Boy Scout Troop 2 and Cub Scout Pack 4 meet here, and have since they were chartered by FCCI in 1959 and about 1989 respectively, and many in this church have participated in Girls Scouts, Explorers, Camp Fire, 4H, and other organizations fostering children and youth. Recognizing those organizations yearly is important in the life of the congregation (although the recognition is often guided by the Boy Scouts’ date, probably because we charter Troop 2 and Pack 4).
Scouting has included a religious component in addition to group building, leadership, outdoor skills, learning activities marked by badges, and service to the scout’s community. Given when Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were founded and where, it makes sense that God and faith, typically in traditionally mainstream Christian values and terms are part of scouting. Scouting arose from the progressive movement in England and the U.S., with antecedents in YMCA’s concern for young men’s physical and moral health and leadership development, then adding woodcraft and outdoor activities to the more urban Y approach. Growing from the pioneering work of Frederick Russell Burnham, Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Carter Beard, and Robert Baden-Powell, the Boy Scouts of America was formed in 1910. Having met Baden-Powell, Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of America in 1912. 4-H was formed in 1902, and Camp Fire Girls we founded in 1912 as the companion to BSA, then Camp Fire Boys and Girls in 1975 and Camp Fire USA in 2001 and Camp Fire in 2012. All along, teaching responsibility, citizenship, community service, and leadership have been central aims of the scouting movement, despite many variations in the activities used, from basic woodland skills to financial management through Girl Scout cookie sales to computer and social media skills today. Look up the range of merit badges sometime!
The overlap with the work of churches for the spiritual and personal growth of children and youth have made scouting and churches allies, as shown here. For instance, we provide space and sponsorship for Troop 2 and Pack 4, and we have benefited over the years from Eagle Scout projects and help from scouts during building cleaning events. A number of scouts will be participating in our worship service Sunday.
Consider the common themes and their overlap with Christianity as we practice it- The Girl Scout Promise affirms, “On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.” The Boy Scout Promise affirms, “On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” The 4H Pledge is “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world.”
Those are all practical ways children learn to put their values into action. And judging from the ways so many of our number who grew up with scouting continue as adults to put their faith into action, scouting is a powerful force for good in our community. Please come share Scouting Sunday at FCCI, and if you have any tokens of your scouting activities, please wear or bring them!
In Christ,
David
Texts For Sunday Worship:
From the Hebrew Bible Isaiah 40:21-31
From the Epistles I Corinthians 9:16-23
From the Gospels Mark 1:29-39
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