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Charter Organization Authority


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I would appreciate input from forum members regarding the authority the charter organization has over the troop committee and the troop it's self on how it is ran, managed and the bylaws it sets forth for it's members.

 

Any input would be appreciated all I keep finding is "guidelines"..

 

Thank you

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The power of the Charter Org is absolute over the troop. the troop only exist as extension of the CO and can be dissolved with the stroke of their pen. Or they may elect to keep the troop alive but to dismiss any or all leaders on a moments notice with or with out reason.

 

(did I leave anything out?)

 

Oh yes, while they may dismiss a leader from their troop they have no farther power over that leader and can not stop his continued actives with the BSA.

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In addition to the previous posts, the Charter Organization Representative can only be overruled by the Institution Head. So if you are the COR of a unit chartered by a church, only the pastor can overrule you.

 

Further, Charter Org. Reps sit on both the district committee and the council executive board with full voting rights.

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The CO "owns" the unit and, as others have said, can pretty much dictate how it is run, as long as they adhere to the Charter agreement signed with the Council. Think of it like a McDonalds franchise...as long as you buy your supplies from McD and stick to the approved menu, the franchisee can hire, fire, and otherwise run his restaurant as he sees fit. Probably not the answer you were looking for.

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Hiya diannasav!

 

I see from your previous posts that you are from a relatively young unit.

 

The sort of question yeh raise often suggests that there's more to the story. If yeh share more of what's goin' on, then perhaps we can offer more help and insight.

 

The answer to your question has been given correctly by everyone else. The Chartered Org. owns the unit. It is liable for da actions of the unit's leadership. Therefore, it is responsible for selecting and supervising the unit's leaders, and can remove any or all of them at any time. It can specify "bylaws" or other operating restrictions or requirements. The scout troop is just a youth program of the Chartered Org., no different than the Sunday School Class.

 

A wise chartered organization works with folks, and makes da relationship a mutual and collaborative one, and tries not to micromanage.

 

Beavah

 

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Yeah, what everyone else said.

 

The CO owns the unit, and to varying degrees a CO will actually use this control. The majority exercise very little, or no control. Some COs, like the LDS, typically exercise a lot more.

 

The CO can do anything as long as it's within BSA guidelines, and those guidelines are pretty broad. Most of the program is described in recommendations, not requirements. There are all kinds of ways the CO could ask the committee to operate.

 

In practice, if you are getting into a conflict over who has the right to do what, then you are not likely to be headed for success, no matter what answer we give you. The hope is that everyone is working together for the benefit of the program. Usually the CO just gives some very broad operating guidelines, but they can be more specific if they want to be. Always helpful to do what you can to get everyone on the same page. What do your IH and COR want out of the program? Can you help them see how they can achieve that?

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"...So if you are the COR of a unit chartered by a church, only the pastor can overrule you."

 

Rarely is the Pastor the final say in a Church. There are usually governing boards that have the ultimate authority, including firing the Pastor.

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"Rarely is the Pastor the final say in a Church. There are usually governing boards that have the ultimate authority, including firing the Pastor."

 

That is very true, but the IH is almost always listed on the charter as the Pastor, so he would be the final authority in regards to the unit.

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"Rarely is the Pastor the final say in a Church. There are usually governing boards that have the ultimate authority, including firing the Pastor."

 

 

This is not true in the Roman Catholic Church. You have to go to the local ordinary (Bishop) to overrule the Pastor. Good luck with that!(This message has been edited by johnponz)

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You have to go to the local ordinary (Bishop) to overrule the Pastor.

 

The ordinary bishop?

 

Yah, hmmmm....

 

So is there a local extraordinary bishop as well?

 

I remember once a fellow tellin' me at one of da Catholic camp services that he was an extraordinary minister. I thought yeh called ministers "priests"? And I'm pretty sure that fellow was a layman. He seemed pretty ordinary to me.

 

Yeh folks are funny. ;)

 

Beavah

 

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This is the definition of an Ordinary

 

"In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws."

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Beavah, our Troop was dormant for many years and in 2004 with the aging of our Webelos 7 families (one of which was mine) wanted to stay in our community so we approached the Charter to see if we to re-activate the former Troop. They said yes and we started with the 7 Scouts and enough of the parents to fill committee positions necessary. Over the years we have only changed SM's 3 times. The charter organization was a silent partner per say. We had no equipment but what the families owned and or donated to the troop. One of the families sold the troop our trailer which we paid off by fundraising in a couple of payments. One of the former SM and wife who was the TCC at the time kept the insurance on the trailer that was in their name because at the time the charter did not want to be involved. Well through the course of a couple more years the SM at that time was asked to step down and we had to put the trailer in someones name. Legally as the TCC at the time I knew the charter was the owner of the troop and they should have the insurance in their name for the equipment, etc. that our troop owned. So I pushed for it and it eventually happened. Now if you read my other post our current SM that has been in place since the last one was asked to step down the parents in the troop, committee, etc. are concerned about his level of dedication to the troop (it appears more towards District and OA now) but he refuses to see that it's time and the elections didn't go the way the committee thought they would because the IH/COR (same person/pastor of the church) refused to follow the bylaws that were put in place 4 months ago (we only rec'd a provisional acceptance of the bylaws from the church board) about who could and could not vote. Now the "silent partner" is becoming a quazi-dictator and really truly does not know what is going on in the troop other than what the SM tells him. BTW, neither the IH/COR or current SM have active scouts in our troop.

 

Beavah, that may be more than you really wanted to know, but we have problems in our troop now and we are losing families last count was 40 scouts, but we have families that won't come to our troop because of the SM. We have families that want to leave an start another troop because of the SM. NO ONE from the charter organization participates or is involved in the Troop. They say they care they donate money to the troop but NO ONE other than the pastor gets involved and the only involvement he has is at our monthly committee meetings. Otherwise all he knows is what the SM tells him.... I care about this troop, I have one Eagle from this troop and another son who is finished with all his merit badges all he has to do is his Eagle project. But in all honest because of the "politics" at hand I can't wait for it to be over. That is very sad for me to say. I've invested 13 years in the Pack and the Troop through this charter, as a Den Leader all the way through Cub to Treasurer to TCC and now Committee Member. Other members come to me for info, input, etc. because I've been around for a long time. I keep encouraging everyone to be patient we (the committee and other members) are working on changes..... I don't know how long people will be patient.

 

Thank you very much for your valuable input!!

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