MOUNT VERNON — Distinguished Eagle Scout and Council Commissioner Pierre “Frank” O’Hare received the Lamb Award during the worship service at Faith Lutheran Church on Scout Sunday, Feb. 8.
Faith Lutheran Church and Muskingum Valley Council (MVC), Scouting America, presented O’Hare the award for distinguished service to the church and youth.
Bette Mishey, a member of the church and a daughter of a former Scoutmaster; Sally Berger, Church Council president; Pastor Cody Blust; and Jarod Smith, MVC Scout Executive, nominated O’Hare for the award.
In the letter nominating O’Hare, Mishey stated, “As a lifetime Lutheran, I strongly recommend Pierre ‘Frank’ O’Hare for the Lamb Award as an exceptional candidate who possesses all the qualities, experience, and requirements.”
Programs of Religious Activities with Youth (P.R.A.Y.) reviewed and approved the nomination. PRAY is a not-for-profit national organization that administers a series of religious recognition programs that agencies such as Scouting America, Girl Scouts of the USA, Camp Fire, American Heritage Girls, and other youth groups can use.
Blust conducted the special ceremony and presented the Lamb Award ribbon prior to the Sunday service in the sanctuary. Faith Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
O’Hare, a Howard resident, is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA), the highest honor for Eagle Scouts. Since 1910, fewer than 3,000 Eagle Scouts have been awarded the DESA.
At age 74, O’Hare can say his life has never been without a Scouting presence since he became a Cub Scout in 1959.
About the award
The Lamb Award is given to Lutheran adults for their distinguished service in fostering the spiritual growth of youth through the church and the National Lutheran Association on Scouting (NLAS) youth-serving agency programs. It is also intended to increase the use and quality of civic agency programs in Lutheran congregations as part of their youth ministries.
Scouting America uses a variety of religious emblems programs to encourage youth to learn about their faith and to recognize adults who provide significant service to youth in a religious environment.
Various religious groups create, administer, and award the religious programs, not Scouting America.
However, each program must be recognized by the organization.
The first religious recognition program for Scouts began in 1926 when the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles began the Ad Altare Dei for altar boys who were Scouts.
The program was expanded nationally in 1939, and Scouting America approved the medal for uniform wear.
The first Protestant religious emblem program was established in 1943 by the Lutheran church as Pro Deo Et Patria.
The Jewish Ner Tamid program began in 1944, and the God and Country program, used by several Protestant denominations, followed in 1945.
As of 2007, more than 35 religious groups are represented by over 75 recognized emblems.
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