Award and Achievement Programs for LDS Priests/Venturers

Awards and recognitions are a part of the activity and development program for LDS Priests.  However, they are not the full program.  For example, in Venturing, recognitions constitute one of seven methods utilized to achieve the aims of the program.

Nevertheless, awards and recognitions are important for the development of young men, in several ways:
     ! To help young men grow systematically
     ! To build a young man's sense of self-worth and confidence to achieve
     ! To strengthen a young man's relationships with parents and advisors
     ! As an indicator of a young man's progress toward positive goals
     ! As an indicator of overall program progress and success

For LDS Priests, the programs recommended by the Church suggest a three-fold opportunity to grow through achieving Duty to God, the Scouting rank of Eagle, and Venturing awards.

The following might be useful and realistic objectives regarding awards and recognitions for Priests in an LDS ward:
     1) Almost all young men achieve their Priests Duty to God certificate and the Duty to God
         Award.
     2) Almost all young men complete the Eagle rank who enter the quorum having that possibility.
     3) The majority of young men in the Priests quorum achieve the Venturing Religious Life
         Bronze award within 12 months, and many achieve other Venturing awards.

1) Duty to God

It seems to us that Duty to God is the most important of the achievement awards for Priests, with its focus on spiritual growth. However, the most critical goals specified in the Guidebook, those having to do directly with a young mans spiritual development, are mostly not about things that may be done as group activities. Rather they must be done individually or in the young mans home and family. Parent support is critical to the successful realization of the Duty to God program. Therefore, probably the actions by Bishopric members and Young Mens leaders that will have the most impact most impact relate to creating a climate in the ward that promotes the Duty to God program and in training parents in how they might be effective in helping their sons achieve this award.. Keeping parallel records of progress in a program such as Troopmaster may have some benefit, if only to provide a reason to meet with boys and their parents, and accentuate the need to keep working on the goals and to record progress regularly.

Another way that the Priests quorum activity programing might help its young men achieve Duty to God was suggested by the panel chaired by Elder Oaks as part of Aaronic Priesthood-Scouting Satellite Broadcast on the Duty to God program May 12, 2007.   It was suggested that wards operating an active Venturing program might consider a modification to Duty to God requirements.  This change would appear to simplify the process and at the same time send a message to young men and their families that Venturing is an important part of the Priests Quorum program, including the recognition aspects of Venturing, and that Duty to God efforts should be blended with the scouting programs where possible. The modification we are using is this: If a young man is active in the Venturing program as demonstrated by 1) at least 75% attendance for the period of a year, and 2) achievement of one scouting recognition while a Venturer (advanced a rank toward Eagle, or completed one of the Venturing Awards, i.e., one of the Bronze awards), we count that as fully meeting the three Duty to God goals areas that overlap the activity focus of Venturing:
               o Physical Development
               o Educational, Personal, and Career Development
               o Citizenship and Social Development

Authority for this modification was clearly given by the panel chaired by Elder Oaks in the  Broadcast referenced above.

For more discussion on helping young men achieve Duty to God, see
     1) Encouraging young men to achieve their Duty to God awards, by substituting Scouting
         activity for some items in the Fulfilling Our Duty to God guidebook
     2) Suggestions for parents....

2) Eagle rank

Our experience is that with the right kind of encouragement and support from their advisors, a number of young men will complete their Eagle as Priests, and that this is important for their development. For more discussion on possible procedures and methods for giving this support, click here.

3) Venturing Awards

The Venturing program has recently expanded its recognition program to include several very interesting and useful awards, from which a young man might experience significant growth. Unfortunately, these awards are not very well known and utilized.  Our strategy is to introduce the Venturing awards to our young men, by emphasizing the Venturing Religious Life Bronze in our program. Our goal is that almost every Priest be able to achieve this award within their first 9-12 months in the Quorum, with the hope that they then will accept the challenge to work on more advanced Venturing awards. To accomplish this, we are 1) including several items needed for this award in our Venturing calendar (First Aid and CPR training, cultural diversity experiences with a prospective missionary emphasis, and ethical controversies activities), and 2) identifying uniquely LDS religious practices (i.e., Seminary attendance) that are important indicators of a "religious life" for LDS youths but are not specifically mentioned as options for meeting the requirements of this award.  Authority for these additions is clearly stated in the requirements for this award in the Venturing Handbook, when approved by a young man's advisor.

Click here to view a chart that details ways that an LDS youth might meet the requirements for the Venturing Religious Life award.

Robert Lewis, Wolf Hollow 2^nd Ward, Spanish Fork East Stake
August 23, 2008