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Girl Scouts and Faith

Celebrating Spirituality and Faith

Everything in Girl Scouting is based on the Girl Scout Promise and Law, which includes many of the principles and values common across religions. So while we are a secular organization, Girl Scouts has always encouraged girls to take spiritual journeys via their faiths' religious recognitions.

Plan a Girl Scouts Celebrate Faith Event

Girl Scout Week is a time when we shout our Girl Scout pride from the rooftops! It’s also a time when many troops celebrate the connections between Girl Scouting and their faith, learn more about other faiths, and thank faith partners for their support throughout the year. Girls can join in the festivities on three specially designated dates (or a day of your choosing):

  • Girl Scout Sunday: Sunday March 6, 2022
  • Girl Scout Jummah: Friday March 11, 2022
  • Girl Scout Sabbath/Shabbat: Friday March 11 – Saturday March 12, 2022

Whether they participate in a worship service, plan an activity before or after the service, or organize a service project, your girls can honor those meaningful connections in lots of ways! Check out these resources to help you plan, promote, and carry out your event with your faith partner.

  1. Girl Scouts Celebrate Faith Flyers: Add your event details to these customizable fliers and ask your faith partner to share in their newsletter or bulletin.
  2. Sample Order of Service Ideas: Encourage your girls to play an active role in your house of worship’s service! Work with your faith partner to select the best options for your event.
  3. Activities Tip Sheet: Try one of these activities before or after the worship service and during Girl Scout Week (check out the tips below for more!). As always, team up with your faith partner to find an option that works for everyone.
  4. PowerPoint Inserts: Customize these sample PowerPoint slides and ask if your faith partner can include them in a worship service slide show to promote your event. (Spanish slides available).
  5. Sample Prayers: Share these sample Girl Scout-focused prayers and sample speech with your faith partner. Please work with your faith partner to identify the best options for your event.
  6. Iron-On Embroidered Patches: Make your Girl Scouts Celebrate Faith event something your troop won’t forget—with a patch! Patches are available at the council shop or the online Girl Scout Shop and include: Girl Scout Sunday, Girl Scout Jummah, Girl Scout Sabbath, and Girl Scout Faith (for any faith celebration or faith event, including interfaith).

Tips for Planning a Memorable Event

Here are some tips for planning your event.

  • Work closely with your faith partner. Teaming up will help event planning and promotion go smoothly and deepen the connection between your troop and your faith partner.
  • Start early. Houses of worship will appreciate the extra time to incorporate your event into their worship schedule!
  • Include pre- and post-activities. Events before and after the worship service are a great way to share the benefits of Girl Scouting with faith families and give back to your faith partner. You might do a service project or host a cookie booth and/or cookies and punch reception after the service —check out the activities tip sheet for more ideas.
  • Promote your event. Spread the word through social media and neighborhood channels. Ask your faith partner to promote the event in their newsletters or bulletins. And give your Girl Scout council a heads up too: they may amplify through their channels.
  • Thank your faith partner after the event. Faith partners will appreciate a note of thanks after your event, especially one they can share with their community.
Religious Recognitions
  My Promise, My Faith

Girls of all grade levels can now earn the My Promise, My Faith pin, which complements existing religious recognitions and allows girls to further strengthen the connection between their faith and Girl Scouts. Once each year, a girl can earn the My Promise, My Faith pin by carefully examining the Girl Scout Law and tying it directly to tenets of her faith. Requirements for this pin are included in The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting for all levels.

My Promise, My Faith Fact Sheet (PDF)

  Religious Recognitions

Created by national religious organizations to encourage the spiritual growth of youth members, religious recognition programs reinforce many of the values integral to Girl Scouting and help girls grow stronger in and learn more about their chosen faith.

Each religious organization develops and administers its own program. The brochure "To Serve God" (PDF) lists the religious recognitions created by various faith groups. You can find this brochure, a video explaining religious recognition programs, and other resources for collaborating with faith communities at P.R.A.Y. Publishing.

Some religious organizations are not affiliated with P.R.A.Y. or may not have a national office. To learn about their religious recognitions, contact local leaders.

GSGWM and Catholic Church Relationship

Girl Scouts of the USA is proud of its 100-year relationship with the Catholic Church and is pleased that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has on its website the following resources: Questions and Answers About Girl Scouts of the USA and About Catholic Scouting; Background on Girl Scouts of the USA and USCCB Conversations.

Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester have a signed Memorandum of Understanding to reaffirm the long history of mutual support between the Catholic Church and Girl Scouting.  

Resources