“We hope that every young man earns the Duty to God Award.” That is a statement by the First Presidency on page one of the Guidebook for Parents and Leaders of Youth. They further stated that the Duty to God program will help our young men “prepare for the temple endowment, missions, temple marriage, and parenthood.” Indeed, there is no greater cause than helping a young man “learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.” (D&C 107: 99) The First Presidency went on to state that earning the Duty to God Award should “become a symbol of your preparation to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.”
As a counselor in my stake’s Young Men’s program a couple of years ago, I was assigned to help the wards work on the Aaronic Priesthood Duty to God program. This was a privilege and a challenge. The challenge was, I found, that while most wards had a great emphasis on the Boy Scout program and had Scouting activities well integrated in the Young Men’s program, that same focus on the Duty to God program did not usually exist. In an effort to discover some of the obstacles and challenges parents and leaders face in helping young men achieving their Duty to God award, I conducted an informal survey. While not scientific, the survey results proved to be very informative.
Areas of Strength
Familiarity with Duty to God Program: Two thirds of parents and leaders said their familiarity with the program was good or excellent; this is fanastic. If you are a parent or leader of youth and you are not familiar with the program, please get and read the Duty to God booklets which are available online or from the Church distribution center. In an Open House in 2006, Charles W. Dahlquist, Young Men General President, said, “I challenge you to know the requirements of the Duty to God certificates and Scouting advancements so well that you can apply them effectively in helping the young men of your quorums have a fun, productive, priesthood-centered activity experience during their Aaronic Priesthood years.”
Activities Planned by Young Men: Two thirds of responding leaders said the boys plan and execute a majority of activities; again, this is excellent. Having the boys plan and carry out activities is an important part of the Duty to God requirements. In order to earn their Duty to God award, over their 6 years in YMs, by my count, each boy will need to plan and carry at least 7 quorum or combined activities, that’s slightly more than one a year per boy.
Areas of Weakness
Duty to God Interviews: Only 25% of respondents said they had regular Duty to God interviews with their boys where they would review requirements and progress. My feeling is that, ideally, parents should strive to have such an interview on a weekly basis and YM leaders should strive for once a month. In his talk entitled Fulfilling Our Duty to God: A Window of Opportunity, Brother Dahlquist said to “set a regular time to review progress.” He further said, “with your son, review the requirements he has completed, and help him select those he still needs to accomplish… Remember that young men need praise when they have accomplished a goal. Be generous, specific, and sincere in your praise.”
Duty to God Orientation: Only 20% of respondents to my survey reported having a program for orienting new deacons and their parents on the Duty to God program. This is a major area of improvement I recommended for all the wards in my stake. In the same talk reference above, Brother Dahlquist recommended that every new deacon receive a visit from the deacons quorum presidency and a young men’s leader to welcome him into the quorum. Among other things, he said they should bring the new deacon his own copy of the Duty to God guidebook, and explain what the program is and what it is to accomplish.
Tracking Requirements Progress: Most the wards in my survey had nothing, other than the boys’ booklets, to track Duty to God progress. The problem with this methodology is that the booklet is frequently lost, and therefore it becomes difficult to track progress of the boys individually and collectively. As a parent, usually the booklet will do just fine, but as a leader, having a central tracking system is indispensable and can help determine where to focus efforts. The tracking system could simply be on paper, through a website like ymyw.org, an Excel file or just a big poster, whatever works for you and your circumstances.
Other Challenges
In my survey, I asked what other challenges parents and leaders face in helping the young men complete the Duty to God program. Far and away the biggest challenge they mentioned was getting the boys excited about the program, and the second most commonly mentioned challenge was getting parents involved. I asked specifically about finding the time to work on it and about doing Scouting and Duty to God simultaneously. These were acknowledged as challenges, but not nearly as big an obstacle as motivating the boys and getting their parents involved. There were several mentions that, like Scouting, without dedication and commitment from the parents, it was unlikely that the boys would complete the Duty to God program.
The challenges are many, but I know parents, leaders and youth in the Church are up to the challenge. President Hinckley has said of our young people today: “Never before has there been such a generation of youth…You really are ‘a chosen generation.’ You are better educated. You desire to do the right thing. Many of you are trying to keep yourselves free from the corrosive stains of the world. In so many ways, you are remarkable! You are exceptional! I believe that as a group, you are the finest this world has ever seen.” (Way to Be! (2002), 3–4)
Conclusion
As usual, your thoughts on this subject are greatly appreciated. There are many parents and leaders struggling their best to help their young men through this divinely inspired program. What has been successful for you as you have worked with your son on Duty to God? What initiatives have been taken by your ward that have helped to motivate and inspire youth and parents?
I think the hardest thing for Adult Leaders in each Quorum is that there is no “official” time to work on your DTG. Sundays are for the lessons in the lesson manual. Wednesdays are for Scouting. When is the official time to work on DTG requirements?
I got the Duty To God award years ago as a Sea Scout in Maine. This was before the program was separated from the scouting program as it is today.
I do recall there was a lot of letters filed back and forth about why I was not in a “normal” scout troop doing “normal” scouting stuff like hiking and camping.
