Megachurch Southeast Christian to drop BSA

[Krampus]

Sadly since this issue came up we have 9 Scout and 5 Cub units in our District who lost their charter. Gladly, our CO is picking up one Cub unit and we have offered to take in Scouts from the closest other units.

[st0ut717]

Krampus thanks to you and your CO for doing the christian thing and leading a hand to those who need it. you guys did your good turn that day.

[moosetracker]

In a near by council there are three Baptist units who will not have their charter renewed. One other unit I know was holding off on their recharter at their COR's request until the vote was taken. After the vote the COR called the unit to say their charter would not be renewed for 2013. That's 4 units now looking for homes which they had prior to the vote.

Those who currently charter BSA Units yet feel the treatment of homosexuals to be wrong have either chosen to host BSA units anyway while fighting for change, or never started a unit due to it, or have been slowly dropping them over time.. So I doubt many would have left due to the vote, which just having the vote proved the tied was changing and they were close to a change..

[moosetracker]

Yeah this summer as a UC I organized a meeting between the IH of our catholic church and the key three of the BS & CS units.. I had a fear there maybe some issue as the only member of the church who had a son in the CS unit left stating it was due to religious reasons.. The IH seemed like a laid back guy and never had approached anyone with concern on the issue.. But, the guy also made it sound like there might be a vote by the Catholic church in January, so I though we might as well discuss it and be prepared if there was an issue or possible future one..

 

No issue in the Catholic church.. The father of this church held the same view I did, that though they have a right to their religious views, so does everyone else have a right to practice theirs.. He had already discussed things with the higher uppers (whoever those are, I am not Catholic).. And they have no issue with the youth vote, and have already discussed the inevitable future vote for the adults, they have already decided that when that happened, there would be no issue with them at that time either.. (I assume this is with the expectation that they are not forced to accept adult leaders they feel are not suitable.) He also agrees that it would be wrong to work with a child in a youth group for years, then kick them out when he decides he is a homosexual. By then the church and the boy have established a relationship with each other.

 

The church also currently hosts a Girl Scout unit, and.. Well we aren't yet as liberal then them even if we accept in the adult homosexuals as leaders.. I thought it funny that so many have stated my viewpoint so insensitive to Catholics especially, and I find talking to them, their viewpoint is in line with them.. Well OK, I would except the homosexual leader if he/she did not have other reason they would not make good candidates.. But, I never was of the opinion everyone must accept homosexual leaders, simply that everyone should have the right to local option in choosing what did and what did not make an acceptable adult leader, based on their viewpoints.

 

Sounded like this guy tried to talk his catholic priest into kicking us out, and tell him what his viewpoints should be on the subject, and the Priest tried to talk him down from the ledge.. Sounded like the guys politics told him what his religion should believe in, not his religion. If he had stated he was leaving due to his politics and not due to his religious beliefs, I could have saved myself a meeting in the middle of the summer.. But it was good in other ways, we cleared up a lot of issues and got on the same page about many things.. I think it will be good to have one annually. (Just not mid Summer, that was difficult to get everyone together for.)

[packsaddle]

So far in this area, I don't know of a single unit that isn't continuing almost as if nothing changed. After all that noise, people mostly seem to have shrugged. We'll see how things go later in the fall.

[Twocubdad]

Two units (of which I'm aware) in our district which seem to be in flux. One seems to be the unit leaders leading the charge, the other it seems to be the church doing the pushing.

 

Leave, don't leave, I'm over it. If a Scout shows up looking for a new home, we'll welcome them. If you need me I'll be at the Scout House every Tuesday night, camping the first weekend of every month....

[Eagledad]

I've heard of a handful of units dropping across the country, but nothing earth shattering. I know a few local COs are doing more than shrugging it off, but I don't know that they are kicking the scouts out. However, my concern has always been with the new scout parents. I'm afraid new parents will think it easier to just the skip political controversy than finding themselves picking sides. But, I've been wrong before and I hope my fears are misplaced here as well. Barry

[Stosh]

In a few Christian churches the sinner is welcomed, others, not. It says a lot about the religious organizations on how they react to this situation.

 

Stosh

[kari_cardi]

We have at least three units in our district that lost charter orgs, one troop and two packs. The troop merged with another nearby troop, One of the packs folded, it was small and struggling before the membership change. I don't know what happened to the third. We have welcomed the cubs to our pack, we are pretty diverse and they should fit in well.

[st0ut717]

In a few Christian churches the sinner is welcomed, others, not. It says a lot about the religious organizations on how they react to this situation.

 

Stosh

Boy I am sure those churches always get to cast the first stone then.

[King Ding Dong]

A Presbyterian church near us is folding the Pack and Troop in December. It is unfortunate because it was a very active unit and one I was going to consider. I tried to reach out to the leaders and offered to bring them in to our pack now, but they want to finish out in December. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me unless they just plan on leaving scouts completely.

[Eagledad]

In a few Christian churches the sinner is welcomed, others, not. It says a lot about the religious organizations on how they react to this situation.

 

Stosh

To be fair, the functions of the church model the moral direction its members should follow, whether the church leaders know it or not. On this issue, there is a fine line between hypocrisy and progressive surrender.

[cubdadinnj]

I can respect that CORs/potential CORs make choices about which kinds of organizations to support, including BSA. What seems unfortunate to me, if there were a clear understanding of principle and practice in units, is that the scout promise & law drive practice, while its the role of the family to make decisions for themselves on principles and values. To me, the brilliance of the scout promise & law is that they ARE supportive of an individual's/their families faith/values. Scouting isn't a place for proselyting or politics -- it's all about the value of the program for the boys!

[Eagledad]

I can respect that CORs/potential CORs make choices about which kinds of organizations to support, including BSA. What seems unfortunate to me, if there were a clear understanding of principle and practice in units, is that the scout promise & law drive practice, while its the role of the family to make decisions for themselves on principles and values. To me, the brilliance of the scout promise & law is that they ARE supportive of an individual's/their families faith/values. Scouting isn't a place for proselyting or politics -- it's all about the value of the program for the boys!

Wow cubdadinnj, you seem have hit all the topics. We will have to agree to disagree on some of them, but I think you are right-on here. The brilliance of the Scout Promise and Law IS that they are supportive of any individuals values because they are outward actions of respect to all others. How many times have I cringed when someone sais that not being inclusive of gays was against the scout law and oath. I would in no way allow a KKK recruiter in my house, but that doesn't prevent me from living up to the full extent of the Oath and Law. The Scout program today can work in any CO because of the brilliance of the Law and Oath as you say, provided the grown ups allow, support, and encourage those virtues. Good post.

[qwazse]

A Presbyterian church near us is folding the Pack and Troop in December. It is unfortunate because it was a very active unit and one I was going to consider. I tried to reach out to the leaders and offered to bring them in to our pack now, but they want to finish out in December. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me unless they just plan on leaving scouts completely.

The church is probably counting on it's stand-alone youth program to rally those volunteers who would otherwise be scouting. For the kids' sake, I hope that's the case.