click23

I had 3 three scenarios in my head going into this last night as possible out comes of the board ​He declared himself an atheist - we would have denied advancement He was still unsure of his beliefs - we would have postponed his board to give him more time to think He declared himself a faithful believer in some faith - we would have granted advancement In the end, he was somewhere between 2 and 3. Still unsure, but has a Protestant Christian background and that is influencing his beliefs, or maybe "want to believe" would be a better fit. He expressed a belief a "God" but w

Below is what the EBOR will be reviewing before we meet with the Scout. The issue at hand tonight is whether the scout has completed Eagle Scout requirement #2 and membership requirement of subscribing to the Declaration of Religious Principle Eagle Scout requirement #2 Demonstrate that you live by the principles of the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your daily life. The 12th point of the Scout Law, a Scout is reverent. The Boy Scout of America defines reverent as: “He is faithful in his religious duties and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and reli

Any last advice, we are reconvening the EBOR tonight.

I think this is just more of a reason the BSA should follow the traditional international scouting program model(some of the names vary country to country) Under 10/11 Cubs 10/11-14/15 Boy Scouts 14/15-17 Venture Scouts 18-25/26 Rover Scouts

Very little on this has been published. From what can be gathered on page 3 of this document, http://www.scouting.org/filestore/venturing/pdf/VenturingFAQs.pdf, starting March 1st, 18-21 year old Venturers will register as adults, but become adult participants . Adult Participants: ~ Register as adults, follow adult membership standards, take Youth Protection, have background check completed ~ Participate in Venturing like youth, can earn awards, hold leadership positions ~ Tent, shower, use bathroom facilities with adults ~ Can not date adults ~ Do NOT count as adult leade

Latest news from their Facebook page: The National Executive Board approved expanding the STEM Scouts test pilot into additional councils! In the coming days, we will have a great deal more information to share. This happened last week, from what I understand there will be 10 councils that this program will be rolling out to this year.

From what I understand the BSA is moving away from PowerPoint presented training, and to more of an instructor focused training.

You need to refer to Guide to Advancement, the BSAs advancement rule and policy book, particularly section 7 which covers the merit badge program. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf First, the Scoutmaster is out of line with requiring that a scout be a third year Scout. The GTA is quite clear on the matter of adding to the requirements. No council, committee, district, unit, or individual has the authority to add to, or subtract from, advancement requirements. You really need to review topics 7.0.0.3 and 7.0.4.7 in the GTA. No where in the GTA does it say that a

Have you ever see anything like this parent participation form? You could base one on your packs needs from this form. The idea is that it is required that every family contributes 100 points annually as a condition of their sons membership in in the pack. http://www.bsa-sjac.org/filestore/doc/CubScoutPackAdultParticipationFormSample.doc

We are taking the approach that a Scout is helpful, friendly, courteous and kind, and that a Scout will help other people at all times. We are willing to do everything possible to see this young man get his Eagle, within the policies of the BSA. When we reconvene we will ask questions such as those I previously posted. If he stands firm in his previously stated beliefs, he will not advance. If is wavering, we will give him time to think things out. If he has "came to Jesus"(just an expression, any God would be acceptable), we would postpone the board once again, to give him time to

Fred, he was very firm in no belief in God, higher power, FSM or anything. For me there are two key points. The first is has he completed Eagle rank requirement #2? It states, “Demonstrate that you live by the principles of the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your daily life.†12th point of the Scout Law, a Scout is reverent. The Boy Scout of America defines reverent as: He is faithful in his religious duties and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and religion [*]He must demonstrate that his lives by the “duty to God†point of the Scout Oat

Can we please get back on topic. qwazse listed a few good questions to go over with the young man. With those and some I have came up with, I have this: What is morality? Where do your sense of morals come from? What dictates what is right and wrong? How important is it to you that the best explanation for all things excludes intervention from a higher power? Do you believe it is possible to believe in science and a higher power? Where did we call come from? Where did that come from? Etc….. How important is it to ensure another person's practice of religion as he/she see

We asked him a few more questions about the issue, and then moved on to other topics.