It a good program but it seems to be that it can become “just one more thing” the boys need to do. Like geting the On My Honor award and Eagle Scout.
I am will ing to bet in parts of the world where scouting is not part of the church program it perhaps gets more used.
To address Clint’s question, I think it is completely appropriate to set aside one mutual night a month to work on Duty to God.
To address Greg’s comment, I have heard that the Duty to God program is bigger in parts of the world that do not have Scouting. Perhaps any readers we have outside the US could confirm that.
From the 2007 broadcast on the Aaronic Priesthood and Scouting, I took away that our focus should be more on the spiritual aspects of the Duty To God program. The non-spiritual sides of DTG are already well covered in a functioning Boy Scout program. (I believe DTG was initially conceived as a worthy replacement to the Scouting program should that ever stray from its ‘morally straight’ ideals.)
Our ward is focusing our young men on attaining the Family, Quorum and Spiritual Development goals of DTG and leaving Physical Development, Educational/Career, Citizen/Social, and Service to Scouting. I was also under the impression that DTG might be revamped, as hinted at in Elder Oaks’ comment in the broadcast that “we’re working on that”. Insights?
[From the 2007 broadcast]
Elder Oaks: “For those who are greatly concerned about the checklist of requirements in this Duty to God program, let me just say that we are conscious that there are formal overlaps between the requirements of Fulfilling [Your] Duty to God and the great programs of the Scout movement. And we’re working on that. We’ll have some things to say about that later. But for the present, our advice has been to focus on the spiritual strength and priority of the Fulfilling [Your] Duty to God program and the uniquely successful activities program of the Scouts.”
Yes, I am from france and was part of the youth program as a youth and then as a YM president. You are correct. The duty to God program was a central part of the youth organization. We did not have scouting and so the duty to God program provided some outside activities and much needed spiritual growth goals as well. It worked perfectly for us then. I serve as a bishop now here in Utah and see the challenge being discussed about. I have very few YM in my ward at this time, and all of them did not come from families involved in the church. Without no cub scout training, there is now no interest in scouting. The duty to God program has now become very handy and provides resources to both needs. While we deal with other challenges, this remains a great resources due to the circumstances.
In a USA ward with an active scouting program, DTG is just one more thing to get in the way of having any family time. Having an extra “Spirit-Scouts-Lite” evening to work on *even more* personal development stuff really doesn’t appeal to those of us dealing with ward scouting, stake YMYW activities, stake basketball, cubs, Enrichment Night, etc etc etc.
From reading these comments, I am very happy that *someone* finds it worthwhile, and of benefit. I was having my doubts.
The answer is actually very simple, but horrifying to a number of church members.
The DTG program was developed in case the church needed to follow through on the threat of leaving scouting. There needed to be something that was, for lack of a better word, comprehensive to use as a replacement program.
DTG is an excellent development program, and includes many of the best parts of scouting. It also includes various areas of spiritual focus that aren’t necessarily part of a scouting program. Even better from my point of view is that it entirely leaves out the parts of scouting that often cause programs, participants and families to falter in their efforts. It leaves out the rather ridiculous ceremonial and militarized aspects. There are no uniforms other that the standards contained in For the Strength of Youth. There are no fees, and no fundraising for a separate body that may or may not use those funds in a way that would be supported by the contributors. Though implementation on top of scouting has been cumbersome, leaders and parents can very quickly become acquainted get a program running. The success in other areas of the world is a testament to this.
So the answer? Go with the better program, the one that has actually been custom designed for our needs. DITCH scouting and SWITCH to the Duty to God program. What would we actually lose?
(By the way, I’m not one of those bitter kids who didn’t like scouting growing up. I got all of my awards and completed the gold level of the Duke of Edinburgh program as well. I’ve also been a scout leader for the past decade. I like scouting. Kids who want to do it should still do it, but it’s time for the church to stop mandating the use of scouting when we have a better program just sitting there.)
Scouting and DTG is too much for the boys, families, and leaders to do both effectively. For LDS boys to achieve Eagle on a compressed schedule imposed by the church, generally the requirements are watered down. There is less focus on personal growth, leadership, patrol method, and outdoor skills to focus on advancement necessary to achieve Eagle.
The DTG program is a great goal-oriented achievement program. If some methods from scouting are incorporated into the church-sponsored program (leadership and teamwork for example), the combined could easily replace scouting in the LDS church. The boys and families would then be able to concentrate on the single program.
My wife is currently on the Stake Young Women’s as a councillor and I have been a high councillor over the Young Women and Young Men’s over here in the UK .
The trouble that I am seeing in the Young Men’s Program Duty to God is its being ignored or it appears to be in our stake at least and I would imagine others as well.
The problems that I sees is
· The Young Men’s President is doing it on his own in some of the smaller wards and branches.
· Often time’s bishoprics don’t help or get involved.
· The activity rates aren’t as high with the parents so it’s often the young man who is doing the program on his own with out parental support.
· If a deacon doesn’t meet his DTG requirements he may think “why should I go on I have to make up my deacon as well as my teacher – forget that”!
