Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Scout Law
The Scout Law has 12 points. Each is a goal for every Scout. A Scout tries to live up to the Law every day. It is not always easy to do, but a Scout always tries.
A Scout is:
Besides that, our mission is to have:
Scouts BSA Pack 201 meets at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 1418 Old Railroad Bed Rd, Madison, AL 35757. Our Pack and Den meetings are generally at 3:00 PM on Sunday. For more information see our Pack Calendar
For More information about Pack 201:
What "Six Essentials" should Cub Scouts bring with them on trips outdoors?
The Outdoor Code is: As an American, I will do my best to -
Leave No Trace Seven Principles
© 1999 by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: www.LNT.org.
legend | Date | Day of Week | Activity | Venue | Time |
pack | 07/29/23 | Saturday | Day Hike Cave Experience | Rickwood Caverns | 2:00 PM |
pack | 08/06/23 | Sunday | Back to the Pack | Dublin Park | 3:00 PM |
pack | 08/13/23 | Sunday | Popcorn Kickoff | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 08/20/23 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 08/27/23 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 09/10/23 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 09/17/23 | Sunday | Recycling Rain Gutter Regatta and Parent Information Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 09/24/23 | Sunday | Pack Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
district | 09/30/23 | Saturday | Cub Scout Fishing Derby | Multiple Locations | 9:00 AM |
district | 10/07/23 | Saturday | Cub Scout Fishing Derby | Multiple Locations | 12:00 AM |
district | 10/13/23 | Friday | Cub Haunted | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 10/14/23 | Saturday | Cub Haunted | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 10/14/23 | Saturday | Cub Scout Fishing Derby | East Lake, Birmingham | 9:00 AM |
pack | 10/14/23 | Saturday | Fall Camp out | Camp Jackson | 12:00 PM |
pack | 10/15/23 | Sunday | Fall Camp out | Camp Jackson | (Contd.) |
district | 10/20/23 | Friday | Cub Haunted | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 10/21/23 | Saturday | Cub Haunted | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 10/22/23 | Sunday | Cub Haunted | Camp Comer | TBA |
den | 10/22/23 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
district | 10/27/23 | Friday | Cub Haunted | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 10/27/23 | Friday | Cub Haunted | Camp Westmoreland | TBA |
district | 10/28/23 | Saturday | Cub Haunted | Camp Comer | TBA |
pack | 10/29/23 | Sunday | Pack Meeting/Scouting for food drop off | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 11/04/23 | Saturday | Scouting for food Pickup | Good Shepherd UMC | 12:30 PM |
den | 11/05/23 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 12/03/23 | Sunday | Pack Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 01/07/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 01/21/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 01/28/24 | Sunday | Pack Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 02/02/24 | Friday | STEM Lock-In | Good Shepherd UMC | 6:00 PM |
den | 02/04/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 02/11/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 02/25/24 | Sunday | Pack Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 02/29/24 | Thursday | Pinewood Derby Setup | Good Shepherd UMC | 7:00 PM |
pack | 03/01/24 | Friday | Pinewood Derby Check in | Good Shepherd UMC | 6:00 PM |
pack | 03/02/24 | Saturday | Pinewood Derby | Good Shepherd UMC | 1:30 PM |
den | 03/03/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 03/24/24 | Sunday | Blue and Gold/AOL Crossover | Creekwood Park, 360 Harvestwood Ct, Madison, AL 35758 | 2:00 PM |
den | 04/07/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 04/13/24 | Saturday | Spring Camp Out | Camp Westmoreland | 12:00 PM |
pack | 04/14/24 | Sunday | Spring Camp Out | Camp Westmoreland | 3:00 PM |
den | 04/21/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 04/28/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 05/05/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 05/19/24 | Sunday | Pack Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
den | 05/26/24 | Sunday | Den Meeting | Good Shepherd UMC | 3:00 PM |
pack | 06/15/24 | Saturday | Day Hike | Wade Mountain | 10:00 AM |
district | 06/17/24 | Monday | Day Camp | National Speleological Society Park | 12:00 AM |
district | 06/18/24 | Tuesday | Day Camp | National Speleological Society Park | 12:00 AM |
district | 06/19/24 | Wednesday | Day Camp | National Speleological Society Park | 12:00 AM |
district | 06/20/24 | Thursday | Day Camp | National Speleological Society Park | 12:00 AM |
district | 06/21/24 | Friday | Day Camp | National Speleological Society Park | 12:00 AM |
pack | 07/13/24 | Saturday | Day Hike | Beaver Dam Trail | 9:00 AM |
district | 07/14/24 | Sunday | Webelos Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 07/15/24 | Monday | Webelos Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 07/16/24 | Tuesday | Webelos Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 07/17/24 | Wednesday | Cub Scout Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 07/18/24 | Thursday | Cub Scout Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 07/19/24 | Friday | Cub Scout Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 07/20/24 | Saturday | Cub Scout Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
district | 07/21/24 | Sunday | Cub Scout Summer Camp | Camp Comer | TBA |
Den Meeting | Pack Event | District/Council Event | Past Event |
This is a quick introduction to preparing Scouts' Own services for Cub Scouts. "Scouts' Own" services are typically delivered as part of a camp out program, but they are appropriate for any scouting function in which cub scouts are expected to spend some time in reverence.
