Religious Signature on Eagle Application

[us3packrats]

We have a Life Scout who fast approaching Eagle. He has even finished his Eagle Leadership Project. He is not a member of an organized church. However,he is spritual and lives the Scout Laws in his everyday life. He is concerned that because he does not have a minister/ priest to sign his application, that he will not make Eagle. Who else would be considered an appropriate reference under the "religious" recommendation line?

[scoutldr]

This is a common misconception. Signatures on the application are not required. The requirement states, "List the names of individuals who know you personally and would be willing to provide a recommendation on your behalf." Typically, letters of recommendation are requested of these individuals, but they are not required.

 

The scout can list anyone who can attest to how he fulfills the scout oath and law in his daily life, including "duty to God" and "A Scout is Reverent".

 

PS: Welcome to the forums!(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[Hunt]

I believe a parent can also be a religious reference if there is no clergyman.

And although scoutldr is correct that the application calls only for references and not letters, some Councils will insist that the Scout arrange for letters. Whether you want to challenge this is up to you, but it might be easier to just get the letters, if that is in the local Council's instructions.

[Trevorum]

Agree with Hunt and scoutldr.

 

Council policies vary on this issue. For this reason I also suggest that the Scout should himself call the chair of the district Eagle committee (he should already know this person, having obtianed his/her signature for the Eagle project) and ask for clarification of the council's policy.

 

That said, affiliation with any organized religion is NOT required for BSA membership and so can not be a pre-requisite for any rank.

[Beavah]

Yah, no reason to be concerned, eh?

 

He should get a reference letter / reference from someone who knows his spiritual side. A friend, relative, teacher, whomever. Some of the best ones I've seen are from people or organizations a boy has done service for, especially if it was a longer-term commitment (Red Cross, soup kitchen, etc.). I encourage those now. He can also write about his belief in a "higher power" in his personal statement of goals and beliefs, if that's important to him.

 

Yah, he should expect a question or two about it at his board, same as about duty to country or bein' Thrifty. But no big deal, eh?

 

To reassure yourself, and the scout, place a call to your district advancement chair and get the scoop from the horse him/herself.

 

Now, for boys who do belong to an organized church, the general guideline is that the recommendation/reference should come from an official of that church.

 

 

[us3packrats]

Thank you all for your insights. I will have the young man the call the District Eagle Chair for clarification. Our troop's leadership is in a transition phase right now, and none of us had come across this situation yet. We didn't want to steer the Scout the wrong way and cause his application to be rejected.

[scoutldr]

"And although scoutldr is correct that the application calls only for references and not letters, some Councils will insist that the Scout arrange for letters."

 

Wouldn't this be adding to the requirements?

[Hunt]

"And although scoutldr is correct that the application calls only for references and not letters, some Councils will insist that the Scout arrange for letters."

 

"Wouldn't this be adding to the requirements?"

 

Sure--although I seem to recall some people arguing to the contrary. I'm just pointing out that in the context of a particular boy who is applying, you may not want to challenge this local requirement.

 

[Beavah]

Yah, da phrase "adding to the requirements" is a small one-sentence guideline out of several big books worth of stuff, eh? It does not trump every other rule, regulation, goal, aim, guideline, or article of common sense. It must be read in the bigger context. More emphasis is placed in the materials on ensuring kids learn, standards are met, and boys are able to do.

 

But to answer your question in a book-hound way, the regs specifically grant the Council the authority to determine the method(s) used to check Eagle Scout references. Havin' the boy request reference letters is by far the most common.

[oldsm]

In my troop, the scout merely lists on his application the names and contact information information "who would be willing" to provide a reference.

 

Our practice has been that our Committee Chairman telephones those individuals and has a personal chat with them, taking notes as they talk. Occasionally he gets a couple to actually write a letter of recommendation.

 

Last summer I assumed the reference task while our CC was out of town for several weeks, so that an EBOR could be held two days after he returned (I also set up the EBOR for him). I didn't have time to call everyone, so I produced a nice letter that I cribbed off another thread on this forum and sent them to the named individuals with a stamped, addressed return envelope (sent to the CC). The results were amazing. My CC now asks me to "send out those letters" for the new applicants.

 

My council doesn't seem to care how we check references. In fact, they don't even want written ones attached to the Eagle Application.

[packsaddle]

Oldsm, same here. If someone produces the letters (my son did), the council just detaches them from the application and tells us that they're not necessary. Making followup contact with the references is up to the council and they don't seem to be interested. Fine by me.

Edited part: typo, sorry(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[scoutldr]

I regularly sit on EBOR as the District rep, and don't object to letters of recommendation. They are usually sealed in the envelopes until we sit down around the EBOR table, and we pass them around and read them before the scout is called in. But my point was, if the letters are not there, or there isn't one from a "religious" reference, we don't hold that against the scout.

[GernBlansten]

I've just worked 6 Eagle candidates through our District Advancement.

Every candidate was required to request letters of recommendation from the listed categories. Those letters were to be sent to me. I was to present those letters to the EBOR before the candidate was present before them.

In all but one case, letters from clergy was presented. In one, the scout doesn't belong to a church. His parents were able to substitute as the reference.

Our district is majority Mormon and thus the majority of District Eagle advisors are also such. They seem to be OK with the parent substituting for the clergy.

[Eagle1984]

In my council, this reference is required. The only exception to this is that if the scout has religious beliefs, but doesn't attend a place of worship, a parent can write the letter. I over see the Life to Eagle process in my district and have that question come up on more than one occasion in the past 5 years. Therer are lines for the following on the Eagle application: Parent/Guardian, Religious, Educational, Employer, and two other personal references.

 

The only letter that is not required is the Employer reference, as some scouts that earn the rank of Eagle are too young to be employed.

 

One other thing to remember too, a Scout that has successfully completed the Eagle Board of Review is considered a "candidate" and not an "Eagle Scout" until the paperwork has been approved and returned from National. I have had that question asked of me more than a half dozen time in the past 5 years as well.

[packsaddle]

Just curious, for those of you who think letters are required, who is the authority that requires them? Who asks for the letters? Is it the council or is it someone else?