to Ask

It is okay to ask Scouts and their families about their Faith.

The BSA is not a public organization like a Public School, where faith issues are considered taboo. Instead, the BSA explicitly states that reverence to a diety is a mandate of membership, as part of the Scout Law, the Cub Scout Promise, and the guiding principles of Sir Baden Powell. Faith is part of how a boy grows into the man that they are capable of becoming.

Our job as Scout Leaders is to enable each boy to grow in their own faith, so that they can reach their own potential. You cannot accomodate each boy’s faith needs any more than you can accomodate their eating requirements, if you do not know what each boy needs.

Consider writing a survey form for each scout

Much like the Talent Survey that is given to many adults, in helping find subject experts for teaching scout topics, the form should be filled out by the Scout and their parents, and include questions such as:

What activities are you involved in? This will help you plan when boys may attend less functions due to sports seasons or band activities
What religion does your family practice? If so, what church/temple/mosque do you attend? Nice and simple, and intermixed with other questions that related to becoming aware of each boy’s needs
Do you have any food allergies? If so, what? Consider avoiding these all together, if not overly restrictive
Do you have any food restrictions or preferences (e.g. vegetarian, non-beef, non-pork, vegan, kosher)? This will help you plan your overall meals
Anything else that you want the Troop/Pack to know about you? (the catch all)

 

Once you know about each boy, then you can accomodate their needs, both physically and spiritually. Without that knowledge, you run the risk of really offending someone with an ‘allergic reaction’ to your religious program, or starving them of any deity recognition at all.

 

This website is intended to provide you with links to tools and resources that will hopefully help you with running a Scouting program that respects and encourages the faiths of all of its members.

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