T2E, while all of the board members are protestant Christians, we are all aware of the BSAs requirements of faith in the DRP, Guide to Advancement, and its definition of reverent. We are only looking for an answer that satisfies the BSAs requirements nothing more, and nothing less. The answers you gave would be perfectly acceptable to us for the purposes of the EBOR. If this young man comes to realize that he believes in something, it is not our place to grill him on those beliefs, but it is our job to ensure that he has done his duty to God, and that he is reverent, as defined by th

The statement was made during the EBOR, and seemed quite set in his beliefs, and was quite perplexed when he was informed that a belief was required for membership in the BSA. He was asked which point of the scout law he thought was the hardest for him to follow, he stated reverent, and went on to say he had no beliefs. The EBOR was postponed for one month.

I should have been a bit more clear. What questions would you ask to the young man to really gauge if he means what he is saying. Examples would be(I'll admit that I have a Christian background, that is why I am asking your guys input, so that I can get some better questions to ask): If there is no higher power, then what dictates what is right and what is wrong? What happens when you die? You believe in the big bang theory, then where did the single point of matter come from? ​

Without going into any specific detail in the case, during an EBOR what questions would you guys follow up with a Scout that expressed that he had no belief in a higher power?

If you take a look in the Guide to Advancement, section 3.0.0.2 list 14 things that a district advancement should do. #14 states: To strengthen units through strong advancement programs, consider the following: a. Assist unit commissioners and others who serve units. b. Serve as a resource for roundtables. c. Develop relationships with unit advancement volunteers. d. Provide units with advancement reports, summarizing and explaining what they mean. e. Assist unit leadership with advancement planning and promotion. f. Visit pack, troop, team, crew, and ship committee me

Below is the actual policies from the Charter and Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America, http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/BSA_Charter_and_Bylaws.pdf No matter how simple someone may break it down,"you only have to believe in a higher power", what is below is the official policy of the BSA. ARTICLE IX. POLICIES AND DEFINITIONS Clause 1. The Boy Scouts of America maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God. In the first part of the Scout Oath or Promise the member declares, “On my honor I will do my best to do

I completely understand the concerns about the old fogies aspect, and that is one of the things that I have addressed when putting together my staff. While I have great respect for the older scouters in the district, I feel in roundtable we need the energy of younger folks. I am 35, the Boy Scout RTC is a few years younger than me, the Cub Scout RTC is her mid 40s, and all three Assistant RTCs are in the 50's. JoeBob, that is exactly the type of feedback I am looking for. As much as I want to know how to get them to attend, I need to know why they are not attending.

I have posted this on a few Commissioner groups on the internet, just thought I would get some ideas here I am an Assistant District Commissioner for Roundtables in a large, but rural district that is approximately the size of Rhode Island, but with about 1/10 of its population, and we have 28 units. 14 packs, 12 troops, 1 crew and 1 ship. Over the last year or so our roundtables have transformed from basically a district events planning session to something that is very close to what is laid out in the roundtable planning guides. We still do a bit of event planning, but we are putting o

Just to add, from what I have seen there is no "scouting" in it other than the name.

The way this is laid out, this is a traditional program(not Learning for Life, but that is where I see it belonging) in a new coed unit called a Lab, for 3rd-12th grade. They currently have a DE assigned from the council and a small national staff dedicated to the program. From my engineering background I really like the program, but from my scouting background, they should not be calling it "scouts" This is a nationally approved pilot program, and may be expanded nationally by a vote next May.

Here is an article on the STEM Scout pilot program the Great Smoky Mountain Council is running. This is a coed, 3rd-12th grade program, that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/five-at-four/2014/09/17/stem-scouts-clayton-bradley-academy/15766027/ The programs website. http://stemscouts.org/