Scoutmaster Musings

Sometimes I think it's unfortunate that Reverent comes at the end of the Scout Law. It seems to be set at a lower priority than the other eleven points and scouts may give it less emphasis. The troop's Chaplain Aide is a leadership position specifically meant to ensure that reverence is part of the scouting experience and should be held by a scout that has demonstrated a personal spiritual awareness.

Chaplain Aide may become one of those free ride leadership positions in a troop that does not have duties defined for each job. To prevent that, and to keep the role meaningful, our troop has come up with these tasks for the Chaplain Aide:

• Main Role - promote Reverence in the troop
• Attend every troop campout or arrange a replacement beforehand - the chaplain aide or his representative must be on every campout. Even finding a replacement gives him some leadership experience in mentoring other scouts.
• Lead a religious service at every campout which I attend that includes a Sunday morning - we have a short service on every weekend campout. The Chaplain Aide is in front of the entire troop demonstrating his presentation skills. He should also recruit other scouts to help him rather than doing the entire service himself.
• Prepare a grace and lead the troop before every meal - he is encouraged to introduce new graces, rather than Johnny Appleseed over and over. We put emphasis on preparing a grace so he thinks about it early and not just winging it. He is also expected to take charge and gather the troop, not wait until everyone is eating before being reminded to lead the grace.
• Maintain the Chaplain’s area of the web site with graces, prayers, and resources - add new items so future scouts have more to choose from that the troop is familiar with.
• Present the Religious Emblem program at a troop meeting - every 6 months, the scouts are reminded of the program and encouraged to participate.
• Promote Scout Sunday - in January, he reminds scouts of Scout Sunday and encourages them to participate in their home church.
• Long-term Camps Duties - at summer camp or on extended backpacking trips, the Chaplain Aide (or his appointed replacement) is responsible for leading a daily reflection, thorns-n-roses, highs-n-lows, whatever it is called. This is his time to manage a group meeting, normally done by the SPL.
• Two Personal Goals - he is asked to come up with two goals that will make the position more useful or improve the troop. Things like making a troop prayer book, a contest to encourage Scout Sunday participation, or adding a couple graces to the troop's list.
• Wear my uniform correctly, set a good example, practice the Scout Oath and Law - a standard responsibility of all the troop leadership positions.
• Fulfill the requirements of this position for 6 months - the troop's chosen term of office

The Chaplain Aide meets with the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader at least every 2 months to report on his progress towards his goals. This ensures he is fulfilling his duties and will receive rank advancement credit. The Chaplain Aide also has an adult mentor that he can go to with ideas and for advice. The mentor is a consistent resource from term to term and s/he knows what the last few chaplain aides have done and can help with ideas for improvement.