Leaderboard

LDS units form a HUGE percentage of Scouting units in the Western region especially. States like Idaho, Arizona and Wyoming, and large portions of California and Oregon have exceptionally large numbers of LDS units. I am sorry to hear you have had those kind of experiences, but in all my time Scouting as both a youth and an adult, and having observed the MASSIVE size and rich dynamics of Scouting in thickly LDS areas like Utah and Idaho, I can say confidently that, in the majority of cases both historically and regionally, LDS units are powerhouses both in membership and advancement.

499,989 left to go... My Pack has 11 girls now. 😀...............😥

I've never felt compelled to write on a forum until today. In my view, it is abundantly clear that the BSA knew this was coming and thus opened membership to girls in an attempt to shore up numbers and balance out the anticipated losses from LDS departure. What I find incredibly frustrating is that the BSA, as an organization, has taken the position of looking out for the BSA's best interest (member numbers, $$$) versus looking out for the people it is meant to serve (boys and young men). This shift in priorities is the hallmark indicator of a failing organization and is a an example that h

I always thought the soul of the program was the volunteers at the unit and district level that made it work either because of or despite National and Council priorities and despite any political differences that volunteers may have with one another. If the program has truly lost its soul, then that's a sad reflection on us, not on BSA corporate. People can claim that it was the BSA that left them, not the other way around, all they want but the fact is the BSA has made many changes over its existence and has marched ahead because of the volunteers who refused to take their ball and go h

There are a great many of adults in our district that think Woodbadge is BSA4Adults. Barry

Talk about blaming the victim.

I do want to share our church's official position of the family, gender roles and other beliefs that will help those here understand better why we cannot continue to support the new BSA program changes. Hopefully it will make it clear why we want boys and girls, young men and young women to have their own programs which will support and nurture their own identities; whether or not you believe as we do, I think it is well to make sure that the separation is amicable, and that the friendships we have established continue to the benefit of our communities and their youth. Understanding where we s

They are really committed to this effort, I see that an WHOLE Hour and 15 minutes is allotted, and yes there will be time for questions so you know this will be an in depth disussion

In talking with the Boy Scouts in our troop, they are meh about girls joining BSA.....hey separate troops, we don't typically camp with other units, do council events, and are not really camporee people...so except for summer camp, minimal impact. They did / have asked what's the deal with Family Scouting / Camping? Does this mean Mom and Dad will come on outings? Isn't one the fun parts of scouting NOT having the parents and siblings along? As leaders our input is we do not plan any changes and will continue to execute a fun and challenging program. The Family Scouting is the s

The problem is that this requirement is a slippery slope. Atheism is probably the only thing that distinctly differs from the law. Unless BSA were to say you must be religion A and fulfill requirements 1,2, and 3 what does this requirement really mean? We all know many Christians that either never go to church, or go twice a year, or even worse go often and the minute they leave church they don't follow the golden rules. So in my mind, someone that is honest and declares being Atheist carries more weight than Christian (or others) that are completely fake.

But now that I think about it, if a hypothetical person (let's call him TampaTurtle) is having thoughts that are "impure" enough to violate A Scout is Clean, it wouldn't matter whether he is married or not, whereas Trustworthy and Loyal (and Obedient) only kick in if you are married.

I am so so sorry I brought this up. I think I threw up in my mouth a little.

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Keep on Scouting (whatever they call it)

I think we have been seeing the changes already. LDS and BSA are tightly tied together. I’m sure LDS notified BSA of their long term plans years ago. I think it is likely BSA made the gay youth, gay leader, transgender youth and girls with knowledge that LDS was eventually leaving anyway.

No, just ..... no. You just made me a whole lot more comfortable with my Church pulling out of Scouting. And what is it with you guys and your huge necks? When I wear the standard issue neckers the ends are so long they plummet past my belly button! How big are you people?! I thought being 5'8 and 160 lbs. was average but I can't imaging how a necker as huge as the old ones would look on me! Although I do see how they would be far more useful. I could use one that big as a blanket, a tablecloth, a parachute ...

With all due respect, 2 words: "LINKED TROOPS" (emphasis) let's face it, if 2 troops share a CO, Share a committee, share ASMs, share meeting nights and location, share activities, and share cam,pouts, is it really 2 separate troops? No it isn't, it is one coed troop, despite what the paperwork says. .

Well, it looks like our time together is drawing to its close ... https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/new-program-children-youth?cid=HP_TU-8-5-2018_dPAD_fMNWS_xLIDyL1-B_ And the joint statement from the Church and BSA: https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/multimedia/file/bsa-joint-statement-may-8.pdf

The Pack leadership emailed everyone and advised Den Leaders to discuss it with their Dens. We were too busy having fun and learning important stuff. I never got around to it. I finally told my 7 soon to be 8 year old son girls will be joining next year. His reaction, as a typical little boy who thinks girls have cooties, was classic. I don't have to worry about him.

I try to stop. I really do. I just can't seem to help myself sometimes.

Perhaps we need a parents scouting program at AOL crossovers. The youth cross the bridge and become Scouts and the parents cross a different bridge and become BSA4Adults.

Bingo. I've enjoyed - and hope to continue to enjoy - the camaraderie of my LDS Scouter friends (they can still enjoy scouting independent of their church - if they can't, that's another problem). But I've long felt the "LDS Scouting" publications and special classes at Commissioner College made me feel not only that the "tail was wagging the dog", but frankly I felt a tad resentful at the apparent exclusivity.

Remember that retention is just as large a problem as recruiting. How many Scouts have you had that fell off over the years? In Cubs, it's a large problem with varied reasons - but most boil down to if the Scout is having the most fun out of all his/her activities. It falls on us as their leaders to offer an effective and enjoyable experience to keep them involved to the point where the Scouts recognize the importance of the program.

