As Partners, Mormons and Scouts Turn Boys Into Men

New York Times ^ | October 17, 2012 | ERIK ECKHOLM

[reaganaut1]

CEDAR HILLS, Utah — In this hilltop suburb of Salt Lake City, where a vista of white spires signals a concentration of Mormons and their churches, it is a given that every boy will become a Cub Scout at 8 and then a Boy Scout at 11.

With mutual exaltation of God and country and a shared aim of nurturing “morally straight” men with leadership skills and a service ethic, the Mormons and the Boy Scouts seem made for each other, as entwined as a square knot. And in an unusual partnership dating to 1913, the Mormon Church has embraced scouting wholesale, giving it a central role in preparing male youths for their two-year missionary stints and adulthood as lay priests.

Virtually every Mormon church, or ward, has a scout troop. Every Mormon boy is automatically enrolled, and the vast majority participate. An exceptional share — three out of four at Troop 1194, here in Cedar Hills — attain the top rank, Eagle.

“Scouting fits in nicely with our spiritual goals,” said David L. Beck, president of the church’s Young Men organization, in an interview at the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “We want our young men to be upstanding citizens and good husbands and fathers.”

The all-in support of the Mormons has, in turn, been a boon for the scouts as they have struggled against a 20 percent decline in membership over the last dozen years and, most recently, faced criticism for failing in the past to prevent the sexual abuse of children.

In 2011, Mormon-sponsored packs and troops accounted for more than one-third of the country’s scout units, and the 421,000 boys they enrolled, from ages 8 to 18, made up 15 percent of the country’s 2.7 million registered scouts.

[Osage Orange]

10 cents for the FReeper that knows where the first American Scout Troop was located.

[svcw]

That is interesting.
We lived in a small rural community for a number of years and that’s the way it was there as well, and it wasn’t Utah.
I love the Scouts but, boy, have they changed.
I was a Girl Scout from Brownies until 11th grade high school.
Moved a lot when I was a kid, but in a few weeks I could join a new troop, it was a very stabilizing part of my life.
They have changed, not sure I would encourage my granddaughter to join.

[Capt. Canuck]

My son is in a Mormon Cub pack, there is no obstacle to joining. I’ve helped out as a volunteer and as a leader for a time as well.

[Capt. Canuck]

Why not? Mormons seem to be major players in Scouting, and with Mitt looking more and more like the next POTUS it makes it a relevant news story.

[bert]

I was able to take a Philmont Training Center course on Scouting with Older Boys. The leaders of the course were from Utah and were Mormons. (There was also a BSA professional from LA) They pretty much invented the Venture Program to encourage boys 14 and older to remain in scouting. It was a pleasure to be among such great scouters.

I can’t forgive the FReeper degenerates that are so rabidly opposed to such outstanding men and Americans. It is a national tragedy.

[Scoutmaster]

They pretty much invented the Venture Program to encourage boys 14 and older to remain in scouting.

Are you sure you're not thinking of Varsity Scouting? Varsity Scouting is primarily an LDS Program.

Venturing is a coed program that replaced Exploring when Exploring became part of Learning for Life. LDS Scouting doesn't have coed programs.

[bert]

: )

You might be right....... that was 1997

[Scoutmaster]

You might be right....... that was 1997

Yeah, it would be Varsity Scouts. Venturing - the program today - didn't start unti 1998.

There are very few Varsity Scouting Teams in non-LDS Scouting units.

[Scoutmaster]

Or the other possibility could be Venture Patrols (high adventure patrols), if it’s an LDS Troop that retains youth over the age of 14 and doesn’t have a separate program for those 15 and older, as suggested in LDS Scouting materials.

[bert]

In our troop, we have a relatively high percentage of older boys. We had our own program we call Senior Scouts. They or at least some wore the dark green explorer shirts.It was informal and we did what the boys liked.

Under my tenure, in addition to an expanded backpacking program, we went caving and rappelling. At other times, there was canoeing and hiking emphasis. There is also a very strong Order Of the Arrow component that involves a lot of special and leadership activities.

This is seamless within the troop. Today they have a venture group, orange epaulets, but it functons in a similat manner as it always has. Like me, there are one or two assistant scoutmasters with the responsibility for the older boys program

[Scoutmaster]

Thanks for your service to Scouting. If you have a high percentage of older boys, then you’ve been successful.

[Scoutmaster]

bert:

I was wrong. I've been back through the June 2012 revision of the Scouting Handbook for Church Units in the United States - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The unit registered for 16-18 year-old boys would be a Venturing Crew these days - although it wouldn't be a co-ed crew as designed in traditional Boy Scouting.