God & Country Effort

There may be no better rite of passage for young people in America, today, than Scouting. Too many children and adolescents have too few options to be engaged in healthy ways to grow. All need support and encouragement to mature--even if that is nothing more than a peer or mentor to notice and affirm successful efforts, to accept and help correct mistakes, to advise and provide leadership as one plans to move forward. In Scouting, there is always far more underway than going camping and earning merit badges, and there are no suitable substitutes for caring, appropriate, personal interactions. Real life cannot be just a spectator sport sadly fostered by social media and online gaming; real people, realized people must be formed by involved engagement.

Even as abilities are acquired and agilities are enhanced however, young people must be coached to cautiously recognize and acknowledge that real living can be dangerous. Cultivating confidence, even the bravery that pioneering leadership requires, always entails risk that must be responsibly supervised. Further, there needs to be a language taught so that young people can find words to make meaning of their experience.

It is into some of that fertile silence that God and Country plunges. Beyond what we "know", there is... MORE! At its best, the focus isn't on indoctrination into a particular denomination or religion but an introduction into an even larger All That Is! The most whole (holiest), healthiest leaders are not recruiting evangelizers to a specific faith stance. Not "steel hands in velvet gloves" kind of people, they are door openers--and, for some, the doors into new avenues of growth haven't even, before, been noticed.

When ideas about God and Country are first introduced, each leader must accommodate the participants' stages of development. Young people are often more interested in physical activity, have shorter attention spans and can tire quickly of talking about ideas. The program is simply to model a way religion might provide a firm and level foundation for exploration, but it may foster connections and enhance the faith system of which a young person may already be a part.

Map-makers (cartographers) have always drawn the world as far as they know it to be. Beyond those bounds, they have drawn on their imaginations. Some of the earliest maps have creatures that look like frogs with wings, creatures that seemed to want to fly but keep bouncing on their bottoms. The map-makes also wrote words: "Here be (the earliest pictures of) dragons!"

God and Country can provide an introductory, beginner's map for a way to become fully human.

-Dan Weathersbee

God and Family being offered at St. Bethlehem in Clarksville, TN starting on 9/7/16

If anyone in Clarksville, TN has a son or daughter in 4th-5th grade and would like for them to take God and Family (a non denominational look at how having God in our lives creates a healthy family) over 4-6 weeks on Wednesday nights please let me know. I'm going to be starting this class at St. Bethlehem United Methodist Church on Wednesday nights at 6:30 starting September 7th. It is free to attend.

Children will read about different families in the Bible, which can teach them about God’s plan for strengthening families. To remember these lessons, children will compare families and “pizza.” The six steps for making pizza will give students a concrete, “hands-on” model on which to build their understanding of God’s love for their families. They will make a pizza as they study how families can grow together in God’s love, and they will choose “family projects” to be done with their family at home.

-originally posted by ‎Lillian Watson on FB

January 17 Webcasts on the New Cub Scouting Program

January 17 Webcasts on the New Cub Scouting Program

A new Cub Scouting program is launching June 1, 2015, that will be more fun and exciting for boys, and easier to implement for unit leaders. To ensure you are ready to make the transition, a number of webcasts will be hosted on January 17 to outline the coming changes, how to prepare, and when resources will be available.

Cubmaster Webcasts

Saturday, January 17, at 8 a.m. (Central), or

Saturday, January 17, at 3 p.m. (Central)

Den Leader Webcasts

Saturday, January 17, at 9:30 a.m. (Central), or

Saturday, January 17, at 4:30 p.m. (Central)

LDS-Specific Considerations*

Saturday, January 17, at 11 a.m. (Central), or

Saturday, January 17, at 6 p.m. (Central)

* It is recommended that those interested in the LDS session view one of the role-specific sessions first.

 

Although the content will be geared to the roles listed, anyone with an interest in learning about the new Cub Scouting program is welcome to attend.

 

The sessions will be recorded for later viewing.

 

It's easy to attend! Just navigate your Internet browser to http://www.livestream.com/bsanationalcouncil and you are ready to view the webcast!

 

As always, for more information on the new Cub Scouting program, please go to www.scouting.org/programupdates.

 

Help spread the word about the webcasts to ensure others are ready for the new Cub Scouting program!

Annual Meeting Notice

The Annual Meeting of the National Association of United Methodist Scouters (NAUMS) will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, July 26, 2014 at the St. James Hotel in Cimarron, New Mexico.   

The Nominations Committee received 3 nominations for election to the Board of Directors at the meeting and they are:

Randy Fleming, Nebraska

John Hargrave, Ohio

Mark Schlichenmeyer, Texas

and all three currently serve on the Board of Directors.

The events of the last year will be discussed.

The Board is also proposing changes to the Bylaws to:

1)  Change the term of office of the President 

2)  Change the wording in various sections to reflect the changes made at the last General Conference and to bring us into compliance with Tennessee Non-Profit law on affiliations and Reciprocal Directors.  

Please visit our Web page at naums.org and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NAUMS1.