The Scout Oath begins with the reverence that each scout promises to show. The Scout Law finishes with the requirement of reverence for all scouts. Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement, realized that Scouts’ hearts are uplifted when they are encouraged to engage with the divine in the way to which they have become accustomed. (See Wikipedia Article.) Of course, scouts bring several different faith perspectives to the movement. Many of these perspectives disagree on significant doctrinal points. We should be sensitive to these differences since we do not want to make any scouts or scout families feel excluded.
As scouters, our goal is to help scouts grow into following the Scout Oath and the Scout Law. Usefully, to my knowledge, there is no spiritual tradition that actively discourages scout like conduct according to the Oath and Law. We can therefore wrap the Scouts' Own service around encouraging scouts to better follow the Oath and Law in the context of their respective traditions. To that end, it is worth exploring different traditions' texts in order to discover contributing material. When introducing a text, song, or prayer from a particualr tradition, it helps scouts' sense of orientation if the tradition is introduced first. Thus, If I am going to open a service with a blessing from the Christian, Catholic, tradition, I might introduce it thus: From the Christian, Catholic tradition let us pray …
I would encourage you to draw inspirational material from your own tradition. However, if you know that scouts are from a different tradition, It would help them to feel included if you specifically mention their traditions. Additionally, it will help scouts better tolerate the religious diversity that they will see as they grow in the program if you can include references to traditions that may be entirely foreign. One of the most beautiful Scouts' Own service in which I have participated had readings from the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible, The Qur'an, Lakota sayings, and Buddhist Sutras. All of these texts help the participant focus on how to better live up the the Scout Oath and Law.
There are a few things that we want do to get scouts engaged and keep them engaged with the ceremony. First, it needs to be short. Readings from scripture should be no more than 1-2 minutes. One of my favorites is the Fruits of the Spirit passage from the Christian Bible, Galatians 5:22 & 23 (NIV):
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.This is only two verses, but it provides a scriptural hook for a possible homily on trustworthiness, kindness or cheerfulness.
Homilies should also be short. For Troop aged scouts, I would recommend no more than 10 minutes. For Cubs, it should be no more than five minutes. I would encourage songs, but no more than one verse. And songs should be simple so that scouts will be able to follow and participate.
The second recommendation that I have for keeping Cubs engaged, is to allow them to participate in the service as much as possible. Troop scouts maybe content to sit quietly and listen, but I have found that Cubs get the wiggles if they are not saying or doing something as part of the service. The Reformed tradition in Christianity has a prayer rubric that may be helpful in structuring a service so that Cubs can participate on an individual level. It is called ACTS for the clever acrostic reference to the Christian Bible. It consists of Adoration Confession Thanksgiving, and Supplication. I walk through the ACTS before the homily, or I include the homily as a part of the one of the sections. Below, I put it with the confession.
My Lord, forgive me and accept my repentance, You are the Ever-Relenting, the All-Forgiving.(Homily) "It is important for us to realize the wrong things that we do. You might be asking yourselves why this might be. The answer is Wyrd. Can you name some things that are weird? Raise your hands and be kind now! (Let 2-5 scouts tell about something weird.) There is a different kind of Wyrd that I am talking about. It is spelled differently; it's W Y R D to be precise. The concept of Wyrd comes from a very old religion. Who here has heard of Thor? (Recognize any hands.) How about Odin? (Recognize hands) Many years ago, they were worshiped as gods by the Vikings. If this describes you, I would love to learn more about your tradition from you. However, I suspect that most of you have a different religion than the Vikings. So why would we want to learn religious ideas from a religion that isn't ours? The idea of Wyrd gives us a useful way to think about how our actions affect others. For the Vikings, Wyrd is like a cloth, and every human life is a thread in it. As you go along on your journey the Vikings would say that you are weaving your Wyrd from the things that you do. They realized that the deeds of others affect where you weave your thread. Sometimes that puts you in a very bad position. From the Novel, the Return of the King by the Christian writer J.R.R. Tolkein:"
"I wish it need not have happened in my time,", said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. ""Your choices have a serious effect on the direction of your thread. They also have a serious effect on the threads of other peoples lives. You must choose wisely and well. This is why it is important to reflect on your deeds, whether good or bad. Now from the Christian, Catholic tradition let us pray that our intentions be pure: "
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.
At this point, it would be appropriate to close with a song or some words that send scouts out into the world to do good deeds and live the Scout Oath and Law.