Community of Christ Religious Emblem Programs

The Community of Christ, Also Known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a single Religious Emblem called "World Community"

Light of the World is for 8-10 year olds

Path of the Disciple is for 11-14 year olds

Exploring Community Together is for 15-18 year olds



There are Devices worn on the Ribbon of the Medal to indicate each of the three levels earned.


Visit their website to find out more about their religious Emblem program, including all of the requirements to earn it at each level.

Jewish Religious Emblems

The National Jewish Committee on Scouting sponsors 4 youth awards, and 1 adult award. More information on each of these can be found at their website.

Maccabee Award - Tiger Cubs

Aleph Award - For Cub Scouts and Webelos

Ner Tamid for Boy Scouts and Venturers

Etz Chaim - For Older Boy Scouts and Venturers (14+)

Shofar - For Adult Leaders

Churches of Christ Religious Emblems

Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and American Heritage Girls who are members of the denomination Churches of Christ can earn a series of Religious Emblems

Grades 1-3 - Loving Servant 

Grades 4-5 - Joyful Servant 

Grades 9-12 - Giving Servant 

Grades 6-8 - Good Servant 

Adult Award - Faithful Servant

The Members of Churches of Christ for Scouting (MCCS) Maintins a website with more details about the awards at Goodservant.org

LDS Religious Emblems

The LDS Church has multiple religious emblem programs. The Faith in God Award for Cub and Webelos Scouts, and the On My Honor award for Boy Scouts, Venturers and Varsity.

On My Honor Award

Faith in God Award

On My Honor Adult Recognition

 

Catholic Religious Emblem Programs for Girls

The Catholic Church recognizes several programs for girls of various ages who are involved with Girl Scouts, Campfire USA, American Heritage Girls, Junior Daughters of the Americas, or other youth organizations.

More information on these Religious Medal Programs is available here.

Ages 7-9 
Family of God 

Ages 9-11
I Live My Faith  

Ages 12-14
Mary, The First Disciple  

Ages 15-17

The Spirit Alive

Catholic Religious Emblems for Boys

There are several levels of awards that can be earned by boys in the BSA.

Light of Christ - Designed for 6-7 years old Cub Scouts 

Parvuli Dei  - Designed for 8-10 years old Cub Scouts. 

 

Ad Altare Dei - Designed for 13-14 years old Boy Scouts. 

Pope Pius XII - Designed for Venturing Crew Members and Boy Scouts 15 years old and older.

Light is Life - Designed for Boy Scouts, 12 -13 years old of the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches. (Scouts in the Eastern Catholic Churches work on Light is Life rather than the Ad Altare Dei emblem.)

   



The National Catholic Committee on Scouting has a  lot of information on this topic also. (Most of the content from this post is from there.

Buddhist Religious Emblems

Buddhist Scouts have different Religious awards that can be earned, depending on what scouting organization they are in.

Girl Scout Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors can all earn the Padma Award. There are 4 different sets of requirements, one at each level.


Brownies will receive a certificate and the Padma pendant in chocolate on completion.
Juniors will receive a certificate and the Padma pendant in bronze on completion.
Cadettes will receive a certificate and the Padma pendant in Silver on completion.
Seniors will receive a certificate on completion.



Cub Scouts and Webelos can earn the Metta Award, while Boy Scouts can earn the Sangha Award.









Campfire Boys and Girls can earn the Karuna Award,











Adult Scout Leaders can earn the Bodhi Award








The National Buddhist Committee on Scouting has more detailed information on all of these awards, and what must be done to earn them.

God and Service Adult Award

I have already discussed the God and Country awards for youth, but there is one additional award, named the God and Service Award that can be earned by Adults. It can be utilized by most of the same churches that award the Youth God and Country series of awards.

A God and Service recipient should:

1. Have a minimum of 5 years of service to the church.
2. Have a minimum of 5 years of service (be fully trained and exhibit past and present leadership) in the
youth agency (BSA, GSUSA, CFUSA, AHG).
3. Encourage and assist young people in earning the P.R.A.Y. award.
4. Promote religious observances at youth agency functions at all levels.
5. Encourage youth to participate in community service projects.
6. Recruit volunteers to give leadership to national youth agency programs.
7. Promote the organization of youth agency units among churches other than his or her own congregation.
8. Be a person whose Christian example is highly regarded by others in the church and whose lifestyle is a
model for young people.

A Nomination Letter, and a form must be submitted to the PRAY  organization that runs the God and Country series of awards.


