NAPS Awards & Honors
Churches, Units, Adults, Youth
Churches, Units, Adults, Youth
Click the picture buttons below to view Award Information. The file is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. To read you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Youth EmblemsGod and Me
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
God and Family
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
God and Church (Presbyterian)
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
God and Life
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
Spiritual Growth Certificate
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
Presbyterian Unit Award of Excellence
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
God and Country Mentor Program
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
God and Service Award
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
Celtic Cross
Purpose
Eligibility
Requirements
Purpose
- Encourages children to become best friends with Jesus and tell their story of “God and Me” together
Eligibility
- Youth in first through third grade
Requirements
- Designed to be completed in four to five sessions
- Youth completes sessions on God Created Me, Jesus Is God’s Gift to Me, I Can Talk With God, Because God Cares for Me, I Can Care for Others
God and Family
Purpose
- Help youth understand the importance of family and God’s role in a healthy family
Eligibility
- Youth in fourth and fifth grade
Requirements
- Designed to be completed in six to seven sessions
- Sessions include:
- We are God’s Family
- Family Heritage, Spiritual Heritage
- Our Talents and Gifts Strengthen Our Families
- In God’s Family We’re Loved No Matter What! Because We’re Loved, We Follow Rules
- Being in God’s Family Helps Us When Things Are Tough
- In God’s Family, We Share as a Response to God’s Love
God and Church (Presbyterian)
Purpose
- Gives youth an opportunity to understand the church’s structure and objectives, and to participate in service projects that will give them a better understanding of the mission of the church
Eligibility
- Youth in sixth through eighth grade
Requirements
- Designed to take three to five months to complete
- Sessions include Meeting Christ, Worshipping God, and Witnessing and Ministering for Christ
- Must complete a video or photo album to share what they learned
God and Life
Purpose
- Teaches youth to study the lives of men and women in the Bible, discovering what their lives teach them about God, and challenging them to integrate the faith of those in the Bible into their daily lives
Eligibility
- Youth in ninth through twelfth grades who do not necessarily have to belong to a Boy Scout troop
Requirements
- Completion of five sections covering:
- How God calls all kinds of people
- God doesn’t expect us to do it on our own
- Each of us must make a personal response to the call of God
- God gives strength to face adversities
- God can accomplish great things through those who are willing to do God’s will
Spiritual Growth Certificate
Purpose
- Awards youth for their dedication to the God and Country religious growth program
Eligibility
- Any youth who is a member of the Presbyterian Church or a member of a unit sponsored by a Presbyterian Church and working within the God and Country religious program
Requirements
- Successfully complete three of the four God and Country religious growth programs
Presbyterian Unit Award of Excellence
Purpose
- Recognizes outstanding leadership and youth participation in Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, Varsity teams, and Venturing crews and ships charted by Presbyterian congregations or associated organizations
Eligibility
- Quality program as recognized by the Boy Scouts of America
- Youth membership participation in the appropriate religious growth program for their age level
- Unit participation in worship services
- Representation of chartered partner members on the unit leadership team
- Completion of a service project of significant contribution to the church
Requirements
- Awarded annually from applications submitted by the chartered organization representative, pastor, or head of the chartered organization and the unit leader to the National Association of Presbyterian Scouters
God and Country Mentor Program
Purpose
- Provides an adult with additional opportunities to model his or her Christian faith and to help a young child talk about his or her belief in God
Eligibility
- Parent or guardian of a youth in the God and Country program series
Requirements
- Completion of the God and Country curriculum working alongside youth for whom parent or guardian is responsible
God and Service Award
Purpose
- Acknowledge distinguished volunteer service by adults in ministry to young people by service through the church and the Boy Scouts of America
Eligibility
- Minimum of five years of service to the church
- Minimum of five years of service to Boy Scouts of America
- Encourage and assist young people in earning the God and Country award
- Promote religious observances at Boy Scouts of America functions at all levels
- Encourage youth to participate in community service projects
- Recruit volunteers to give leadership to Boy Scouts of America programs
- Promote the organization of Boy Scouts of America units among a church other than his or her own congregation
- Be a person whose Christian example is highly regarded by others in the church and whose lifestyle is a model for young people
Requirements
- Nomination application and letter of recommendation must be submitted to P.R.A.Y.
