Youth Ministries Bronze

The Youth Ministries Bronze award provides an outstanding collection of activities for Aaronic Priesthood holders to prepare for a lifetime of service. Some of the requirements that I see as a natural fit include:

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Cultural diversity: This is very useful for helping young men learn to appreciate cultural differences in preparation for a mission. It could also be used in conjunction with talking with returned missionaries or converts about their experiences. (This could be used in conjunction with the Duty to God requirements involving foreign languages: Articles of Faith and Greetings.)

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Service projects: This ties in very well with the Duty to God service project, as well as the other mentioned service projects that don't benefit members of the church. In particular, volunteering regularly at a hospital or care center matches directly a Duty to God goal.

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Religious retreat or trek: Many options here, including a Outdoor Living History re-enactment of a Church historical event or location. Also, this retreat could include a missionary preparation training experience, which could also at least partially fulfill the Duty to God goal of participating in a missionary preparation program.

However, some of the requirements might need to be thought about. I've had questions on a number of them, and it's probably best to get these out in the open and find solutions (if needed).

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Religious award. The intent here is On My Honor, which is the LDS Scouting religious award. However, this is based on the Boy Scouting program. A boy who joins the crew, but has no other Scouting experience will not be able to earn this award (which is based on getting the Star rank and maintaining LDS standards-a strange award, in my view, that needs updating). What is the alternative for a pure Venturer?

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Leader in Church youth group or Sunday School class. Member of priests quorum presidency counts, as does Sunday School class president. Of course, this makes a strong case for needing the SS class president to actually do something. Are there other opportunities available if there are a lot of boys in the crew?

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Sunday school teacher or Bible school. As for being a Primary teacher, this is directly addressed in the CHI guidelines, that youth do not teach. They attend their own classes. This leads to finding something comparable to week-long Bible school. What is the LDS alternative here? Cub Den Chief? Are there others? What about helping teach children at Relief Society's Home, Family and Personal Enrichment meeting? (Is this even compatible with the guidelines in the handbooks?) Is this a requirement that we ought to find a completely separate type of requirement based on Bronze award flexibility?

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Interview with minister. The apparent intent of this requirement is to encourage youth to learn what is involved in going into the ministry as a profession. Although we don't work towards leadership in the church as a goal, we do prepare for all types of service. As such, an interview with the bishop would still be very good.

It is important to note that while some of the requirements could be done as a group, others must be done alone. The total program shouldn't take too long, other than the various requirements that involve three month commitments. The crew should be able to help members reach this fairly soon in their career in the crew, leading to continued experience towards the Gold and Silver awards, as well as the Duty to God award.

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