Submitted by David Cowan, Scouting Volunteer, Pacific Harbors Council – Boy Scouts of America.
As our Country recognizes the importance of faith in God by setting aside an annual Day of Prayer, May 2 this year, young people who are Scouts will demonstrate their Duty to God by reading the Sacred Texts of their faith traditions. The Bible, Torah, Koran, Book of Morman and Sikh texts will be read across our country and in unit meetings across the South Sound. We believe we are honoring our faith in the reading of our sacred texts. We will be joined as well by scouts across the world.
Lord Robert Baden Powell, the founder of scouting over a century ago believed that a young people could not be the best citizen without a faith in God. He built into our creeds – the Scout Oath and law that a duty to God and reverence in life was an essential element of a young person’s life. The Scouting program works to include activities that deepen and broaden the scouts understanding and service to their faith in God.
A national scouting committee heard of a scout unit in Alabama who organized with its sponsoring organization – a church – to read through the entire Bible over a couple of days, reading continuously.
This inspired our effort to follow this example to include all scouts and their various faiths. In promoting this effort we have thousands of scout across the world who have signed up – committed to read their scriptures. We have 10 of our larger councils (regional groups of Scout units) who have organized to read through the entire Bible, Koran, and Torah. Individual scouts and small groups who have signed up will read the texts they choose. The scouts who are participating will each be awarded a special patch that they can wear on their uniform.
Twenty scouts from the Scouts BSA Troop (boys and girls), and Cub Scout Pack will gather at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Edgewood, WA from 5:30pm to 8:30pm on May 2, 2024.
Each scout will read for 15 minutes, 2-3 chapters from Genesis, Psalms, and the Gospels. There are several Muslim scouts who will be reading from the Koran. In New York there is a group of 40 Jewish scouts who will read the Torah. There will be scouts from the Far East and the Transatlantic councils joining us. That means Scouts will start reading at 5:30 pm in the Far East, seven hours later, Scouts read in Europe, we cross the Atlantic and seven hours later, Scouts begin reading on the East Coast, then Midwest and finish in California.
What a vision to have Sacred Texts being read starting in the Far East and sweeping west all around the world – all on the US National Day of Prayer.
Our world needs the power of prayer and positive action more than ever. The 12th Point of our Scout Law is “A Scout is Reverent.” This Duty to God event allows Scouts to broaden their faith and deepen their spirituality with their family in their homes or at their faith institution.
About Historic Worldwide Day of Prayer
TACOMA, WASHINGTON – Scouts from the Pacific Harbors Council, Boy Scouts of America will be participating in the first Worldwide Day of Prayer by reading the entire sacred texts of the Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Protestant faiths, as well portions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Eastern Orthodox, Sikh, and other Faiths Sacred Texts.
On Thursday, May 2 – the U.S. National Day of Prayer – more than 1,300 confirmed Scouts across 140 Councils worldwide will combine in the Scouts’ joint effort. Scouts from the Far East, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Europe will join the U.S. Councils, representing four of the world’s continents. Other Scouting communities in Western Washington will also be participating.
In total, an estimated 400 hours of sacred texts will be read in one full calendar day.
Cub Scout Packs and Scouts BSA Troops across the South Sound will be participating during unit meetings on May 2, 2024.
Faith helps Scouting make responsible adults and leaders
“Faith is an important bedrock of leadership training for our young people, said Andrew Sisolak, Scout Executive and Chief Executive Officer, of the Pacific Harbors Council of the Boy Scouts of America. “Faith guides our morals, ethics, and the ways we relate to one another and teaches us to be responsible and accountable for the things we do. One of the disappointing facts in our world today is that faith has diminished in many communities for all the reasons one can imagine. This wears on our society and is the undercurrent for all that is not well in our world today,” said Sisolak
The decline in church attendance and faith
According to the Gallup organization, church attendance has declined in most U.S. religious groups. “A decade ago, the figure fell to 38%, and it is currently at 30%. This decline is largely driven by the increase in the percentage of Americans with no religious affiliation — 9% in 2000-2003 versus 21% in 2021-2023 — almost all of whom do not attend services regularly,” according to the report.
Religious leaders say that “for a long time, the church declined, and no one really cared. And now people are seeing the decline and saying, ‘Wow, this is really becoming a problem now.’ We have reached an inflection point where people are talking about religion in a more thoughtful, nuanced, statistically driven way,” according to people interviewed in a Washington Post article.
A New York Times article said many did miss aspects of traditional attendance, and often these people still believed in God or certain aspects of their previous faith traditions. They’d sought replacements for traditional worship, and the most common were spending time in nature, meditation, and physical activity — basically anything that got them out of their own heads and the anxieties of the material world.”
The long-term decline in church attendance should trouble even those who aren’t personally religious. The benefits of regular church attendance (or any other kind of religious observance), both societal and personal, are virtually impossible to dispute. Some studies argue the lack of faith and church attendance can be a public health hazard. Others say declining faith harms society.
Everything in our daily lives—from our ethical behavior, to prayer, to the liturgy, to works of justice—all of it is based on the faith of our communities and what we learn from our sacred texts about civility and being a good neighbor.
Faith and Scouting
Duty to God has been one of the most important principles of Scouting from the beginning. In 1916, James E. West, the BSA’s first Chief Scout Executive, helped install what is now known as the “Declaration of Religious Principle” into the original BSA constitution and by-laws. The Scout Oath begins with, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country.”
The Scout Law ends with, “A Scout is reverent. Be reverent toward God. Be faithful in your religious duties. Respect the beliefs of others.”
By participating in the Worldwide Day of Prayer, Scouts and their families will be taking a few moments to pause and reflect on their spirituality.
Worldwide Day of Prayer
The Worldwide Day of Prayer is just one of many faith observances by Scouts around the world.
“Our world needs the power of prayer and positive action more than ever,” says Jim Marchbank, chair of the council support subcommittee of the National Religious Relationships Committee of the Boy Scouts of America. “We are inviting every Scout to read their sacred texts on this important day. This Duty to God event allows Scouts to broaden their faith and deepen their spirituality with their family in their homes or at their faith institution.”
A faith relationship allows leaders to understand themselves and embrace their strengths, gifts, and passions more fully. Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts wrote: “No man is much good unless he believes in God and obeys His laws. So every Scout should have a religion. Religion seems a very simple thing. First: Love and Serve God. Second: Love and serve your neighbor.”
The 12th Point of Scout Law states: “Be reverent to God. Be faithful in your religious duties. Respect the beliefs of others.” Participation in this event could help Scouts satisfy this Point of Scout Law, which is required for rank advancement.
Favorite Scripture Readings
Adult leaders and volunteers are encouraging young people to read and share their favorite passages. Here’s a sample:
Eagle Scout Daniel Konzelman from Puyallup- Galatians 5: 22-23 and Philippians 4:6-7: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Retired Pacific Harbors Council CEO, Karen Meier from Gig Harbor – Philippians 4:13: “I can do all (things) this through Him who gives me strength.” Meier says she is a stronger person because of her faith.
Scout Volunteer – Troop 525 Darel Roa from Edgewood – Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Brannon West – Pacific Harbors Council Chaplain -Romans 10:9-13: “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Thank You