Troop 147 is chartered by First Presbyterian Church.  One element of the scout law is that "A Scout is Reverent."  Further, in the scout oath, scouts pledge that they will do their duty to God.

It is not necessary for a boy to be Presbyterian, or even Christian, in order to be a member of our troop.  However, the Boy Scouts of America believes that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God.

Accordingly, we try to instill a sense of reverence and duty to our creator in our troop program.

We do this in many ways.

Our parents' committee appoints a Troop Chaplain and our Senior Patrol Leader appoints a Troop Chaplain Aide.  These positions work together to spearhead our program of addressing the troop's spiritual needs.  They utilize the Manual for Chaplain Aides and Chaplains.  They regularly plan "Scout's Own" religious observances on outings.

Every troop meeting ends with the "scoutmaster's benediction" and every troop court of honor begins with a prayer.

Each troop campfire ends with scout vespers.

The troop often participates in the Gerald R. Ford Council's annual Scout Retreat.

Youth Religious Awards

There are religious awards available for most major (and many minor) denominations.  These religious awards are recognized by (though not sponsored by) the Boy Scouts of America.  As such, they are eligible to be worn on scout uniforms.

While there exist separate awards for each of many faiths, the troop is hoping to start an award program to earn the Presbyterian Church recognitions:

God and Church (for grades 6-8)

God and Life (for grades 9-12)

These awards require a fair amount of dedicated effort, supervised by a counselor approved by your church's pastor.

While the troop is hoping to offer the Presbyterian Church award programs above to all scouts who are interested (regardless of their denomination), scouts of other denominations are welcome to work with counselors approved by their own church's pastor on their own denomination's awards.  For more information on the awards offered by the various denominations, see the Programs of Religious Activities with Youth (P.R.A.Y.) web site.

Adult Religious Awards

Just as there exist religious awards for youth members, there also exist religious awards for adult members.

Unlike the religious awards for youth, adult religious awards generally must be bestowed by one's peers (i.e., via nomination), rather than deliberately earned through completing a series of well-defined tasks.

Among those which might be relevant to our adults are:

Presbyterian Celtic Cross - For scouters (regardless of denomination) who serve scouts associated with a Presbyterian church.  The scouter must be in a position where they work directly with youth and must have done so for at least two years.

Presbyterian God and Service - For presbyterian scouters with five years of exceptional service to their church and to scouting.

Episcopal Saint George - For episcopal scouters.

United Methodist God and Service - For united methodist scouters with five years of exceptional service to their church and to scouting.

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