Comparative Religion title

The girls of the Troop had a great time exploring the "serve God" portion of the Girl Scout promise.  They explored the belief systems and traditions of many religious systems, learning tolerance for all and about the diversity of beliefs of children everywhere.  With these activites Brownies earned a Troop's Own Religion Try-It and Juniors earned a Troop's Own Junior Merit Badge.  Click the links below to see pictures of all the memories!  Special thanks to the clergy of all traditions that opened their arms to the troop and made each experience unique and enriching.
 
 

Medine Buddha sign Land of Medicine Buddha is a center and retreat for those who follow the Medicine Buddha teachings within Tibetan Buddhism.  Our docent for our Buddhist tour was a lovely female Buddhist nun from Britain.  Click here to see pictures of the girl's experiences.  

For more information about the Land of Medicine Buddha, visit their website.
 

photo of the Koran The girls enjoyed their visit to the Islamic Center.  There they observed a daily prayer ritual, discovered why Islamic women are covered and learned to write their names in Arabic.  We have no pictures of this trip.

For more information about the Islamic Center of Santa Cruz, be sure to call them.
 

Stained glass window from Temple Emannuel Every year the troop participates in Girl Scout Sabbath by attending the Friday night Shabbat at Temple Beth-El.  The girls in the troop are always treated to an introductory tour by a docent before the service.  This year the girls were pleased to attend a Shabbat that featured the children's choir and a play put on by the youth group.  As always the food following the Shabbat was fantastic!  We do not have pictures of our trip, but the synagogue has a lovely website with a lot of pictures and information about the stained glass windows that can be seen in this beautiful synagogue.
 
Inside of Saints Peter-Paul Anitiochian Orthodox Church The SS. Peter & Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church has wonderful iconography throughout the sanctuary.  Father David Barr was very patent with all the girls questions.  Click here to see what the girls did and saw on this field trip.

For more information about SS. Peter & Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church, visit their website.
 

Fox, founder of Quakerism Our journey to the Quaker Center was a memorable experience.  Girls participated in a silent meditation walk and had long talks with our great Quaker docent about the philosophy of Quakerism.  Click here for pictures of the girl's field trip.

For more information about the Quaker Center, visit their website.

inside St Andrew's Episcopal Church The troop always participates in Girl Scout Sunday at St. Andrew's Episcopal church.  This year troop members were ushers, did a chimer's presentation and the flag processional, recessional.  A member of the troop also received her religious recognition award.  The troop also hosted the reception following the service, with Girl Scout cookies of course!  Click here to see all the photos of a great Sunday.

For more information about St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, visit their website.
 

Dances of Universal Peace logo The girls had a great time learning about various religious traditions through dance.  The Dances of Universal Peace are an ideal venue for this form of exploration.  We filled out our studies through these dances by exploring Native American and Hindu traditions.  We have no pictures presently, but since the girls love to do these dances for opening and closing of meetings, they may yet appear!

For more information on Dances of Universal Peace, visit their website.

 

monastery sign
The girls enjoyed their tour of Gold Mountain Sagely Monastery located in China Town, San Francisco.  We actually were priveleged to see the monks perform a service.  This is a Zen Buddhist monastery, quite different from the Tibbetan Buddhist retreat we had visited before.  Click here to view the troop photos of our visit.
Tao mask Also in China Town of San Francisco, we had the opportunity to explore a Taoist Temple. This was very different from anything else we saw.  The statues in the temple also are worn in parades!  Click here to see all the photos!

Remember, all Girl Scouts can earn recognitions individually that reflect their faith.  For more information visit the P.R.A.Y. website.

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This website is unofficial. Girl Scout words, pins, the trefoil shape and other items are trademarked to GSUSA.
 

We recommend you also visit Girl Scout Memorabilia, it's a great site by our troop sponsor.

This site was designed courtesy of Crystal Cloud Graphics using digital camera images of troop activities and modified using Click to get your own copy of XARA!.  This site is navigable for the seeing impaired.  Contact web mistress Kythera Ann with comments or questions.