The Badge Archive

Investiture – Three Candles

Ceremony Description: A simple candle ceremony to welcome newly registered scouts and adults into the troop through the Girl Scout Promise.

Items Needed:

  • 3 candles and holders (Can be LED tea lights)
  • Table for candle display
  • Candle lighter or matches
  • Pins for new members
  • (Optional) Songbooks or printed lyrics for “Girl Scouts Together” and “When E’er You Make a Promise”

Before the Ceremony:

  • Place candles on the table in a row
  • Prepare pins and confirm who will be invested
  • Review the Girl Scout Promise with all scouts
  • (Optional) Cue music or prepare lyrics for songs

Formation:

  • Newly registered scouts and adults form a horseshoe around the candle table
  • Leaders stand at the front or center of the horseshoe

Ceremony Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 12 min):

  1. Begin with a group song: “Girl Scouts Together”. (2 min)
    • All scouts sing together.
  2. Invite new scouts and adults to form a horseshoe around the table. (1 min)
    • Leader: Will all newly registered scouts and adults please come up and form a horseshoe around the table.
  3. Light the three candles, each representing a part of the Promise. (3 min)
    • Leader: The first candle shall shine as a symbol that scouts are true to God and their country.
    • Leader: May the light of the second candle shine as a symbol that a scout’s greatest desire is to serve.
    • Leader: May the third candle shine as a symbol that scouts are true to their ideals as interpreted by the Girl Scout Law.
  4. Recite the Girl Scout Promise together. (2 min)
    • All scouts: On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.
  5. Sing “When E’er You Make a Promise”. (2 min)
    • All scouts sing together.
  6. Pin each new member and welcome them with the Girl Scout handshake. (2 min)
    • Leader pins each scout and greets them with the handshake.
Tia Kennard