Scouter Development:
Lay Apostolate Formation for Scouting
The National Catholic Committee on Scouting® (NCCS) offers a special
training course to diocesan committees who want to prepare Scouters to
use Scouting as a form of youth ministry.
In recent years there has been a growing awareness that the work done
in the Scouting program is true ministry. As adults we are witnessing
not only to our own faith commitment, but we are also trying to help the
Scout make a personal faith commitment.
Lay apostolate formation is the process by which we, as Catholic Scouters,
create greater awareness of our role to "seek the kingdom of God by engaging
in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God."
(Dogmatic Constitution on the Church-Lumen Gentium, 31). We fulfill the
role of the lay apostolate through our involvement in the secular realm
of the Boy Scouts of America giving us the opportunity to carry out the
necessary task of evangelizing the secular world, particularly through
our involvement with children and adolescents.
The Scouter Development: Lay Apostolate Formation for Scouting program
is designed to help Scouters come to a better understanding of the role
of religious faith in their lives. The program is designed to be experiential
and not overly didactic. Through a series of guided reflections, both
the individual and the group examine Scripture passages to ascertain how
God is calling each to respond.
The Scouter does not have to know any specific doctrines, nor is an extensive
knowledge of Scripture presumed. What is of critical importance, however,
is that the Scouter be reflective and be willing to share those reflections
with others.
The program has four component parts or dimensions. These are: the call
to leadership, the call to holiness, the call to conversion, and the call
to worship.
Under ideal circumstances the program will be held over a weekend at either
a Scout camp or a retreat house. This extended time commitment allows
for more reflection and deeper discussion. The objective is to provide
an environment in which the Scouter may come to an understanding of personal
faith and then experience the confidence to share that faith in the Scouting
community.
Scouter Development Facilitator Manual (pdf file 330 kb)
if you don't want to download the large file, use the following order
form:
Scouter Development Facilitator Manual
order form (pdf file 16kb)
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For more information, please contact: NCCS
Training Committee
July 3 2007
