RememberSchiff

Okay I see your points except for joining BSA. In his letter he asks Catholics to look at other youth groups Third, I list here for your consideration acceptable alternatives for our Catholic children and youth, should you wish to offer this in your parish and/or school. There are two very good alternatives to the Girl Scouts of America. They are: American Heritage Girls (americanheritagegirls.org), which has a National Catholic Committee; Little Flowers’ Girls Clubs (eccehomopress.com); and Federation of North American Explorers (fneexplorers.com). There are three alternatives to th

Legal reasons? I have not seen that. Not doubting you, but in his public letters I read only concerns about moral issues and a misunderstanding about policy. "...and as expected, the Boy Scouts of America voted to admit openly gay adults into the organization to hold leadership positions. While there are indications that the BSA has a religious organization exception, which each local troop could invoke, that will provide no protection for any of our parishes and/or schools, which sponsor troops. Thus, effective immediately, the Catholic Church of the Diocese of Bismarck and each and every

Part of my question as I am RememberSchiif not RememberBaltimoreCathecism . I was thinking Schism? When the Church boots a group for moral reasons isn't there an implicit assumption that Catholics can no longer be members of that group under penalty of ...?

A question, if the Bishop truly believed that the BSA "has policies and methods, which contradict the authoritative moral teachings of the Catholic Church", would he not also start excommunicating Catholic BSA members in his diocese?

Yeah scandalous. In 2009, prior to Pope Francis, the Church went after that group of 55,000 US nuns. The Vatican investigated the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) for “a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.†Not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion and women’s ordination. They also went after Network, another group of social-justice, do-gooder nuns and also the Catholic Health Organization which agreed with Obamacare's birth control policies. After a seven year investigation and a condemning Vatican r

Pope Francis has removed bishops. We will see if Bishop Kagan is reassigned in the coming year.

Well considered response to Bishop Kagan from a Catholic Scouter http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/throwing-out-boy-scouts-nd-bishop-hurts-not-protects-youth

Yes I have seen a few troops in these parts with this interesting problem. Parents are in the dark about balance. Annual fundraisers continue so scouts continue to "earn" their way as those before them. Troop Committee reluctant to spend on large expenses,say a HA trek or even an annual scholarship to Philmont, as parents would start asking where did the money come from. Council knows and stops by annually, outside of FOS, to "wet their beak" . Ugh.

Good point.

For the troops that do BIG trips, with all the advanced trip reservations, it is not uncommon for $5K, $10K or more in their accounts. And then there is the rainy day fund, camp/Philmont/NYLT scholarships, almost forgot SM retirement fund

Yes, but ...here's my take. Your unit “belongs†to your chartered organization, not to your local council. The unit only "belongs" to the CO for the life of the unit charter, here's another quote from that link. Remember, the chartered organization owns the unit, and all funds used by the unit remain the responsibility of the chartered organization as long as the charter issued by the BSA remains in place. So the CO drops the unit, the charter ends, from the above it seems the unit gear and bank account is held in trust by the CO or council until it can be transferred to anoth

Seems to say that the CO or council hold the money and gear in trust until it can be used for BSA programs. No mention that the CO owns the unit gear or money. From the above link. What happens to the unit funds and equipment should the unit dissolve? In the event of the dissolution of a unit or the revocation or lapse of its charter, the unit committee shall apply unit funds and property to the payment of unit obligations and shall turn over the surplus, if any, to the local council. In the case of a chartered organization, any funds or equipment that may have been secured as propert

CP. Stosh, qwazse, mostly I am making a prediction about money problems ahead. In the past and on a smaller scale I have seen the problems caused by "scout accounts" when a scout leaves a unit. I have never heard a parent or scout agree that it was morally right for a unit to keep that money. Never. Thank the IRS for getting rid of scout accounts! If a diocese closes all their BSA units (180 scouts in one diocese) and seizes those unit accounts, I am predicting a huge headache. My $0.02

Yeah but consider scouts and their families who have been fundraising for Jambo/Philmont/summer camp, a "Sorry, the money really belongs to CO" might cause a small riot. I would hope that money is in a separate account.

Where there is uncertainty, maybe some BSA units should consider moving their assets?

Ok, I'm impressed. Our coins should look so good.

Good point. Maybe the CO should form its youth group and co-charter (right word?) with the BSA, like Civil Air Patrol does with Venture crews. If the sky falls or the CO decides to withdraw from BSA, its youth group remains.

Same has been true for other non-BSA groups that attend Philmont or our local camps, no matter what strenuous non-Scout activities they do. Pay less too. So if old Schiff wants to go to the Summit it more likely would be with a Girl Scout group or maybe a rock band.

Path to Save the BSA? Backtrack to where we made a wrong turn. Skeptic has mentioned this before - go back to those thrilling days of yesteryear. There was no DRP or concerns/discussions about orientation, it was nobody's business. IMO, the BSA should leave sex, religion, politics, family matters to others outside of scouting and concentrate on our business - scouts. Want to be a Scout and will follow the Scout Oath and Law, welcome. A unit or CO turns you away, find another. A unit doesn't like you being at a scout activity, they get to stay away from the activity. KISS (Ke

An ancillary question - who decides? I was under the impression either the camp director ( for the good of the scout and camp) or the scoutmaster (for the good of the scout and troop) could decide. One or the other, no override. At one camp this was not the case, as the camp director maintained he had sole authority to decide. His camp, scout's parents paid for a week, he would decide. Eventually the camp director came around. I don't know if it was the call to the SE or the passing of the no-refund mark. Parents wanted a whole week vacation for their son. Scout should have been sent

http://www.kltv.com/story/29682905/boy-scouts-learn-emergency-preparedness Approximately 50 Boy Scouts from southeast Missouri and as far away as Kansas City put up camp at the Charleston Baptist Association Campground east of Benton this week for a unique experience. The Scouts participated in Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. During the boot camp the group learned first aid, fire safety, emergency preparedness, search and rescue and fire safety. The 30 hour course will earn the Scouts five merit badges and the CERT certification. The event kicked off Thursday,

I am seeing more "school vacation" staffed activities at council camps in New England. Ironically these 'school vacation" activities are mostly STEM oriented though there is OKPIK in winter. However, Council staffed weekend activities (archery, rifle, waterfront, BMX, ATV) are elusive around here. The reasons as you can guess - camp staff away at (local) college, OA put all the gear away, conflicts with Camporee/OA/Training,.. Does your Council staff off-summer camp activities?

I found this an interesting and enlightening video on STEM scouting. http://wate.com/2015/07/28/east-tennessee-stem-scouts-learn-about-science-in-the-w-va-outdoors/ ...In the mountains of West Virginia, a group of co-ed Scouts is learning about electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering while in the outdoors. Bryan Heller, retired Navy officer and civil engineer, was teaching interested young people what he loves, science and technology. High school kids from across the country, fascinated by science, technology, engineering and math, spent a week at the Summit Bechtel rese

Well too bad you are not the BSA membership chair. Given LDS calls to protect "religious freedom" and some LGBT rights, I think your offer is on track. What if they insist that LDS adults can only volunteer in Scouting if called by a LDS unit (sorry if I got the nomenclature wrong)?

Could be. If so, what would you offer them if anything? Maybe another separate scouting program like STEM scouts or Learning for Life? Would you play legal hardball about using BSA uniforms and materials in a non-BSA program? Would you give them a deal on some scout camps? If I can refrain from drinking coffee while attending LDS hosted Roundtables , I think a workable solution can be found as both parties and scouts stand to loose more with a separation. ANother $0.02