OA Vigil

[eagle63903]

Hello, I am wondering what happens in your lodge if a person declines vigil? Can they accept it later on? or do they have to be re-elected?

 

Thanks

[scoutldr]

Vigil is an honor that is bestowed, not elected. Vigil candidates can be nominated by any other arrowman and the selection is done by a committee. I would think if one were to decline the honor, it could be considered rude. Unless, of course, there were extenuating circumstances that would prevent one from completing the process. Such things should be handled privately on a case-by-case basis.

[Miami_Chief]

Once you are givin the oppurtunity to complete the Vigil Honor, the oppurtunity does not go away. Unlike the 1-year timeframe in which an elected scout or scouter must complete his Ordeal, the Vigil may be completed at any time with no loss of the right to do so. We recently had 11 members complete the Vigil, with about half of those being ones who were chosen the year before, but had been unable to attend that year's ceremony.

[Proud Eagle]

Miami_Chief, I don't know where your information came from, but I am afraid it is incorrect.

 

Please take a look at the current edition of the Guide for Officers and Advisers. There is a section titled "Choosing Vigil Honor Candidates" (page 31 & 32 in the version I am looking at) in that section there should be a 13 point list. Take a close look at 11 and 13.

 

"Approved Vigil Honor candidates must be inducted within one year of national office approval. Otherwise they must be removed from the approved list. Their selection and approval must then be reconsidered with the current year's quota."

 

"If approved candidates are not inducted, it is very important to notify the director of the Order of the Arrow immediately. Otherwise, they will be considered inducted members of the Vigil Honor, and their petitions will be kept on permanent national file."

 

At NOAC 2004 I attended a training session on the Vigil Honor. In it the issues of how to handle notifying candidates and dealing with a decline of the honor were discussed. The concensus opinion (strongly backed by the trainers) was that candidates should be informed or asked privately before a call out. That way if they wish to decline it is a private matter rather than becoming an issue of the entire lodge. Also, it was thought that it was easier to decline in private than in public. It was also agreed that there was nothing wrong with offering the candidate the entire year to consider it, but that in most cases if they declined they would not change their mind in that year.

 

So, the answer is the Vigil must be completed within one year.

 

If not completed, the national director of the Order of the Arrow must be notified.

 

They can then be nominated again in the future.

[Miami_Chief]

Thanks for the info! I shall double check our lodge's procedures regarding Vigil. We may unknowingly be in error.

[Eamonn]

In our lodge the vigil selection is one of the best kept secrets in the council.

One poor chap who went home early on the August weekend was called out at the April weekend, when there was freezing temps and snow.

Eamonn.