Getting Volunteers from your Church

Lots of scouters have tried to build the relationship between their church and their troop, without a lot of success. If you want to have church members become involved with the scouts, There is one sure-fire way to get them.

Just stand up on Scout Sunday, and tell the congregation "We need some of you to be Volunteers!"

Wait, I think I mixed that up. That's the one sure-fire way NOT to get volunteers.

If you remember my posts on Scouting as a Tool for Church Growth, here, here and here, one of the points I made is that scout families need to meet the people in the church before they think about joining it. If you ask someone to volunteer, make sure they understand that it's not just because you need a set of hands doing crafts or teaching a merit badge. Its because you want the scouts and their families to know the people you have asked to volunteer.

As I told one of the ladies at our church, I know we have a lot of really nice people, and I want the scout families to meet them. I consider them and their smiles to be a huge part of what made us feel welcome in the church. But we only got to meet them when we started coming on Sundays. I want the other families to meet them at scout meetings, so maybe they can come and see the rest of us on Sundays too.

Faith Modeling vs. Faith Teaching

For those of us who view our scouting program as part of our church's ministry, this can be a very tricky line to tread. This is true especially for those serving in a role like Chaplain in a multifaith Boy Scout Troop.

Within Scouting, generally speaking, we don't want to try to impose our specific religious beliefs on others. These scouts each come from families which have their own faith tradition. As a Scout Leader, It's not my role to give religious instruction to the scouts. If they have questions, I can answer them, but my main role in regards to faith is to set a good model for them to follow. As I've heard it stated before, "We should be able to set an example, so that people around us will know we are Christians, even if we don't tell them." But from a scouter's point of view, I want to encourage the scouts to follow their family's faith. This is Faith Modeling, where I can show the boys what someone who sincerely follows their faith looks like. That means I've got to be on my best behavior and set a good example for them at all times.

Faith Teaching is something quite different. This is what one might do as a Sunday School teacher, or at Vacation Bible School, or in some specifically religious setting. If you have done a good job reaching out to the scouts in your unit and inviting them, hopefully some of the youth from scouts will also be in the sunday school class. But at any rate, their presence there at this kind of event means that the parents have entrusted you and your congregation to lead the child in a religious education. Although it might be the same leader, and the same kid, and in some cases even in the same classroom in the church basement... It's two different settings.

It doesn't mean that you quit being a Christian when you put on your scouting uniform. But it does mean that you respect the differences in situation, and remember that some parents have entrusted you with imparting Scouting's Values, while other parents have entrusted you with imparting specific religious beliefs. Although there is a HUGE overlap between the two, there is a distinction, and that's the difference between Modeling your faith and Teaching your faith.

Scouting a a tool for Church growth (Part 3)

In Part one, I talked about how a scouting program can bring young families into the church building itself every week. Remember, odds are 50% or more of those families do not have a church home right now.

In part 2, I talked about getting congregation volunteers who could help within the scouting program. This allows the scouts and their families to get to know members of the congregation.

I'd like to emphasize here, that there will be quite a few families that do already have a home church. If so, that's great. I don't think any of us want to try to pull people away from other churches where they already attend. But we do still want to make people welcome, both those with and those without a church they call home.

Part 3: Work with leaders inside the scout unit to emphasize the Religious Emblem programs.  The BSA and GSUSA both recognize a number of different recognition programs from various faiths. These programs are administered by the local churches, and not by the scouting unit itself.

I'm most familiar with the PRAY (God and Country) Series of awards, because I am in a Methodist Church. A number of Protestant Churches utilize these awards.

To see some of the awards used by other faiths or other Christian denominations, view one of the following lists.

Boy Scout Recognized Religious Emblems

Girl Scout Recognized Religious Emblems

Encourage your scouts of all faiths to work on the religious award program that their particular church follows. Give them information about the programs available based on their faith. Make a big deal about recognizing scouts who complete these programs.

And if they don't happen to have a home church they attend... Conveniently enough, your own church is already planning to hold classes for youth who want to earn those Religious Emblem awards. I would advise involving the non-scouting youth from the congregation as well for these programs, while also inviting non-members from the scouting programs.

