PART
I

SECTION
I

Youth-serving organizations today are being challenged to offer more and more services to meet the needs of busy families. We have become a “one stop shopping” society where religious institutions offer exercise classes in conjunction with religion classes. The trend has been to increase services to the same audience and to extend the audience. One of the challenges facing Girl Scout councils is to build community partnerships in order to deliver the Girl Scout program to more girls. Religious institutions play a vital role in the community and share many common goals with Girl Scouting. They represent a rich, untapped resource for Girl Scout councils. This manual has two objectives: to outline the rationale why Girl Scout councils should work in partnership with religious institutions, and to show how Girl Scout councils can build successful partnerships with religious institutions.

Rationale
and Benefits

The Constitution of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. states that “the motivating force in Girl Scouting is a spiritual one.” Girl Scout councils have a natural affinity with religious organizations because of this spiritual component. Girl Scouting and faith communities have positive underlying values, and both strive to instill these values in young people. Although each organization on its own can have a positive impact on youth, their impact is much greater when they work together.

Benefits to Girls and Young Women
The most important reason for Girl Scout councils to work in partnership with religious institutions is the benefit to girls and young women. Search Institute of Minneapolis, Minnesota identified 40 developmental assets essential for a child’s healthy development (see “40 Developmental Assets” in Appendix 1A). Children cannot receive these assets from one source alone - multiple sectors of the community must work together to provide these assets. Girl Scouting can turn to religious institutions to develop the spiritual component in girls and young women, and religious institutions can turn to Girl Scouting to help promote assets in social competencies, constructive use of time, self esteem, etc.

The partnership concept is supported by the study, Girl Scouts: Who We Are, What We Think, which found that girls who are active in both Girl Scouting and a religious organization make better moral decisions than girls who participate in only one or the other organization.

I-3

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