Agreed - there surely will be mergers. Makes me think the BSA had too many eggs in one basket. Hopegully tbis will force them to try harder on recruiting and marketing.

What does this even mean? My council is 80% LDS and I'm not even in Utah. There's no way three full councils will exist in Utah in 2020.

So...BSA will need 10,000 NEW Scouts per state to break even from the LDS departure. With 272 councils each one will need to add 1,838 new BS4G participants. Also there will be a need for some yet undetermined number to backfill those that age out, normal attrition, and then to replace those who vote with their feet. Assume there will be an overhead staffing reduction plan at BSA National / Regional to maintain the corporate cost ratios

Ya gotta thank Shakespeare and Lincoln for that one.

The soul of the program is the vision. Volunteers shape toward the program, not the other way around. Anyone remember the forum member Bobwhite? He preached that if the unit wasn't performing, then they weren't following the published BSA guidelines. Top companies are successful because they hire like-minded in employees who believe in the product and vision. I was reading the different discussions on this forum the other day thinking how little we discussion operations anymore. Techniques for building the program toward developing character using the tools given by the BSA used to domina

I expect the first complaint that makes it to the Tampa Bay Times and all parties will fold and we will go Co-Ed rules be darned. Linked Troops is clearly a short interim strategy--National will change it to a Co-Ed option very, very soon. They just have to figure out how to spin it.

As a supporter of BSA4G, I hope you stand as firm against those complaints as you would against anyone else that tries to threaten you over your membership policies. I will continue to defend your right to be boy-only if you wish. Those parents are free to start their own CO/Troop if they feel so strongly. I know I might face the same decision and hurdles for my daughter but I would never seek to force her onto her brothers CO if they don't want her. I don't imagine that would be a good scouting experience for either party.

'A Scout is Reverent' from the BOR (and EBOR) is a pretty low, low hurdle these days. We had an Eagle who marched in and declared that he was an atheist and somehow managed to get signed off (I think his folks came pre-loaded legally). I was not there but I heard it was quite a scene. I think you can be a Druid, Wiccan, or Buddhist and get over the BSA requirement. I do think given National's spine in the face of public opinion the future of that 'G' falling is less on moral courage and more on marketing trends. Another very divisive issue. I did note at a recent High School graduation event a

The only thing left is taking god completely out of the program. That will make the transition to total progressivism complete. I know it's just me and my nature, but I have to laugh when these changes are called progressive. I know progressives, "still laughing", like to use the Scouts program in England as and example of a scouting program recovering after making sharp left turns, but I keep watching the Canadian Scouts which doesn't show such hope. Doesn't really matter, the program lost its soul. Barry

I will miss @The Latin Scot he had a sense of humor, loved scouting, and was a voice of common sense. You could see this coming a looong way off still a bit of a shock. I can understand their dilemma. I am active in an international religious organization and the very conservative (and growing) members in Africa, South East Asia, and South America are much opposed to the social policies proposed to appeal to North Americans. You go where the growth is. But I too am sad that a story rich in Scout history is ending.😢

We'll see a couple of units go in our district, but nothing dramatic.

It is sad for sure. I know in my district, the LDS units don't really follow the program. Adults run it more like cub scouting, they don't camp or participate in district activities. Very little of our fundraising comes from those units. I know this sounds very negative, I am not trying to be. I have many LDS friends that are scouters and they complain to me about the same things.

My pack leadership encourages 100% of the boys making ranks, but last year I had 3 TIgers that quit showing up for meetings, but never dropped, so I didn't put them in for their badge. This year I have wolves. Everybody has shown up for most of the meetings & I've plugged mini requirement opportunities in here and there or at least talked about them to plant the seed in their minds about service, the outdoors, etc. We worked together on a couple of electives, too. I'm satisfied that the requirements have been met in spirit, if not the letter, by all. We hand out beltloops at P

The neckerchief (and the whole uniform for that matter, but that's another topic) seems to be in kind of a weird place in Scouting history right now. Today it's smaller and less useful than ever, and frankly I think in some cases it looks silly. I saw a photo of some scouts in uniform recently and their neckerchiefs didn't even come halfway down the front of the shirt. I wish US scouts wore the neckerchief more often and especially when out of uniform, but that doesn't even seem practical when the neckers are so small.

The iconic necker has shrunk thru the years. My sources indicate the original BS necker was about a 36" square, folded into a triangle, gathered, not rolled, and held on the neck (over the collar !) by a hand made woggle. It was intended as a tool on your uniform, which, after all, was worn to ALL Scout events, and often to school , around town, etc. One might wear the necker just because.... It had many uses, I have a book that lists more than 50 ! Dust mask, horse bridle, signal flag, arm sling, pole lashing, ankle brace, tourniquet, bandage, sun hat....... The necker of my yoooo

I have more files on my computer at home, but this image is an old order form that has some of the specs for older standard-issue neckerchiefs. I am becoming a bit of a neckerchief nut, so I collect any old images and files I can find with them. I am performing all the rest of today, and our Pinewood Derby is tomorrow, but at some point over the weekend I will post everything else that I have!

There's a reason why I omit the f- word doublespeak from my posts. It's BSA4G that's in demand. For the past two decades, I've met girl after girl who broke ranks with their friends who prefer "glamping" to proudly participate in the BSA via any door that was open to them. None of those young women have said, "Please, Mr. Q, may I bring mom and dad along?"

No doubt. Not sure what the changes will be, but I bet things will change. I also bet the rate of change will be much more rapid.