Equipment, etc;
Some churches help their Scout units by purchasing,
maintaining, or storing camping equipment. These could be items used
exclusively by the Scouts or intended for joint usage (such as a large
canopy).
A special room in the church building can be set
aside for Scout equipment storage and/or meeting space.
The Scouts could be allowed to put up their own
bulletin board, perhaps in a location where visitors to your worship
services could see that you support community youth programming.
Some churches have donated use of a separate unused
building for the exclusive use by the Scouts.
Some Scout troops have equipment trailers for use
during camping trips. If your congregation helped finance a trailer,
the name of your church could be prominently displayed on the
side.
You could allow the Scout leaders to use the
church's passenger van for Scouting functions, insuring that they
follow the policy guidelines of your congregation and the BSA and
GSUSA.
Ethics in Action;
Provide church leaders to teach the BSA "Ethics in
Action" material for a Scout unit.
Adapt these materials for use in your church youth
program.
Financial help;
You could place the Scout unit in your budget,
helping to insure the continuation of a quality program, and
encouraging the leadership with your interest.
Allow the Scout leaders to use the church
photocopier.
Interaction;
Invite children who are not Scouts to special
Scouting events, giving the Scouts a chance to interact with members
of your church family.
This would give you the right to reciprocate, and
invite the Scouts to youth ministry activities.
Recruit Scouts to provide some special activity at
a church event, such as a Vacation Bible School kickoff. They could
lead a game or demonstrate Scouting skills for your church youth as a
part of their community service requirements.
Church members could be recruited to serve as merit
badge counselors, giving the Scouts more Christian role models and
reinforcing the Christian presence in Scouting.
Scouts need to give service to their community.
They could be asked to take care of some project for the church that
hosts their meetings, either on a church workday or on their
own.
Have members of the church "adopt" a Scout from a
single parent home, giving the boys a needed and positive father
figure and the girls a cherished and valued mother figure. Such a
program could range from an occasional visit to becoming involved in
the Scout program and attending campouts and other
functions.
Enlist the Scouts to invite church youth to some
outdoor activity, giving those not in Scouts a taste of high adventure
and showing the unchurched Scouts the value of having Christian
friends.
Invite the Scouts to perform a skit or something
similar, or to put on a demonstration of Scouting skills, at a church
fellowship function.
Host an appreciation banquet for Scout leaders
and/or Scout supporters, both for members and nonmembers of your
congregation.
Scouts could visit elderly church members to talk,
shovel snow, or rake leaves. This would count toward their community
service hours requirements.
Planning and Publicity;
Use the church worship bulletin, weekly church
paper, and bulletin boards to announce upcoming Scout functions.
Invite the Scout leaders to visit your youth
programs and present their program to potential new members.
Coordinate the church and Scout calendars to
minimize scheduling conflicts.
With BSA units, have the Charter Representative
report to the pastor and/or church governing body, giving them updates
on the Scouts and coordinating their work. With GSUSA, the leaders can
also keep their hosts informed of their activities, so that the church
can know how it can be of further service.
Allow the Scouts to use the church parking lot or
yard for an outdoor function, to draw attention to the Scout unit and
to the church.
[i] BSA, The Roles of the Troop Chaplain and the Chaplain Aide
(Irving, TX: BSA, 1995), 1f.
[ii] R. Chip Turner,
"A Tribute to Chaplains" Youthscope, Fall 1989, 2.
[iii] BSA, The Roles of the Troop Chaplain and the Chaplain Aide
3.
[iv] Norm Linville, Pathways To Worship (St. Louis: Commission For
Church and Youth Serving Agencies, 1986).
[v] Wilderness Ministries, Wilderness Devotions (New Cambria, KS:
Wilderness Ministries, 1995).
[vi] BSA, Youth Ministry Exploring (Irving, TX: Exploring Division,
BSA, n.d.).
Religious Emblems Programs;
You could sponsor a retreat, enabling a group of
Scouts to complete all the requirements of their religious emblem.
This could be available either for a select group of youth from your
tradition, or as a part of an interdenominational effort. An intense
and focused weekend retreat can help unchurched youth come to know and
appreciate you, which can lead to their interest in your
ministry.
Many youth have limited or no church connections,
but would like to earn one of the religious awards. You can sponsor an
interdenominational group that will include Scouts from different
backgrounds and no spiritual background. For many of them, this will
be their first introduction to any Christian education. If this is
done as an after school program, you can meet these Scouts weekly,
slowly developing a respectful relationship.
Identify Christian Scouters who could be honored
with one of the adult religious recognition awards. You could invite
their Scouts to help make the presentation at one of your worship
services.
Scout Sunday;
Review the program suggestions in the BSA guide for
Scout Sunday.
Scouts can be recruited to serve as greeters,
ushers, or color guard.
They can participate in the service by sharing
their Oath or Promise, helping with prayers, testimonies, or
devotionals on what it means to "Serve God" or fulfill ones "Duty to
God."
The pastor can give special prayers for the Scouts,
the leaders, or the program.
Scout hymns may be included in the
service.
To express their gratitude, the Scouts could host a
cookout after the service for the church, or the leadership, or for
their peers who are prospects for the troop.
Invite the Scouts to exhibit a display, which
highlights their "Duty to God" or some other spiritual element of
Scouting, or their religious emblems program.
Sponsor a poster or banner contest that focuses on
their service to God, and award a Bible to the winner.
Sponsor an essay contest on service to God or on
what it means for a Scout to be reverent, and give an award during the
Scout Sunday service. You could use excerpts of the winning essay in
the service, or allow the Scout to read it to the congregation. It
would also be printed in the church paper.
During the service award the religious emblem to
those Scouts who have completed their program.
Scouts love to collect patches. Give a special
patch to those Scouts who attend your service in uniform.
Set aside a special area among the pews, enabling
the Scouting community to sit together. Knowing that this would be
available might encourage unchurched Scouting families to attend your
services on Scout Sunday.
The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts could serve
breakfast to each other on their designated Sundays. On their Sunday,
they could either be the hosts or the guests.
Special Events;
A "Ten Commandments Hike" can be organized in your
community. Ten churches and synagogues can be recruited to provide a
15-minute program describing one of the Ten Commandments. Scouts hike
from church to synagogue to church, to gain a better understanding of
God's law, appreciate how adults respect the will of God for their
lives, and see the religious diversity of their community. They will
also see that churches are supportive of Scouting.
Sponsor a religious retreat for all the Scout
leaders of your community. As a part of this event you could review
the spiritual foundation of the Scouting movement, discuss how Scouts
can better serve God, explore how the church can better help the
Scouting program, and explain the potential of the religious emblems
program. Scout leaders might welcome a chance to be on the receiving
end of a weekend, where they are not responsible for the planning or
the meals.
A bishop's dinner could be scheduled to honor
leaders or Scouts.
The GSUSA's Gold Award and the BSA Eagle rank are
the highest awards the Scouts can earn. To obtain their award, they
are required to complete a major community project. You could allow
them to plan something that will benefit the church, a para-church
organization, or a benevolent ministry.
You can allow the Scouts to use your sanctuary or
auditorium for their Gold Award or Eagle Court of Honor recognition
award programs.
Present a Bible to Scouts when they move from one
level of their program to the next; when girls bridge over from
Brownies to Juniors or when boys move up from Webelos to Boy
Scouts.