· A young men’s president on his own can’t or generally won’t gear the program so his two deacons, his one teacher and his one priest will achieve their DTG.
Regularly because of poor numbers young men and young women are combining activities.
We are seeing more young women on track to achieving their Personal Progress and more completing it. But I have never seen or heard of a young man achieve the Duty to God in our stake ever!
I see the merits in achieving the Duty to God but if its not happening overall we should look at options so these young men can feel a sense of achievement by the end of their Aaronic priesthood years.
What I would like to see is more of an overall program for Young Men and Young Women, where they can work on their priesthood duties in their quorums but a program that combines as many as possible of the personal progress into the DTG.
I think this would help wards that are poorly staffed and single parents who have possibly both young men and young women in the home and would like to see them both achieve the DTG and PP.
Hope you don’t mind me sharing my thoughts
One thing that has helped our Ward is tracking the progress of the young men in a central location (we use http://www.eTrailToEagle.com). We then use the reports to inform the leaders and parents of the progress of each young man.
The Bishopric, YM leaders and parents are all on the same page. This helps us identify those that may need more attention and help in accomplishing their goals.
What sort of a “sense of achievement” is necessary? Certainly obtaining awards can lead to that feeling.
In the past number of years I had a few boys that I ended up working with directly from age 12 to mission call with only a 6 month gap. Really good kids, really smart, really motivated. They honestly had so much going on in their lives with school, sports, church and family that neither scouting nor duty to god awards were much of a priority. So they didn’t track any of the activities they were doing. I talked with them and with their parents numerous times about the fact that they were completely on track with all of their programs, and they only needed documentation. Nothing got done.
Meanwhile, we had a group of kids move up into the YM program, and due to the efforts of a newly called scout leader, rather quickly got their Chief Scout awards. (We’re in Canada. Chief Scout is a significant award, and sort of a pre-cursor to the Queen’s Venturer Award, which is basically the equivalent of Eagle Scout) So a big deal was made not only in our ward, but in our stake about this group of kids getting all these awards. And that’s fine, because that recognition did seem to really make a difference, especially for a few of them who didn’t have much in the way of “achievement” success in other areas of their lives. But in terms of their overall personal development, they were leagues behind the older group who didn’t have any of their awards.
So I was trying to make sure these guys got recognized somehow, and figured out that they were all just a first aid course away from their Queen’s Venturer awards. Their response to my efforts in this regard surprised and pleased me.
One of them told me that he planned to get first aid certification, but it had nothing to do with an award. He wanted to get it so he had the skills and knowledge to help someone if needed. All three of these guys probably doubled the number of service hours required for any of the awards during their time in YM, and they were doing it purely to do the service, not to get an award. I think their “sense of achievement” might have actually been cheapened for them a little bit if they had other people make a big fuss about it at an award ceremony.
I think the DTG program is much more flexible to meet the needs of our kids. There’s structure their for the kids who need the carrot dangled in order to get anything at all done, and there’s the opportunity for challenge that self-motivated kids can use to improve themselves. The recognition still happens, but it can be very low key so as not to distract from the real purpose of the program. It’s not about ACHIEVING, it’s about BECOMING.
I ran in to a great many Eagle Scouts on my mission who just didn’t have a clue how to do anything but “checklist” achievement for its own sake, and while they were hard workers, they were not effective and it took a long while for them to figure out that missionary work was not the same as the work they had been doing in YM growing up.
Dear Brother Smith,
I think this is an excellent and timely article. The requirements for the Duty to God Award are very challenging. In my experience it is more difficult for a young man to earn the Duty to God Award than to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
I have worked closely with the young men in the Frederick Maryland Stake with the Duty to God program since its inception approximately 8 years ago. In my opinion there a couple of keys to making it successful for the young men. First, parental involvement and follow-through is essential. Second, commitment to obeserving the Sabbath Day is a key to fulfilling the many requirements to be done by the young man. Third, taking and making the time to plan the young man’s Deacon, Teacher and Priest service projects is indispensible. Both parents and young men leaders need to help with this.
It is my experience that fulfilling the scouting type requirements are accomplished with little difficulty.
C. Paul Smith
What’s the chance of getting the questions on your questionare? Perhaps a similar, un-scientific survey could be done in our stake.
when i serve as a young men president in ward/stake the bigest challenge i encounter in doing the duty to god program is the lack of committment of the bishopric and young men presidency itself. they are aware of the program but they dont review it, they teach it but they dont action to it. no matter how the church simplify the work to be done, it wont be achieve unless we start to do it until it will accomplish the purpose of the aaronic priesthood/duty to god, to every young men. our life as an lds is not only learning or teaching the principles of the gospel jesus christ but to do them as well. i know and that you know brothers that one of the reason were doing this program for our young men its because they will be the leaders in the future, and we them to lead us in the ways of our savior jesus christ.
I am trying to convince my Bishop that it is ok to use a web site to track Duty to God progress. Do you all have any references that I can use to give him. If not we are stuck doing it the old very inefficient way were only one person has accsess, and it is slow and pron to things miss placed.
I started to read the book fulfilling my duty to god and I liked it.I will finish the book,and all the Aaronic Prieshood holders can finish it too.