There are several versions of this award, specific to particular denominations. All have the same requirements, but many denominations have a different appearance.

African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion)

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Christian Methodist Episcopal

National Association of Anglican and Traditional Catholic Scouters

United Church of Christ

United Pentecostal Church International

Protestant, Independent Christian and Non-Denominational Churches

African Methodist Episcopal (AME)

Nazarene

Presbyterian Church (PC USA)

Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)

United Methodist Church

There are several other denominations that use the God and Country Series of awards for youth, but use some other award than the God and Service Award. These include


Baptist - Good Shepard award
Church of Christ, Scientist - No Adult Award
Episcopal - Saint George Episcopal Award
Lutheran - Lamb Award,  Servant of Youth Award
Moravian - The Order of David Zeisberger Award

Salvation Army - Scouter's Award

Adult Religious Award Square Knot

Similar to the Youth Religious square knot, adults can also earn one, that is Silver with a Purple Square Knot. The knot recognizes a person who has been awarded a religious scouting award from their own faith, such as the Jewish Shofar Award, the Roman Catholic St.George Award, or the God and Service Award, used by many Protestant Churches. USScouts.org has a list  Adult awards from various faiths.

Youth Religious Square Knot

If a Cub Scout/Boy Scout/Venturer has earned the Religious Emblem from their place of worship, they can also wear the Youth Religious Emblem Square Knot. It is purple with a Silver Knot. While the Religious Emblem Programs are part of each Religion / denomination, and are each unique depending on the faith, the Square Knot is a BSA award, recognizing the youth for being involved in their church, and earning that award.

If a scout has earned more than one religious emblem at varying times in his scouting career, there are devices that can be added to this to recognize each award. The example at the left shows one with the Cub Scout and Webelos Devices. There are also similar devices for Boy Scouts and Venturing.

• Wear the CUB SCOUT device for the first level emblem (God & Me, Maccabee, etc.) earned as a Tiger Cub or Cub Scout;
• Wear the WEBELOS SCOUT device for the second level emblem (God & Family, Parvuli Dei, Aleph, etc.) earned as a Cub Scout or Webelos Scout;
• Wear the BOY SCOUT device for the first level emblem (God & Church, Ad Altare Dei, Ner Tamid, etc.) earned as a Boy Scout;
• Wear the VENTURING device for the second level emblem (God & Life, Pope Pius XII, Etz Chaim, etc.) earned as an older Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, Sea Scout, or Venturer.

Note that Webelos Scout and Venturing devices are used to designate the second level emblems described above, EVEN IF the boy isn't a Webelos Scout and/or Venturer when the member earns the appropriate religious emblem. Not all Religious Emblem Program ages line up perfectly with the BSA program ages.

Also, note that this award can be worn all throughout scouting, Even if earned as a Cub, they can continue to wear it as a boy scout, and even as an adult leader.

Webelos Requirements about Faith

As with the other Cub Scout Ranks, Webelos have some requirements related to faith they must complete before earning their rank. The Full Webelos Requirements are listed here, or in the Webelos Handbook.

A Webelos Scout has two options. They can earn the age appropriate religious emblem from their faith, or they can pick any two of the following:

• Attend the mosque, church, synagogue, temple, or other religious organization of your choice; talk with your religious leader about your beliefs. Tell your family and your Webelos den leader what you learned.
• Discuss with your family and your Webelos den leader how your religious beliefs fit in with the Scout Oath and Scout Law and what character-building traits your religious beliefs have in common with the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
• With your religious leader, discuss and make a plan to do two things you think will help you draw nearer to God. Do these things for a month
• For at least a month, pray or meditate reverently each day as taught by your family and by your church, temple, mosque, synagogue, or religious group.
• Under the direction of your religious leader, do an act of service for someone else. Talk about your service with your family and your Webelos den leader. Tell them how it made you feel.
• List at least two ways you believe you have lived according to your religious beliefs.

Again, these are all areas that a Den Leader or Cubmaster should tread carefully. When it is something specifically faith related, in many cases a parent and/or a religious leader should be the one to work with them. 

A few notable exceptions are mentioned here, where it specifically tells the boy to talk about it with a Den Leader. The scout is not only asked to learn about their faith, but also be able to tie it back into the Scout Oath and Law, and asked to tell the den leader about what they learned. This represents the fact that the boys are growing older, more mature, and start understanding that these ideas from different parts of their life tie together.

