Religious Awards
From the BSA national website:
"To encourage members to grow stronger in their faith, religious
groups have developed the religious emblem programs.
The Boy Scouts of America has approved of these programs and allows
the emblems to be worn on the official uniform. The various
religious groups administer the programs."
Pack 55 has boys that belong to various Christian denominations as well as many other faiths. Most major religious groups sponsor religious awards, and Pack 55 encourages each family to participate in the program of that family's religious faith. For an index of the various religious award program, click HERE.
Each of the major Protestant churches offers the God & Country religious program, which has the following four components:
| God & Me | Grades 1 - 3 |
| God & Family | Grades 4 - 5 (see note below) |
| God & Church | Grades 6 - 8 |
| God & Life | Grades 9 - 12 |
Other faith groups offer similar programs targeted for the same age group. For example, the equivalent programs to God & Me and the God & Family are called "Parvuli Dei" by the Catholic Church, "Aleph" by the Jewish faith, and "Saint George" and "Chi Rho" by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
St. John the Divine Episcopal Church offers a series of meetings in which Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts can earn the God & Me and the God & Family awards. These meetings are usually held in November, December and January of each year. For the Cubs who complete this program, the religious award is presented on Scout Sunday in February.
These classes offered by St. John's are open to any Tiger Cub, Cub Scout, or Webelos Scout who belongs to any Protestant church and to anyone else who wants to undertake this religious program in the Protestant faith tradition. While the God & Me and the God & Family programs are essentially the same for all Protestant denominations, the classes at St. John's will lead to receipt of the Episcopal version of the awards. The medal that is received from the Episcopal Church is different than the medal presented by the Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches. However, after completing the course at St John's, the medal for one of the other Protestant denominations may be obtained if desired. The purple knot and the two medals presented by the Episcopal Church are shown below:
| Medal for God & Me (Episcopal version)  |
Medal for God & Family (Episcopal version)  |
Knot worn over left uniform pocket (same for all faiths)  |
For 2009-10, the religious awards program at St. John's will be conducted by Rev. Doug Richnow with assistance from Pat Johnson (cell: 713-857-2652). The meetings will be at SJD in Rm 208 and the schedule is as follows:
| Date | Grades 1 - 3 | Grades 4 - 5 | |
| Dec 5, 2009 | 9:00a-10:00a | 10:00a-11:00a | (session canceled; to be rescheduled) |
| Dec 12, 2009 | 9:00a-10:00a | 10:00a-11:00a | |
| Jan 9, 2010 | 9:00a-10:00a | 10:00a-11:00a | |
| Jan 16, 2010 | 9:00a-10:00a | 10:00a-11:00a |
Parents are strongly encouraged to attend the meetings with their Cub Scout as much of the training for the program actually occurs in the home and is based on the guidance provided at the meetings.
The religious awards will be presented at Scout Sunday, February 7, 2010, at St John's 8:45a service. Troop 55 and Pack 55 will gather in front of the main sanctuary in advance of the service for photographs, and then will process into the service and be seated as a group.
Notes:
Cubs who have completed the God & Me award may
start on the God & Family award in the Third Grade.
The God & Me award is not a prerequisite for working
on the God & Family award.
There is a $20 fee for course materials and the medal.