Welcome to the “R.E.C. Best Practices” Webinar Presentation!

Sample SCREEN SHOT ONLY

R. Chip Turner Director of Communication and Training P.R.A.Y.

The Scout Motto is the Best Starting Point for Our Journey: 1 st – Know Your Resources

The Scout Motto is the Best Starting Point for Our Journey: 1 st – Know Your Resources. 2 nd – Understand Your Responsibilities

The Scout Motto is the Best Starting Point for Our Journey: 1 st – Know Your Resources. 2 nd – Understand Your Responsibilities 3 rd - Develop a Plan of Action

Know Your Resources Understand Your Responsibilities

1 st - Know Your Resources ►

● Clickable Chart

● Duty to God Brochure / Printable Chart

/Awards/ReligiousAwards.aspx

● Clickable Chart ● Duty to God Brochure / Printable Chart ● Frequently Asked Questions

● Clickable Chart ● Duty to God Brochure / Printable Chart ● Frequently Asked Questions ● How to Get Started

(continued)

● Clickable Chart ● Duty to God Brochure / Printable Chart ● Frequently Asked Questions ● How to Get Started ● REC Video

● Clickable Chart ● Duty to God Brochure / Printable Chart ● Frequently Asked Questions ● How to Get Started ● REC Video ● Additional Resources (praypub.org/rec)

1 st - Know your resources ► ►

Download Video

Go to: and click onwww.praypub.org/rec

1 st - Know your resources ► ► ► Faith-Specific (not an exhaustive list) ■ Catholic – ■ Protestant / Independent / Some Others – ■ Jewish – ■ Islamic – ■ Numerous Other Sites Listed in the Duty to God Brochure

1 st - Know Your Resources 2 nd – Understand Your Responsibilities

PURPOSE: Encourage all youth to earn the emblem of their faith Promote religious emblems usage like BSA promotes other youth advancement Establish goals and track the number of religious emblems to be completed every year Begin by Understanding the Purpose of Religious Emblems Coordinator Positions Encourage All Youth to Earn the Religious Emblem(s) of Their Faith Promote Religious Emblems Usage Like the BSA Promotes Other Youth Advancement Establish Goals and Track the Number of Religious Emblems To Be Completed Every Year

WHY? Religious Emblems reinforce BSA values Improve relationships with religious chartered partners Establish relationships with potential Religious partners And, Don’t Forget the “Why” of Religious Emblems ● Make a Difference in Lives of Scouts & Families Involvement in Religious Emblems Makes a Positive Difference in the Lives of Scouts & Their Families Religious Emblems Reinforce Scouting Values Improve Relationships with Religious Chartered Partners and Others Establish Relationships with Potential Religious Chartered Partners and Others

UREC Responsibilities 1.Serve as a member of the unit committee. Participate regularly in committee meetings and planning events. Keep the religious emblems program before the committee as well as unit completion rates. Encourage the nomination of adults for religious recognitions offered by many of the faith groups.

UREC Responsibilities 1.Serve as a member of the unit committee. 2.Acquaint all youth with the religious emblems program and the emblems available from their faith group. Use exhibits, posters, progress charts, etc. to keep religious emblems on the minds of Scouts and leaders in the unit. Provide faith-specific information on available religious emblems. Work with unit leadership to plan presentations for packs, dens, troops, patrols, crews, etc.

UREC Responsibilities 1.Serve as a member of the unit committee. 2.Acquaint all youth with the religious emblems program and the emblems available from their faith group. 3.Provide Scout families and clergy with an orientation to the religious emblems program and encourage their involvement. Plan presentations several times each year. If affiliated with a faith-based unit, meet with clergy and provide them with counselor materials.

UREC Responsibilities 1.Serve as a member of the unit committee. 2.Acquaint all youth with the religious emblems program and the emblems available from their faith group. 3.Provide Scout families and clergy with an orientation to the religious emblems program and encourage their involvement. 4.Urge all youth in the unit to earn the religious emblem(s) of their faith. Knowing about the emblems (#3) and seeing other Scouts earn them will increase usage.

UREC Responsibilities 5.Disseminate information to the unit’s Scouts and Scouters about any district or council religious emblems activities, retreats, camps, etc. as well as available congregational classes. Maintain regular communication with the Council and District REC’s to learn of events. Watch for local announcements by faith groups. Use , unit websites, unit meetings, and special unit events to raise emblems awareness.

UREC Responsibilities 5.Disseminate information to the unit’s Scouts and Scouters about any district or council religious emblems activities, retreats, camps, etc. as well as any available congregational classes. 6.Promote religious emblems usage like BSA promotes other youth advancement. Include religious emblems presentations at Courts of Honor, Blue & Gold Banquets, etc. as well as at houses of worship. Set up exhibits at all events attended by parents.

