Arrow of Light Elective adventure 5th grade

Duty to God in Action requirements (Arrow of Light)

Duty to God in Action is an Arrow of Light elective adventure with 6 requirements. Below is what each one asks in plain language, and a sixty minute den meeting plan that works through them: a gathering activity, the opening, the activity blocks, and what to say in the closing.

Plan this meeting in DenBuddy Jump to the plan

Free for one den. DenBuddy reads your den from Scoutbook Plus, and writes back only when you press Send.

Duty to God in Action requirements

Paraphrased for planning. Read the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Handbook requirement 1

Discuss with your parent, guardian, den leader, or other caring adult what it means to do your duty to God. Tell how you do your duty to God in your daily life.
Handbook requirement 2

Under the direction of your parent, guardian, or religious or spiritual leader, do an act of service for someone in your family, neighborhood, or community. Talk about your service with your family. Tell your family how it related to doing your duty to God.
Handbook requirement 3

Earn the religious emblem of your faith that is appropriate for your age, if you have not done so already.
Handbook requirement 4

With your parent, guardian, or religious or spiritual leader, discuss and make a plan to do two things you think will help you better do your duty to God. Do these things for a month.
Handbook requirement 5

Discuss with your family how the Scout Oath and Scout Law relate to your beliefs about duty to God.
Handbook requirement 6

For at least a month, pray or reverently meditate each day as taught by your family or faith community.

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Duty to God in Action

Five kinds of block in the order that works: something to do on arrival, the opening, den business, the adventure work split into chunks a Cub Scout can hold attention through, and a closing that names what got finished.

0:00 · 10 min

Gathering: tallest tower

Give the Scouts who arrive first something to do, so the meeting starts the moment they walk in.

Put scrap cardboard, painter's tape and two pairs of safety scissors on the gathering table.
The task on the card: build the tallest thing that stands on its own before the opening.
Scouts join whichever table has room, so nobody waits alone for the meeting to start.

0:10 · 5 min

Opening

Flag ceremony, Scout Oath and Scout Law. The same five minutes every week, run by the Scouts.

The denner calls the den to order and leads the flag ceremony.
Say the Scout Oath and the Scout Law together. New Scouts read from a card and nobody makes anything of it.
One sentence on tonight's adventure, Duty to God in Action, and the one thing everybody will get done.

0:15 · 5 min

Talk time

Den business while everyone is still sitting down, and a look at what is coming.

The two dates parents need: the next den meeting and the next pack event.
Ask who already did part of Duty to God in Action at home, and write the names down so it gets recorded.
Take one question from the den. Answer it or say when you will.

0:20 · 12 min

Activity 1: Discuss with your parent

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Duty to God in Action.

Sit the den in a circle, or in small groups if you have more than eight Scouts.
Read "Discuss with your parent, guardian, den leader, or other caring adult what it means to do your duty to God" out loud and give the den ten seconds of quiet before anyone answers.
Take one answer from every Scout. Nobody gets skipped and nobody gets rushed.
Write the den's answers on a flip chart so parents can read them at pickup.
Then requirement 2: sit the den in a circle and take one answer each on "Under the direction of your parent, guardian, or religious or spiritual leader".

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:32 · 12 min

Activity 2: Earn the religious emblem of your faith

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Duty to God in Action.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Earn the religious emblem of your faith that is appropriate for your age, if you have not done so already".
Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
Mark requirement 3 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
Then requirement 4: set the materials out on a second table and let them build "With your parent, guardian, or religious or spiritual leader, discuss" while you move between the two.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:44 · 11 min

Activity 3: Discuss with your family how the Scout

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Duty to God in Action.

Sit the den in a circle, or in small groups if you have more than eight Scouts.
Read "Discuss with your family how the Scout Oath and Scout Law relate to your beliefs about duty to God" out loud and give the den ten seconds of quiet before anyone answers.
Take one answer from every Scout. Nobody gets skipped and nobody gets rushed.
Write the den's answers on a flip chart so parents can read them at pickup.
Then requirement 6: read "For at least a month, pray or reverently meditate each day as taught by your family or faith community" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:55 · 5 min

Closing

End on time, and make sure every Scout leaves knowing what they finished.

Cubmaster's minute: one short thought tied to what the den just did. Sixty seconds, no lecture.
Read back what got finished tonight, requirement by requirement, so the Scouts hear their own progress.
Send the den off with the den yell, and catch the parents who need to hear something at pickup.

What to bring

Tonight's requirement list, printed, with a box to tick per Scout
A clipboard and pen for sign-offs as they happen
Cardboard, painter's tape and safety scissors
A local map and one compass per pair of Scouts
The den flag, a US flag on a stand, and Oath and Law cards for new Scouts
One laptop or tablet, and a printed copy of the pack's device rules

Worked out from the requirement text. Swap anything you already have in the den box.

Plan this meeting for your own den

This plan does not know your Scouts. DenBuddy does: import your den from Scoutbook Plus and the planner starts from the requirements each Scout is actually missing, keeps the block times, and turns the agenda into the record sheet afterwards.

Plan Duty to God in Action Create a free den

How the planner works

Youth protection is built in: Scouts have no accounts, check-in is done by a parent from a public link, and nothing DenBuddy does writes back to Scoutbook.

How youth data is handled

Questions about Duty to God in Action

How many requirements does Duty to God in Action have?

6. Each one is a single thing the Scout does. Check the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Is Duty to God in Action required for Arrow of Light?

No. Duty to God in Action is a Arrow of Light elective. A Scout needs the six required Arrow of Light adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does Duty to God in Action take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 6 of the 6 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Duty to God in Action at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Duty to God in Action is marked as family-only work, so a Scout who misses the meeting can finish with a parent and you record it when the family tells you.