Before you disband, consider reaffiliating.
Read this article:
Since your church is PCA, take a close look at the Calvinist Cadet Corps. I'm pinging this to the Great Reformed Ping List (of which you are also a member) because I think reminding people of the existence of the Calvinist Cadet Corps may be of major interest to a lot of people in the OPC and PCA.
For those in other denominations, the article also references the Southern Baptist Convention's Royal Ambassadors, the Assemblies of God's Royal Rangers, and the Seventh Day Adventists’ Pathfinders.
I'm very much aware of the problems in the Christian Reformed Church, but the Calvinist Cadet Corps includes a number of people affiliated with the OPC, URC, and other conservative churches, and its leadership is quite a bit better than the CRC leadership.
A large influx of ex-Boy Scouts from the PCA might be exactly what the Calvinist Cadet Corps needs to stay on the straight path.
For those who don't know what the Calvinist Cadet Corps is, it was started by Dutch Reformed people who, even many decades ago when the Boy Scouts were a pinnacle of American civil religion, objected to the Boy Scouts on the grounds that it tried to teach morality without specifically Christian content. (It also didn't help that Baden-Powell fought the Boers in South Africa.) The Calvinist Cadet Corps has its problems, and they are not going to say things publicly critical of the Boy Scouts, but I know enough of the leadership to know that many of them would just **LOVE** to see a large influx of ex-Scouts right now in conservative Reformed and Presbyterian churches. They can't say that publicly but that doesn't mean they don't want the same thing frustrated PCA Scout leaders want.
If nothing is done, Calvinist Cadet Corps will go the same direction as the Christian Reformed Church. The CRC battle is lost, the Boy Scouts are probably lost, but the Calvinist Cadet Corps has a realistic chance of being saved.
Here's the link to the Calvinist Cadet Corps: http://www.calvinistcadets.org/
For anyone who calls using this link who knows me personally, tell Rick Broene, the Calvinist Cadet Corps director, that Darrell Todd Maurina suggested you call. We attended the same church nearly two decades ago, and while I declined his efforts to get me involved in Calvinist Cadet Corps (I had been a Cub Scout, but running around outdoors isn't my thing) I've been watching his work from a distance with a lot of appreciation over many years. This may be the right time for PCA and OPC churches to join his group en masse and provide the necessary critical mass to keep the organization a Christ-focused ministry to Reformed and Presbyterian boys and young men.
IMHO...
I was in scouting, would not recommend it.
Too much like indoctrination.
A few good leaders, some really bad.
Nothing that can’t be taught in homes, families and groups of families, ergo, I’d recommend homeschooling and no organized groups with uniforms.
Little league and Scouting for me were quite a ridiculous waste of time.
They were certainly fun and I had some experiences, and I learned because I intentionally learned in every situation I found myself in, but the time would have been FAR better spent working more seriously and in better directions.
Much better to have outdoor activities that are not so formalized. When the uniforms go on and the trophies and badges come out, the idiot parents come out of the woodwork.
Thanks. I will definitely look into them.