SSScout

Scout religious services can be (or end up being) one of five kinds: 1) If the unit is of one faith, then they can do whatever it is they do. Catholic, LDS, Jew, Methodist, Hindu, whatever. 2) If they are mostly of one "type", ie, Christian, Jew, etc. but some are not, the service can proceed with that understanding. No one need be "forced" to participate, but encouraged to find their own place for worship. The other Scouts can be respectful of that. 3)Often, folks try to be ecumenical, with mixed results. Be forgiving of the"joint prayer service" that disappoints many and pleases few, be glad they tried. 4) It can be what I call Spiritually Suggestive, mentioning those things that unite us; the Golden Rule, Nature , creation, love, humanity, etc. 5) Or, you can suggest the Scout(s) use a given time for "contemplation", "meditation", "prayer", or whatever. Or, you can declare that your unit admits that , as BP once declared, "~~What sect or denomination a boy belongs to depends, as a rule, on his parents' wishes. It is they who decide. It is our business to respect their wishes and to second their efforts to inculcate reverence, whatever form of religion the boy professes.â€Ââ€Â. When it comes to "Scout's Own " services, the dictum of "Boy Led" really is best, I have found more often than not, the youth services are by far more sensitive to the predilections of their fellows than the adults. Now if Tyndale had only been more PC.....

Inside job? Who knew they were "right there"? And the safe was "unlocked?"

Howzabout a "Sub Forum", as I see above?

The Meeting had a tradition of presenting the rising third graders in First Day School with a Bible. An Elder of the Meeting was asked his thought about this, and which Bible did he favor? . He replied , "absolutely. Give them the King James Bible, if it's good enough for Jesus , it ought to be good enough for them!"

Once a week is the norm around here. Special trips to the zoo or dad's workplace or the police helicopter base count as a meeting. I really recommend aiming for, desiring , once a week (at the Den leaders' and parents consensual convenience) and one or two hikes/tours/trips that take the place of a meeting. Cover requirements at meetings, have fun, make things, just hang out. Utilize your Den Chief......

That's a good idea, Ollie. One for Jambo '17 in the OpenDisPro, and one for Faith and Chaplaincy in the , er, ah, OpenDisPro.....

Please look at http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm and the "Scout's Own" handout from my IOLS section: https://www.dropbox.com/s/76zk9ri7gl...oGod.docx?dl=0 PM me if you would like further "inspiration". Good Scouting to you!

From logic to skintone to copulatory attraction to tv sci-fi evolution. Sounds like alot of free time to me.

And this is why Data makes a good ship's commander and why he doesn't make a good ship's commander and why some humans resent him being a ship's commander. Logic works, and folks often resent or are jealous of good logic.

Sounds like a lifer to me, Q. Just the sort of parent I like to see, one who is involved with her kids. Wouldst that more so should be. Welcome, forsooth, Mom2a, thou willst see much to like and much at which to shake thy head in amazement , herewith. Worketh thy tickets, thou Badger of Wood..... "I usta be an owl...."

Unfortunately been there, done some of that. In my case, I sent a formal bill for fees and costs to the Scout's parents. I itemized the expenses, listed the total cost, divided by the number of participants and then listed those that had paid and those that hadn't. Small letter detailing the need to be fair to all. The boy unfortunately did not come back. Or should I say the parents did not come back. This was after more than one occurance, and more than one drop and scoot. Never really had a chance to talk directly to the parents, they never contacted back. Sad, but it happens. Now in Boy Scouts, back in my halcyon days of yoooth, we (the Patrol) had a Treasurer who collected weekly dues, which were put forth for movie tickets, etc. If we went camping, the food money was collected BEFORE the trip, and we adjusted the menu accordingly as we bought. Now, I see/hear "grubmasters" buying and AFTER the trip billing the Scouts and asking for repayment. And asking, and asking. Daddy's checkbook is always there..

Climbing Wall outfitter, Bike hike on the C&O canal, ... Cabin Camp (in the cold snow) with board games and movie night ... hello?

"It Depends" Here'bouts, Dens meet at the convenience of the Den, whatever consensus the DL can collect, basement rec rooms, CO class room,, back of a Hardware store, I've even known the local Starbucks to host a Tiger meeting (adult partners love that!). Pack meetings are SUPPOSED to be hosted by the CO, but that might not happen if the CO is a "paper" CO (Friends of XYZ, etc.), in which case they might rent the local school AP room. I know an active Troop that is CO'd by the American Legion, meets and stores gear in the Episcopal Church. Works for them. When? Packs seem to gravitate to Friday evenings. It's only once a month, yes? Dens once a week is encouraged, my Webelos Den was wednesday right after school, in a local home, within walking distance of the school. Some Dens count the special trips ("go see it") as their meeting, which is certainly ok. Troops , I see any evening of the week EXCEPT Friday. No Troops meet on Friday, to my ken . Leaves Friday evening free for going camping early, I guess.