Celtic Cross
Purpose
- Recognizes adult leaders who have given exceptional service to children and youth
Eligibility
- Active as a youth leader associated with a Presbyterian Church program and demonstrates exceptional Christian character or has given faithful service to a youth program of a congregation by serving in church leadership positions
- Continuous record of using and supporting youth ministry with a minimum tenure of two years with programs such as the Boy Scouts of America
- Serves the organization at a level where he or she works directly with youth
- Encourages religious growth of the youth
Requirements
- Nomination forms must be completed with history and supporting information and submitted to the National Association of Presbyterian Scouters or the chartered organization representative for review

There are two sets of Awards recognized by NAPS. One is the Duty to God recognitions earned through the Boy Scouts of America. Another set is one offered through P.R.A. Y. Publishing.Org.
Duty to God Awards and Recognitions are found at http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Awards/ReligiousAwards.aspx. and http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-879_WB.pdf . These website covers the religious groups (listed in alphabetical order) that offer recognitions, what recognitions are available from that group, what one must do to earn the award as a youth, and information regarding nominations for adult awards (these cannot be earned directly but result from nominations by churches or troops for adults. Pictures of the awards are shown on these sites as well.Placement of the awards on uniforms is also given.
Other information on these and even some very helpful webinars can be found at the P.R.A.Y. website: http://www.praypub.org/main_frameset.htm. The site is sometimes a bit difficult for newcomers to follow as they pursue what is available. The staff at P.R.A.Y. are easy to talk too and help one to feel very at home with them and the site. Webinars sponsored by P.R.A.Y. also help one get a grip on all the information with great helps in how to implement the programs with your group. New items are being developed all the time.Suggestions for topics are welcome.
For Presbyterians, one of the primary awards is the Celtic Cross:
Duty to God Awards and Recognitions are found at http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Awards/ReligiousAwards.aspx. and http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-879_WB.pdf . These website covers the religious groups (listed in alphabetical order) that offer recognitions, what recognitions are available from that group, what one must do to earn the award as a youth, and information regarding nominations for adult awards (these cannot be earned directly but result from nominations by churches or troops for adults. Pictures of the awards are shown on these sites as well.Placement of the awards on uniforms is also given.
Other information on these and even some very helpful webinars can be found at the P.R.A.Y. website: http://www.praypub.org/main_frameset.htm. The site is sometimes a bit difficult for newcomers to follow as they pursue what is available. The staff at P.R.A.Y. are easy to talk too and help one to feel very at home with them and the site. Webinars sponsored by P.R.A.Y. also help one get a grip on all the information with great helps in how to implement the programs with your group. New items are being developed all the time.Suggestions for topics are welcome.
For Presbyterians, one of the primary awards is the Celtic Cross:

The Celtic Cross is derived, it is believed from the 8th century Irish missionaries and transported to Scotland by the same missionaries, tho there are some Scots who say it originated in Scotland. Certainly it holds a strong place in Scottish history. Many know that "the Blue Hose" of Presbyterian College comes from the early Celts who painted bodies blue to go into battle. For Presbyterians, the blue is symbol of our Scottish heritage and our fight for the light of God to fill our lives and, for NAPS, the lives of the crews, packs, troops and venturing groups we serve. We take the Bible literally into the field as we camp, cook, row, fish, shoot, scale and learn of God in nature and throughout the world. To an extent, we do for the cross of Christ and our work with youth, what Lord George, the McLeod who formed Iona Community, bespoke:“I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace, as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a high cross between two thieves: on the town garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek…. At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that’s where He died. And that is what He died about. And that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen should be about.”
We meet our youth in just the same world. We seek to lift their eyes to the cross as we pursue merit badge training, outdoor activities, high adventure camps and both national and international Jamborees.
NAPS awards the Celtic Cross to those who have served God, Church and Scouting with distinction.
We meet our youth in just the same world. We seek to lift their eyes to the cross as we pursue merit badge training, outdoor activities, high adventure camps and both national and international Jamborees.
NAPS awards the Celtic Cross to those who have served God, Church and Scouting with distinction.
Unit Award of Excellence Application - Click on the Thumbnail Above