Advancement Resources
Scouting ranks, merit bades, and the advancement programs
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LATEST POSTS
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By Eagle94-A1 · Posted
I think OA, and national by extension, is getting desperate for money. Between this and "interesting" elections, to increase membership, I have my wories. -
By Longhaired_Mac · Posted
Has anyone participated in the program as yet? I've considered doing so but feel the special sash would be some very unnecessary virtue signaling. But at the same time advertising the program to encourage others to participate is kind of the point of the Sash? -
By Longhaired_Mac · Posted
Scouting Mentor: Fr. John Shaw Fr. John Shaw of the Diocese of Yakima. ..should be 94ish years old now and I think still living in the Yakima area of Washington State, though I've heard recently that he was on hospice care a year or 2 back. I know Father Shaw has served St. Mary's in White Swan, WA after his time in Wenatchee, and had retired by 2022 but continued to serve as the Diocesan Native American spiritual director and the English-speaking spiritual director of the Cursillo Movement, a ministry that focuses on training lay people to become leaders. Here is what I also know about Fr. Shaw. In the 1980's & 90's Father Shaw served as Chaplin to Troop 8 in Wenatchee, WA. Chartered by the Knights of Columbus and supported by St. Joseph Catholic Church, Troop 8 was allowed the use of the CYO Hall (where Augustedge Accounting on Chelan Ave is now) every Tuesday night. Father Shaw would drop-in every once in a while, to make sure the boys were growing into young men of God and not degenerating into dirt throwing heathens. Depending on the week, who knows what he found lol. Father Shaw was sometimes a very enthusiastic and animated in his speaking. Such that he frequently had a foamy bit of spittle in the corners of his mouth. Something we Scouts giggled to ourselves about at the time, but is rather fond memory for me now. While my family are not Catholic, we are Christian and my parents saw no harm in allowing my brothers and I to help at St. Joe's when the Troop volunteered. Father Shaw was always there helping when he could. I remember clearly one camping trip the Troop took to Merit Lake up on Highway 2 just past the Nason Creek area. It's about a 5 mile hike up from the trailhead to the lake, with SO MANY switchbacks. The Scouts had set up camp, dinner was made...mostly ate, and the light mostly gone for the night. And up the trail comes Fr. Shaw. He had come up to give the Scouts a Blessing for their weekend activities. After doing so and chatting with the adults for a short time, Fr. Shaw headed back down the trail. He was in camp maybe 20 minutes all told, and at 8:30 or maybe 9 at night, with the dark fully upon us, he headed home. It was the first time I had seen a head lamp before in real life. (Back then they were only used for intense joggers and cyclists. Who knew every Scout would have one thirty...twenty...well some years later.) We watched his light bob through the trees until he was out of sight then carried on with our mischief. I'd always thought he was a bit crazy to do that. The woods and mountains are pretty scary just to be walking in alone when you are 12. Slightly older now I'm grateful for the dedication he showed to the youth back then. St. Joseph's Catholic Church originally chartered Troop 8 in December of 1922. The Knights of Columbus 1545 took up the duties and continues to support Troop 8 as its Charter Organization for over 104 continuous years now. At 98, I wonder how many Scouts Fr. Shaw has known and mentored over the years. -
By InquisitiveScouter · Posted
Some new norm, some freak anomaly... 1. Still should be youth ( <21 y.o.) run election from Lodge... does not have to be your chapter. In fact, if you had youth in your Troop who were OA members, and were trained in running elections, your Troop could do its own election. Has to be "blessed" by your lodge... Adults (>= 21) should in no way be running the election. This happened with our election last year, as no youth were available the night of our Troop election. I thought we should reschedule, but SM and Lodge wanted it done... smh. 2. Camping nights are still required. Election team does not check this... this is done by SM, who must certify eligible from the unit. Criteria here, https://oa-scouting.org/about/membership That said, I have seen unit leaders certify camping nights when they should not have.... 3. Not sure what you mean here, "The only adult, 21+, was voted on and not nominated." Adults are nominated by the Troop committee... was this your process?? 4. Yes, everyone "eligible" can get elected now. All you need is 50% of those present to vote for you. Say your unit has 5 eligible and 20 Scouts present. Each ballot can list five names. If all five candidates receive a minimum of 10 votes, they are in. smh I take a slightly different tack that @skeptic, and this has been a heated topic in the past.... Here are my thoughts and beliefs, supported by mountains of literature on and from OA... many take a different thought-path, though... A. As @skeptic says, "It pretty much lost any real credibility, in my view, when it stopped putting limits on how many could be elected in a unit..." Agree. OA is no longer really an "honor society" within Scouting, if everyone can get in. That said, we did have a Scout who did not really do anything for the Troop and his fellow Scouts other than show up... his buddies did not select him for OA membership. But that is the only one I have seen in the time since the election rules changed. B. Order of the Arrow recognition is unit-level. There is no written guidance on what "approval of the Scoutmaster" means, other than the written requirements for membership linked above. For any unit leader to inject their personal observations into it makes the process capricious and one showing favoritism. However, if a Scout, who is First Class or above, is not living up to the Scout Oath and Law, the the unit leader should tell the Scout specifically before the OA election, give corrective behavior and goals, and sign off a Scoutmaster Conference for the next rank. (If Scout continues poor behavior, then should be brought up with Troop Committee and let the Scout know he will not be signed off on STAR (or LIFE) requirement #2 "...demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law." ) If the Scoutmaster deems a Scout is eligible, his name should be on the ballot, WHETHER THE SCOUT INTENDS TO COMPLETE THE ORDEAL OR NOT. Simply being elected to the Order of the Arrow is the honor the unit gets to bestow upon their fellow Scouts. It is not about future service to the Lodge... that is what the Brotherhood recognition is for... "An Arrowman's first duty is to his unit." https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/24-413.pdf https://oa-scouting.org/article/thoughts-arrowmans-primary-duty C. When I talk with Scouts about potential OA membership, I tell them there is NO OBLIGATION to serve the Lodge after undertaking the Ordeal. There is an obligation to continue serving the unit. "...the ones who chose you need you." There are TWO different "statuses"... one is membership in the Order of the Arrow (for which you wear your sash); the second is membership in the Lodge (for which you wear your flap. Once you pass the Ordeal (without flinching ) you are ALWAYS A MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF THE ARROW. However, once you pass the Ordeal, you must pay your annual dues to be a member of the local lodge. In the WImachtendienk, Amangiechsin -
OA in my area is basically a joke as described by Eagle94. I know that Jan 1st a bunch of changes went into affect and it's blowing up what was already a barely hanging on for relevance program that OA became.
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