I was sub teaching at the local Elementary one day when the Town Mayor visited the school. It was great. Each class group had a separate audience with hizzoner. 120 or so kids in each of 3rd, 4th and 5th grades each heard a neat talk, with maps and numbers (statistics and charts were studied in class the week before!) and then they got to ask questions from the floor. The 5th's had some good ones. How to create a park? Could the stores in the shopping center include an ice cream store? Why not? If the town doesn't plow the snow, how come we still have school? (the county decides that and plows the snow). The school said they do this once a year. Seems like a good idea.

""~~And if no one steps up? So be it. Scouting will carry on."" Desert: I have been there, done that. When I took on the CM of the Pack, everyone applauded. My Good Wife became the CChair, seeing the benefit of Scouting to the son. We urged other parents to take the training, be the DLs, and so our Pack was active and participated in District things, got newspaper write-ups. Unfortunately, as I got educated about Scout things, we discovered our CO was only a "paper" CO. We planned a recruiting one year, and had 14 (!) possible Tiger Cubs attend, with parents. We spoke of the program, (parent partners), the fun, the possibilities. The kids had a good time, they all laughed and yelled. But at the end, not one family signed up, every adult said "too much time" "I cannot take that much time off work", "I do not know anything about Scouting" . No amount of explaining would persuade them. We had no Tigers that year. The next year, I enlisted the help of our DE. Pretty much the same result. We soon had 8 Cubs, 2 of which (with my son) were Web2s, 2 were Web1s. When Scoutson crossed over , wife said "no more Cubs" and so the Pack folded. Not letters, not phone calls, not personal appeals convinced any that they should (could) continue the Pack. I handed over all the Webelos material to the Webelos1 dad, and we never heard from him again. 7 plus years later, Scoutson earns Eagle, leads the VCrew, and attends Jamboree as a Staffer. We regularly see some of the exCubs in other Scouting venues and the local store .They remember me, much to my gratification. I'm ultimately satisfied we did the right thing by our family. I am now a Commisher and teach IOLS, among other things. I "do my best" to pass on my knowledge and legacy.

Oh, I like that: "LOCAL SCOUT FINDS CITY GOVERNMENT UNRESPONSIVE TO HIS QUESTIONS" Bob Woodward would be proud....

Agree with Pack. PWD should be managed by a separate party. Another Scout Troop, a Commissioner, CO Pastor, it should have a "official" check in, weigh in, hold area, track managers, etc. Ideally the CM and such should NOT be involved, except peripherally. "Well, it doesn't matter here" is not an acceptable rationale. Take the CM aside , with some others, not in public, and ask him about the appearance of things, not so much accusations of cheating (perish the thought).

Tourist in New York stops an older man on the street and asks,"hey, pops, how do you get to Lincoln Center?" The older man looks up, points his finger and says "PRACTICE! my boy, PRACTICE!" A good bugler should be able to reach 5 notes, and six with desire. Maybe not the 8th grader, but I can do it if you give me a week to get my lip back! Buy the Bach 12C mouthpiece, you'll be glad you did....

World Organization of the Scout Movement documents 600,000,000 service hours around the world. Have you listed YOURS?, Messengers of Peace specific, but let's see if Scouting for Food, Eagle projects, Troop projects might be included too! https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...536914&fref=nf and https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=3&theater

Go to District Round Table and talk it up. Trade with other Packs, sort out what they want to earn, etc. Talk to the District folks and offer your Pack to help organize a District Cub Field Day, and see how many you can pass around there!

Whoa, folks, let's not try to do WB on the internet. Let him go and see (hey, that's a Tiger thing!) and talk in person to a real human (we hope!) Patrol Guide....

Maybe a better question is : How long should a Smaster remain a Smaster? In my adult Scout career, I have known some who have been for 20 some years... Remembering back, I was a Scout for 7-8 years, and I can list 5 Scoutmasters . At least I thought they were Scoutmasters. Maybe they were Assistants? They sure acted like SMasters. I have no idea why one stepped down and another stepped up. Didn't matter to me, I guess, I only knew we went hiking and camping and bowling, etc. Loved all that etc. too!

Q: You're assuming that the timing was bad? Come to White Oak District Weds. Night! You know the address, I trust....

While I'm on the subject..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting_in_popular_culture

How did we miss "Room for One More" = Cary Grant and Betsy Drake adopt foster kids. The boys become Scouts, and the end of the movie is a very nice Eagle Court of Honor. How' 'bout that.