Met with the temporary administer to our parish today. When I told him that our meetings will begin with “In the name of the Father…” and will end with “… of the Holy Spirit. Amen” he seamed impressed.
The first part of the Scout Oath (“Duty to God”) and the last part of the Scout Law (“A Scout is Reverent”) are the bookends of everything we do (or should be doing) in Scouting… yes, I realize that the Scout Oath and Scout Law are not the same as the Venturing Oath, but you get my point.
Opening/closing Scout meetings (and even adult committee meetings) with a prayer reinforces that. Ditto an active Chaplain Aide program. In our troop, there’s no absolute need to stop and attend a Mass on the way home from a campout… because we’re
always back in time at least for the 4 PM and 5:45 PM evening Masses (many times we’re back before the 12:30 PM Mass). Worst case, there’s always the 8 PM “last chance Mass” on the university campus about 10-15 minutes away. But we still have a “Scout’s Own” on Sunday morning before leaving the campsite. I know of at least one troop that has used the Liturgy of the Hours morning prayer format on a campout.
Does your diocese have an active Catholic Committee on Scouting? There’s another great resource to tap into. Do you subscribe to the Catholic Scouting discussion list? Check out
listserv.nd.edu/archives/catholic-scouting.html for more info and to subscribe.
An earlier poster said that courts of honor are not where the AAD and PPXII awards should be presented… and I certainly agree. But… the religious emblem square knots can certainly be presented at courts of honor.
Does your parish have an annual Scout Sunday Mass? That’s another great way to be a visible presence for the parish… especially if
all the altar servers are in uniform (be sure to include the Bears and Webelos as well),
all the readers are in uniform, the cantor is in uniform, and uniformed Scouts are serving as ushers / bringing up the gifts / etc (i.e. everyone except the priest is in uniform). In our case, we even have a uniformed ensemble of one or two violins / guitars / flutes providing the music (in the past we’ve also had a string bass and a pianist).
That’s where everyone who’s earned Light of Christ / Parvuli Dei / Ad Altare Dei / Pope Pius XII in the past year should be recognized.
Does your Pack / Troop / Crew perform service projects for the parish? It never hurts to do (and be seen doing) something to help the parish community.
In short, all these little things (and plenty more which others will suggest) add up to making Scouting in your parish much more visible and much more vibrant. By demonstrating your worth to the pastor and the parish administration, you will gain their support. Of course, all of this takes time.
One mass on Sunday 11 AM. But thanks for all the ideas, and I’ll certainly incorporate them into the program as it develops.