After either earning the Religious Emblem of their faith, or doing two of the choices above, they are asked to do the following, as part of the Character Connections: Faith

• Know: Tell what you have learned about faith.
• Commit: Tell how these faith experiences help you live your duty to God. Name one faith practice that you will continue to do in the future.
• Practice: After doing these requirements, tell what you have learned about your beliefs.

The "God and Life" Program Grades 9-12

A large number of religious groups offer Religious Emblem programs for the youth in their congregation. The PRAY series of awards is used by a large number of protestant denominations.

The God and Life award is one of four awards in the God and Country series. It is age appropriate is for 9th-12th graders.

Please note, that this program is not only for Scouts, it is appropriate for all youth of these ages. Many churches, open the participation in this program to all age appropriate youth in the congregation.

A Brief overview of the program can be found here.

The following is a partial listing of the denominations that use the P.R.A.Y. program: African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Assembly of God, Baptist, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal, Church of God, Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and Independent Christian churches.

Bear Requirements about Faith

Bear Cub Scouts Have to do one of two faith-related requirements to earn their Bear Rank.

One Option is to earn the Religious Emblem for their faith. The details of this will vary depending on what church the Bear Cub Scout's family attends, and what Religious Emblem program they use. (if any)

The second option is to complete requirement 1: Ways We Worship

(Bear Handbook - Page 26)

Complete both requirements.

• a. Complete the Character Connection for Faith.
• Know. Name some people in history who have shown great faith. Discuss with an adult how faith has been important at a particular point in his or her life.
• Commit. Discuss with an adult how having faith and hope will help you in your life, and also discuss some ways that you can strengthen your faith.
• Practice. Practice your faith as you are taught in your home, church, synagogue, mosque, or religious fellowship.
• b. Make a list of things you can do this week to practice your religion as you are taught in your home, church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious community. Check them off your list as you complete them.

As with most Cub Scout faith-related requirements, this is typically done with the parent, not during den meetings. 

Some of the things parents might do with their son to practice their religion include Daily Prayers, Bible Reading, or doing service for others.

The "God and Church" Program Grades 6-8

A large number of religious groups offer Religious Emblem programs for the youth in their congregation. The PRAY series of awards is used by a large number of protestant denominations.

The God and Church award is one of four awards in the God and Country series. It is age appropriate is for 6-8 graders.

Please note, that this program is not only for Scouts, it is appropriate for all youth of these ages. Many churches, open the participation in this program to all age appropriate youth in the congregation.

A Brief overview of the program can be found here.

The following is a partial listing of the denominations that use the P.R.A.Y. program: African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Assembly of God, Baptist, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal, Church of God, Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and Independent Christian churches.

The "God and Family" Program Grades 4-5

A large number of religious groups offer Religious Emblem programs for the youth in their congregation. The PRAY series of awards is used by a large number of protestant denominations.

The God and Family award is one of four awards in the God and Country series. It is age appropriate is for 1st - 3rd graders.

For Cub Scouts that would be first or second year Webelos. For Girl Scouts, that would be Juniors. Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts can wear this medal on their uniform.

Please note, that this program is not only for Scouts, it is appropriate for all youth of these ages. Many churches, open the participation in this program to all age appropriate youth in the congregation.

A Brief overview of the program can be found here.

The following is a partial listing of the denominations that use the P.R.A.Y. program: African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Assembly of God, Baptist, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal, Church of God, Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and Independent Christian churches.

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.)

The "God and Me" Program Grades 1-3

A large number of religious groups offer Religious Emblem programs for the youth in their congregation. The PRAY series of awards is used by a large number of protestant denominations.

The God and Me award is one of four awards in the God and Country series. It is age appropriate is for 1st - 3rd graders.

For Cub Scouts that would be Tiger, Wolf or Bear Cubs. For Girl Scouts, that would be the 2nd year of Daisies - Brownies. Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts can wear this medal on their uniform.

Please note, that this program is not only for Scouts, it is appropriate for all youth of these ages. Many churches, open the participation in this program to all age appropriate youth in the congregation.

A Brief overview of the program can be found here.

The following is a partial listing of the denominations that use the P.R.A.Y. program: African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Assembly of God, Baptist, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal, Church of God, Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and Independent Christian churches.

United Methodist Men webcast on Scouting.

Last night I attended a webcast put on by the UMM committee on scouting. The presenter was the head of the group that runs the PRAY series of religious emblems, also known as the God and Country program.
It had a lot of great information about how a church can use scouting and a religious emblems program to attract young families. I'll be sharing a lot of that information here over the next few days.