A Scouts Own Service

Call to worship (chaplain aide):

Almighty god, who pourest out your blessings on all, deliver us this day from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections, we may worship you in spirit and in truth.

Opening prayer (all):

The lord is my shepard; i shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i shall fear no evil for thou art with me.  Thy rod and thy staff comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and i shall dwell in the house of the lord forever.

Song:  america (all)

My country ‘tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee i sing.
Land where my fathers died
Land of the pilgrims’ pride.
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring.

Responsive reading:  the scout oath

People: on my honor i will do my best 

Chaplain aide: our honor is a quality we possess because of our dignity as human beings and children of god. Our 'best' means to give all we have.  It means to keep striving to do what we know is right, and in the oath.  It means we will try to be good scouts by fulfilling our scout duties as expressed in the scout law. 

People: to do my duty to god and my country and to obey the scout law.

Chaplain aide: our duty to god and country means chiefly two things:  obedience and loyalty. The duties we owe to god, to our country, to our parents, to one another, and to ourselves come from some command of god. The scout law sums up all the qualities a scout should have and without which he cannot be a good scout. 

People: to help other people at all times 

Chaplain aide: our lord told us that love of neighbor was like the first law of love of god. The first children of god were known by the love they had for one another. Real human charity or love prompts us to want to help others at all times. Our scout training will give us skills and knowledge that will put us in a better position to do this. 
 
People: to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally 
Straight.

Chaplain aide: scouting offers us many opportunities to grow physically. To be alert and ready requires us to give special care to those gifts of soul - intellect and will - that make us unto god. 'Morally straight' means we must try to know what is right and true, and to love what is good and 
Choose it. 

Hymn:  oh beautiful (all)

Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties,
Above the fruited plain. 

(chorus) 

America, america. God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea. 

Oh beautiful for patriot dream,
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears. 

(repeat chorus)

Prayer (chaplain aide):

"great spirit, whose tepee is the sky and whose hunting ground is the 
Earth, 
Mighty and fearful are you called.
Ruler over storms, over men and birds and beasts, 
Have your way over all,
Over earthways as over skyways. 
Find us this day our meat and corn, 
That we may be strong and brave. 
And put aside from us our wicked ways as we put aside the bad 
Works of them who do us wrong. 
And let us not have such troubles as lead us into crooked roads, 
But keep us from all evil, 
For yours is all that is the earth and the sky; 
The streams, the hills and the valleys, the stars, the moon, 
And the sun, and all that live and breathe.
Wonderful, shining, mighty spirit."

Benediction (chaplain aide):

"an old irish blessing"

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind always be at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May god hold you in the palm of his hand.