LDS Church pulls Boy Scouts program for older teens
The Mormon church, the largest sponsor of Boy Scouts troops in the United States, is pulling older teenagers from the organization as the religion takes a step toward developing its own global scouting-like program.
According to a press release from the LDS church, beginning January 1, 2018, young men from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will no longer participate in the Varsity and Venturing programs offered by the Boy Scouts of America.
“This decision impacts about a fourth of our membership. It doesn’t mean that the clock stops and you can’t be an Eagle Scout anymore. He could continue on if the boy and his parent decide that they want to continue. They can continue to be registered in scouting and advance toward Eagle, but that would be a family option rather than an automatic part of the LDS church program,” Clarke Farrer said, the scout executive for the B.S.A. Grand Teton Council.
The Utah-based religion’s announcement Thursday means an estimated 130,000-180,000 teenagers ages 14-18 will no longer participate in Boy Scouts starting next year, a significant loss for the Boy Scouts of America.
The Boy Scouts, with 2.3 million youth, has been grappling with declining membership in recent years and has enjoyed a close bond with the Mormons for more than a century.
“I’ve been involved in scouting for many years. I have quite a few grandsons who also Eagle Scouts and the direction and maturity and other opportunity given to these boys in scouting cannot be found any place else,” a LDS church member said when hearing the news.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a news release that it will keep some 280,000 younger boys in Boy Scouts while it continues to develop a scouting-type program that it could implement for members around the world.
“Character development, personal fitness, citizenship training, leadership experiences — that’s why we exist and those things will continue on. We’ll continue doing that with thousands of kids here in eastern Idaho and millions of kids across the country,” Farrer said.
For the full news release with questions and answers click here.
