Flyingfish

You might want to get involved at the District level first to get a top down view of the units. No every unit is run the same and way too many Scouters have jealousy issues. The District level appears to be much more accepting of talent w/ or w/o a child in tow. Private message me if you'd like to hear more about your area. I'm fairly close.

While browsing through a 3rd party vendor's web site I came across a patch for "Bishop." I assume this was developed for Bishop's in the LDS program.

I was a little worried when Frank said it had been discontinued. While you rarely run into a District Chaplain, they do exist. Texas Capitol Area Council has an extensive organization of Chaplains.

Has anyone ever seen a District Chaplain's patch?

There is a tendency in to interpret the reference material on Scouting's Chaplaincy as requiring a Scouter Chaplain to be clergy. While a lot of this depends on the particular denomination's views on the priesthood of the believer, a unit with a lay Chaplain vs. a unit without a Chaplain clears up the question for me. When I approached my pastor about us having a God & Country class, he quickly reviewed the guidelines and caught the phrase, "or the pastor's designee" and appointed yours truly! We are not called to do what is comfortable to us.

I agree on the organization of the Chaplains. You should check out what they do in the Texas Capital Area Council. They are organized into a Corps and have rather extensive training. It appears that the best way to make this happen is to get the Council Relations Committee on board and active.

With the Navy getting rid of the enlisted Dungaree uniform (aka the "convict" look) and replacing it with aquafluage, what will happen to the Sea Scout Working Uniform? I'm former Navy and hated the dungaree uniform. Fortunately, I was in Subs and got to wear the blue jump suits ala Hunt for Red October, which is similar in color to the Coast Guard utilities. Admittedly, aquafluage is out of the question as a uniform for scouts due to the military connection but is there a source for dungarees outside of Navy supply? I imagine there are wharehouses full of them in Norfolk, San Dieg

UPDATE: Right after the troop decided to try it for one week, the girl scout council stepped in and said "NO" The troop would not be allowed to have any meetings on the grounds as long as the shelter was there. The end result was mad leaders, parents and church. While I was happy with the coucil decision, they could have made a decision earlier that would have saved the troop leaders a lot of heartaches. The troop will be returning to the church after the shelter closes.

Thanks for all the input. It is not an easy decision when you are entrusted with the safety of someoneelse's children. Based on your comments, here is some additional information. 1. The leaders are meeting with the pastor and then the pastor, leaders and parents are meeting to discuss and decide what to do. 2. The leaders have gone to the GS Council. They say, "Are we living the GS Law?" No Committment. Safety-wise is vague. 3. The space is "temporary" Even a 9-year old asked what do these men do after it closes. What if they are confused and come back?

I am the father of a girl scout. The troop meets in a large church that also has a pack and a troop. The boys meet across the road from the church. (I am not a leader for these boys.) The church is downtown in a small town. The church has decided to convert unused basement space to a homeless shelter for men only. The church says it will be doing background checks and drug test on the men. They said the space is not accessible from inside the church. They also said they will provide security while the children are there. There is a split among the leaders as to whether they sho

This is in my area as well. I want all of you to think about the boys in your unit and consider just how little it takes for one of them to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Josh changed. from the article: "Silliman and his friends tended to dress in goth-style clothes -- black from head to toe. His dad didn't like his new style: dyed hair and gothlike clothes." His dad was right. Some of these "fads" are very destructive. Keep a sharp eye out for things like this.

Here's my RR story. My wife met another mother somewhere for the first time and in the course of the obligatory chit chat, she mentioned that we are a scouting family. The other lady said that her son was involved in RR's. My wife had never heard of them and asked what they were. "Oh, that's Boy Scouts for Christians." My wife bit her tongue at the inference (intended or not) that her BSA son and husband somehow fell short of the faith.

Isn't interesting how flag retirements take on a religious style fervor? It's like having two Rabbi's argue about when the sun really sets to begin the sabbath. It sets when it sets. We have developed this nice little way of disposing of a flag while giving the boys something to think about. Why continue to make it more and more "legalistic"?

Sorry to see you go Pappy. My SM when I was a boy was a 8th & I Marine. I eventually ended up with the Marines when I was a Navy Reservist. Some kids soak up the military thing. Some don't. If I had run into the Civil Air Patrol instead of BSA, who knows. I do feel your pain about the "professionals". I seen some real dirt bags over the years. I am blessed with a great DE that came to the BSA as a 2nd career. Good Luck, Sempre Fi & Sempre Paratus

I was under the impression that the COR Chaplain typically was a member of the clergy or the clergy's designate. Unfortunately, the Chaplain and the Chaplain's aide are probably the two most overlooked positions in a troop. Unless you are chartered to assertive church, your troop probably doesn't have either of them. Just remember to make sure the 12 point of the Scout Law is not the last one your troop thinks of.

I was under the impression that the COR Chaplain typically was a member of the clergy or the clergy's designate. Unfortunately, the Chaplain and the Chaplain's aide are probably the two most overlooked positions in a troop. Unless you are chartered to assertive church, your troop probably doesn't have either of them. Just remember to make sure the 12 point of the Scout Law is not the last one your troop thinks of.

Current Jambo age is 12YO & 1st class. was it the same for last Jambo?

What I would personally like to see is for GSUSA to get better organized administratively and to not be so reflexively anti-male. You said it all brother. My wife is a GS leader and all of the other leaders have older sons that are scouts so this batch of ladies are very opinionated about what the like and dislike from each program. The just started pinewood derby. The biggest problem I see with GS is the temporary nature of the units.

All of this talk about scouting urban legends (my CO in the fleet called anything done w/o a manual "tribal" knowledge) had an effect on me at the troop meeting last night. A new boy is coming on a trip and I remarked that he needed to have a completed class 1 form. One of the ASM's said he needed the class 3. He made it sound like the boys all needed class 3's in order to participate in any outings. Since the class 3 requires a physical, would each boy need a physical before they could come on a camping trip? The classes seem to hinge on two key points: Duration and level of activity

Glad to have you aboard Gunny. I was raised in a scout troop run by a retired Gunny. We never went totally Scarlet & Gold but we were instilled with accute sense of Duty to Country. After being awarded my Eagle I joined the Navy, with apologies to my Scoutmaster,as a Submariner where I kept the Soviets under control and observation and never let a bunk go unused. For kicks after Active Duty, I saw how the other half lived on the "Green" side of the nav as an FMF RP (Chaplain's Asst.). For the uninitiated, its like being a deacon with an automatic weapon. When I went through the minim

Does anyone know anything about the rumor that National has agreements with Goodwill and the Salvation Army not to resale BSA uniforms? I stalk the GW relentlessly and have found very little BSA stuff. On the other hand, there is a large biannual kid's consignment sale that I've had really good luck at.

Has anyone heard of the Scouting & Soccer program? The basic premise appears to be pilfered (or borrowed?) from the church Upward program in use in the South. This BSA program is being rolled out soon and is targeted to latino boys 6-10. The fee is $50 per 12 week season in my council. There can be more than one season per year. Several questions come to mind: 1. Is this a transitional program to regular Cub Scouts? 2. Are the adult volunteers vetted and trained in Youth Protection? 3. Why are the registration fees so high? (For scouting, in upward, my church is $80 per season.