Best Is Yet to Come

 By Rusty Cowden

Rev. Rusty Cowden, interim senior pastor at Poland Presbyterian Church in Poland, Ohio, serves as a Director on the P.R.A.Y. Board. He was asked to share his thoughts about the God and Country program and his dreams and hopes for P.R.A.Y. and its mission. Here’s what he had to say:

The first time I used any of the P.R.A.Y. material as an adult was in 1988. I was working with small group ministries at a 1000 member congregation near Dayton. I was also the Chartered Organization Rep for their troop and pack. We had a Wednesday evening family night, and we started running all the 3rd graders through God and Me. For those who were part of a pack or brownie troop, we filled out the paperwork to get them their medals. For the others, it was just a fun program. I probably did 20 to 30 younger kids while at that congregation. I also structured the nine month long confirmation class so that it incorporated God & Life. Upon confirmation any Boy Scout or Girl Scout was eligible for the award by virtue of having been confirmed. I had about a dozen kids receive their awards that way. Since then, I have mostly worked with kids singly, and (I think) always with cubs or scouts. I have a couple pictures, which parents have given me of my presenting their son with his religious award during a worship service, and they bring back good memories. Somewhere I have a video of one of my scouts doing a biblical newscast that is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

I really think that the religious emphasis is in some ways stronger than it was when I was a scout. I was a troop chaplain's aide, but neither the material, nor the respect was what it is now. I spent several weeks in 2003 as the chaplain at a council camp (Buckeye Council's Seven Ranges), and the chaplain's aides helped lead the Wednesday evening worship service. We also met a couple times to share ideas about how troops did religious services on weekend campouts. None of that was happening when I was a kid. The new emphasis on the crew chaplain at Philmont is another good example of how the twelfth point is becoming more important. Throughout all my time as scout and Scouter, the one constant has been P.R.A.Y. It has been the organization that has provided religious opportunities to kids all along. It has also been in the forefront of new ways to utilize the spiritual dimension of scouting. The new Duty to God patches is a prime example of what P.R.A.Y. has done and is doing.

I have a couple hopes for this organization.

First, I hope that we can continue to expand the number of kids who complete one or more of the curricula. For all the good that P.R.A.Y. has done, we have never really reached our potential to impart a spiritual touch to the scouting movement. I think that if ten times as many kids went through the program, it would have one hundred times the impact for scouting.

Second, I hope that more adults will be recognized for their service. The Boy Scout movement (and I'm certain this is also true for GSUSA and Campfire USA) is filled with people such as Scoutmasters and committee members who are faithfully integrating their spiritual and scouting lives, and who are making a difference in the lives of young people. We have a way of recognizing those people and their efforts, but all too often the connection does not get made. To use a Boy Scout example, I wish every district of every council searched as diligently for God & Service recipients as they do for Silver Beaver recipients.

Third, I think that the curricula we have developed has a market outside our traditional youth agency partners. Anywhere where there is a desire for one on one adult/youth Christian education, we have a curriculum that is time tested and first rate. People in Big Brothers/ Big Sisters, people in mentoring programs as part of a confirmation class, even just regular parents or grandparents who want a vehicle to share their faith with their kids could benefit immensely from material we have available.

I am proud of what P.R.A.Y. has done and is doing. At the same time, I think the best is yet to come.