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 and girls 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 groups. 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 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. The God & Me and the God & Family programs are essentially the same for all Protestant denominations, but the classes at St. John's are taught from the Episcopal perspective. The medal that is received from the Episcopal Church is the same as the medal presented by the Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches. The purple knot and the two medals presented by the Protestant churches are shown below:
| Medal for God & Me (Protestant version)  |
Medal for God & Family (Protestant version)  |
Knot worn over left uniform pocket (same for all faiths)  |
For 2022-23, the religious awards program at St. John's will be conducted by Rev. Reagan Cocke with assistance from Ryan Nunes (chaplain@pack55.org). The meetings will be held at SJD and the preliminary schedule is as follows:
| Date |
God & Me (Grades 1 - 3) |
God & Family (Grades 4 - 5) |
| Dec 3, 2022 | 10:00a-11:00a | 11:00a-12:00p |
| Dec 10, 2022 | 10:00a-11:00a | 11:00a-12:00p |
| Jan 7, 2023 | 10:00a-11:00a | 11:00a-12:00p |
| Jan 21, 2023 | 10:00a-11:00a | 11:00a-12:00p |
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 5, 2023, at SJD.
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 $30 fee for course materials and the medal.