UREC Responsibilities 5.Disseminate information to the unit’s Scouts and Scouters about any district or council religious emblems activities, retreats, camps, etc. as well as any available congregational classes. 6.Promote religious emblems usage like BSA promotes other youth advancement. 7.Coordinate the establishment of goals and track the number of religious emblems completed. Track completions on a progress-toward-goal poster, display board, etc. Share unit goals / results with the District REC.

UREC Responsibilities 5.Disseminate information to the unit’s Scouts and Scouters about any district or council religious emblems activities, retreats, camps, etc. as well as any available congregational classes. 6.Promote religious emblems usage like BSA promotes other youth advancement. 7.Coordinate the establishment of goals and track the number of religious emblems completed every year. 8.Serve as the unit’s liaison to the District Religious Emblems Coordinator.

Yes, As the Unit Religious Emblems Coordinator, You Should… 1 st – Know Your Resources

Yes, As the Unit Religious Emblems Coordinator, You Should… 1 st – Know your resources. 2 nd – Understand Your Responsibilities

Yes, As the Unit Religious Emblems Coordinator, You Can… 1 st – Know Your Resources 2 nd – Understand Your Responsibilities 3 rd - Develop a Plan of Action

Here’s a plan of action to get you started. It incorporates the UREC responsibilities The complete document may be found at:

Enlist the UREC who understands the value of religious emblems and is committed to increasing usage. Work with the Unit Committee to recognize, promote, and track religious emblems usage as a form of advancement. Serve as key leader for educating and involving Scouts, parents, and clergy.

Set RE completion goals for the unit. Discover, promote, and support existing op- portunities to complete RE’s. Encourage clergy to offer RE classes. Recognize that certain seasons lend them- selves to RE studies with completion set for Scout Sunday/Sabbath, but encourage ongoing involvement in RE’s.

Equip and energize the UREC with local training as well as on line via sites such as Encourage the UREC to interact with other UREC’s locally as well as on sites such as Facebook. Involve Scouts, Chaplain Aides, other Scouts, Unit Chaplains, parents, clergy, other UREC’s, DREC’s, and CREC’s.

Use creative tools to visualize progress toward religious emblems goals. Keep graphic depictions up-to-date and placed in high traffic areas.

Use every available tool to educate and motivate, such as: Unit newsletters Unit & CO websites Congregational mailouts and orders of worship Courts of Honor, banquets, other special events Print & electronic media Publicize RE completions in the Scout units as well as the congregations

Do you have questions?

Do You Have Questions? Let’s start with this one which has already been asked by several Troop / Unit Chaplains: “Does this position vacate or replace the position of Chaplain in a Troop? Or merely change the name?”

Actually, the responsibilities of the Troop Chaplain do not change. As a matter of fact, we’d like to think that this new UREC position has the potential to elevate and support the role of Troop Chaplain. As you see below from the latest edition of the Handbook for Chaplains and Chaplain Aides in Boy Scout Troops and Venturing Crews (to be found at: ter_Partners/Religious.aspx), only #5 deals directly with religious emblems. (Of course, we totally agree that actual involvement in the religious emblems program helps address the spiritual needs and interests of Scouts and their families.) ter_Partners/Religious.aspx 5. Encourage Scouts and Venturers to participate in the religious emblems program of their respective faith.

The list of responsibilities for the UREC may be found at: As you see, the UREC can be a tremendous support to the Troop Chaplain. To begin with, the UREC is not necessarily a member of the clergy. Most units will have an interested parent who comprehends the value of involvement in religious emblems. Perhaps he or she is a religious emblems recipient and/or the parent of a religious emblems recipient. This person is to be focused on promoting all religious emblems, disseminating information about these emblems as well as upcoming opportunities to become involved in these studies, serving as a liaison to district and council REC’s, and spearheading the setting of goals for religious emblems completions.

Also, we’ve been asked if the roles of Troop Chaplain and Unit Religious Emblems Coordinator can be combined. Obviously, we do not propose to tell Scout unit leadership what they can and cannot do. However, we do believe that another person serving as UREC will further expand religious emblems usage and enable the chaplain to focus on ongoing ministry. Also, while there are many unit chaplains who are faithfully serving the Scouts, leaders, and families, we have a long way to go before we have every unit with a chaplain in place. To add the responsibilities for a UREC to those for a unit chaplain would make it even more difficult to recruit additional chaplains. And, what greater support could a chaplain have than a person whose role it is to undergird religious emblems usage in their unit?

Now, for YOUR questions…

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