Again, this will require some time from congregation volunteers, and also some time from the pastor of the church to run these programs. It's not a trivial task, and does require significant preparation and planning.

Ok, so you have young families, you have gotten to know them well, and they have even asked the church to lead their kids in a religious education class outside of scouts. I can't think of a better time to invite them to church on Sunday, Vacation Bible School, Church Youth Group, or any other church related activity you can think of.

A few words of caution:


Religious Emblem classes should NOT be done as part of regular scout meetings.    This should be done outside of those meetings, because a number of boys will want to attend the class of their own faith at their own church.

There's a distinction here between Outreach and Evangelism. While the scouting program is an outreach into the community, it is essentially non-denominational and non-sectarian. The Religious Emblem program however is specific to the faith of your church. Make sure the parents understand the distinction, even if the kids may not.



(Note: I borrowed heavily from Mark Hazelwood's Webinar Presentation for PRAY program for this.)

Scouting a a tool for Church growth (Part 2)

Yesterday, I talked about how a scouting program can get young families who may not have a church home into the church building. How do go from the families coming there for scouting to the point where families attend on Sundays?

Just being inside the church building is not enough. They may know their way around the facility, know where the restrooms are and where their kid's scout group meets. But, the church is not the facility your congregation meets in, the church is the congregation itself.

Before a family feels like they know the church, they have to know the people inside the church. That means volunteers. I can guarantee that the best people for the job are already busy doing things inside the church. If you have someone who is great at working with elementary school kids, they are probably already a Sunday School teacher at that level. If you have someone who is great at working with middle school kids or teens, they are probably already highly involved with the youth group.

In order to get the best people for the job, it might be necessary to ask some people to change their volunteer role in the church, or to take on additional responsibilities.

Work with the Leaders in the Scout Group to find out what areas they might need help with. Most scout units only look at the parents of kids to become leaders, and I don't know of any scout pack or troop that says "We have all the volunteers we need". They will be very welcoming of church members who offer to help.

If someone has experience working with younger kids, working as a Cub Scout Den Leader or Daisy/Brownie Leader would be ideal. If they are better at working with older kids, there may be something in the Boy Scout Troop, Venturing Crew, or a Junior/Cadette/Senior/Ambassador GS troop that would fit them best. And if they aren't great at working with Kids, there are a number of administrative/committee positions that I'm sure the leaders could use a hand with.

Many church members will say they don't know the first thing about scouts. That's fine. Most parents don't know it either when they signup to be leaders. The BSA and GSUSA programs have excellent training opportunities that can show church members what that particular scouting program is all about, and how to be a great leader.

The point isn't merely to get the church volunteers involved in Scouting. That's a great side benefit, but the main reason for this is to let these young families get to know the church congregation as people, feel comfortable around them, and

Now you know them... What next? That's in Part 3.


(Note: I borrowed heavily from Mark Hazelwood's Webinar Presentation for PRAY program for this.)

Scouting a a tool for Church growth (Part 1)

 One thing you will never hear at Church:

"We have too many young families with kids."

Most congregations in the US are significantly older than the community around them. The US Congregational Life Survey shows that the average congregation in the US has a median age of 52. That means that half the congregation is 52 or older. I know it's true in my church. I'm in my late 30s, what's left of my hair is starting to turn grey, and I've already got one heart attack in my medical charts. I'm considered one of the young adults in the church.

How can Scouting address this?

When a boy or girl joins scouting, they are thinking about outdoor adventure, games, crafts, and a lot of fun stuff. But why do their parents bring them to scouts, instead of other organizations or activities? The answer is values. These parents are usually looking for their sons and daughters to learn some moral values, which the BSA and GSUSA have been known for for generations.

Your average Cub Scout Pack is around 32 boys. That means you have 32 families there in your church every week. Most of those families are there because they want their son to grow up with good character and values.

In the US, Somewhere between 50 and 60% of families do not have a home church. That means in your church's basement and Sunday School rooms, for an average sized pack, you have about 16 young families with children who do not currently have a home church, but hold moral values as something highly important to them.

These are the ideal people that your church should be reaching out to. But how?

I'll talk about that in a few days

(Note: I borrowed heavily from Mark Hazelwood's Webinar Presentation for PRAY program for this.)