Walks by a Methodist Church End in a Lifetime Commitment to Scouting

by J. Richard Peck

John Fooks' parents did not attend church, but as youngster growing up in New Providence, N.J., he says he was still attracted to the Methodist Church. "Each time I passed that church it was comforting because the church, the classrooms and even the cool wooded cemetery offered me some sanctuary from a pretty tough home life."

A few years later, he decided to pursue a God and Country award with the Boy Scouts. He said the pastor kept him focused on Bible and his personal commitment to Christ, but he had no idea that years later he would serve as the counselor for 30 to 35 students who would annually pursue religious awards.

Asked how he began his ministry with scouting's religious awards program, he said, "After college, children and lots of moving around the country, somewhere along the line Gerri (my wife) and I started searching for a church home." 

After settling in Fort Collins, Colo., the family started attending the First United Methodist Church. A friend asked him if I would help start a Cub Scout Pack at the church. By that time he had been involved in Cub Scouting for more than 15 years, so he quickly agreed. That was when he rediscovered the Boy Scout's commitment to spiritual development and he began investigating the religious awards program. 

"At my first Cub Scout Pow Wow I met a man named Elwin Hebner who chaired the Longs Peak Council Protestant Committee," says Fooks. "Mr. Hebner had a traveling display and literature for all of the religious awards programs offered through the Program for Religious Activities in Youth (PRAY). That fall I offered to teach a Protestant Religious Award class for my Cub Scout Pack and I located resources to teach the other denominational awards for non-Protestant parents and youth." 

During the next several years parents from Pack 98 began to recruit Cub Scouts from other packs in the area and because there are different age brackets in the PRAY program Fooks recruited some parents to teach classes as well. 

"Kids are interesting critters," says Fooks, "and anyone, who has watched a child mature and develop understands that well; 'one size does not fit all.'" 

The God and Country series includes awards for several age groups: God and Me (grades 1-3), God and Family (grades 4-5), God and Church (grades 6-8) and God and Life (grades 9-12).

Fooks says that for the younger children he's found that a classroom setting with 10 to 12 kids works well. "It's easier to get the kids to be reflective and open their minds if you keep their hands busy," he says. "Frequently we will photocopy pictures from the PRAY books and have them available to color the pictures while participating in discussions. For older boys working on the God and Country award, it has generally been more successful to schedule independent counseling (within the BSA youth protection guidelines) with an available pastor." The program runs about six weeks, from mid-October through the end of November.

"Sessions are held each Friday at 6:30 PM with one-half hour of guitar strumming, group singing, and some witness," says Fooks. "We break into classes and meet for about an hour where we spend time reviewing the previous week's assignment, have some discussion and sometimes thought-provoking reflection on the current week's activities. It always amazes me when an 8-year old boy asks a question that has no answer. Although it is lots of fun asking the other boys how they would answer." Fooks says the program offers both parents and kids time to talk about their religious beliefs. 

Asked why the program is so important to him, Fooks says, "Christians were given the great commission nearly 2000 years ago and still most people on this earth exist without a rooted connection to their God. My interest in children, the possibilities that can exist within families, the opportunities to feel close to God, all call me to work in this program. The personal fulfillment that I feel at the close of each year's successful program is so lifting to me, to the other teachers and to the parents of the Cub Scouts that I would feel empty if I couldn't teach the program again."

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