Transcript Our Duty to God and Scouting

Our Duty to God and Scouting
Growing your Faith
J.T.Dabbs, III
Scout Executive of the
Greater Alabama
Council, Boy Scouts of
America
Recent Challenges
• Chartered organizations VOS score dramatically
declined in 2013
• Units that were loss due to the membership
standard change were in many cases units
chartered to churches that we did not have a
deep relationship with.
• Deep resentment, lack of trust, and concern that
we will leave our fundamental value of Duty to God
and a Scout is Reverent behind
• Severe membership and unit loss and a need to
regrow it in the right way
Our Strategy
• Chartered
Organizations
• Religious Emblems
• Faith Based Unit
Growth
• Marketing: Internal &
External
Chartered Organizations
• Video Series featuring select
chartered organizations in
Council
• Scout Sunday Promotion
• HOI Visits – More Dynamic,
tracked
• Frequent communication to
Chartered Organizations
Religious Emblems
• Marketing Plan to promote with youth and
parents
• Part of video series
• Religious Emblem Coordinator recruitment,
engagement and training
• Identify Past Religious Award Recipients as
part of Alumni plan.
• Recognition of award recipients on a
regular basis
• Religious Award Retreat for youth wanting to
start working on their award.
Faith Based Unit Growth
• Reengage with those units we lost because
of the membership standard
• Forge new relationships with faith based
groups we are not engaged with currently
• Utilize the new movie, Troop 491: the
Adventures of the Muddy Lions for
engagement with the African American
religious community
• Together plans,Methodist Bishop’s Dinner
throughout council
Marketing
• Developed theme, Growing in Our Faith,
through Scouting
• Chartered Partner Highlight and testimony
• Personal Faith and the Outdoors
• Religious Emblem Coordinator Promotion
• Highlight local scoutmaster who leads a
Bible Study Group for fellow scout leaders
• Religious Retreat Promotion
• Unit Chaplain promotion
• Scout Sunday and Sabbath
Why Faith Based
Chartered Organizations?
• Unit Retention better by 10%
• Rank Advancement 10 to 30% Better
• 73+% of BSA Units are Chartered to
Faith-Based Organizations
• 70% of Chartered Partners only have 1
Unit or one Member of the Scouting
Family
Faith Based Chartered
Organizations
• BSA offers Solutions to
Congregations and Their
Needs.
o Membership Growth
o Membership Retention
o Program
o Money
o Trained Volunteers
Growing Your Faith
Through Scouting Video’s
Video 1 (Faith at Camp Video)
http://youtu.be/26SkZswvDqY
Video 2 (Church of Christ Video)
http://youtu.be/PeJ9WZPvV4o
Video 3 (holiday greeting from Dec 2013)
http://youtu.be/fqnDNwNAqrg
Scouting teaches boys
to do their duty to God through
• Program Delivery
• Special Observances
• Faith-based Relationships
• BSA Religious Support
Scout Sunday & Scout
Sabbath
• Noticed a decline in Scout Sunday and
Sabbath services.
• Important part of maintaining the Chartered
Partner relationship.
• Provide Tools for unit leader and church
leaders on conducting Scout Sunday and
Scout Sabbath.
Resources
• Membership Resources on scouting.org
Handbook for Chaplains and Chaplian Aides
Scout Sunday Resources
Religious Emblems Coordinator info
Bringing Youth to Christ Through a Scouting Minnistry
Resources
o Letters of Endorsements from national Organizations
o 2014 update to the Chartered Organization Resource Guide,
sent to local council in August
o Together Plan Resources
o
o
o
o
• Other Resources
o Praypub.org
o Webistes of Scout Associations, i.e. Catholic Committee on
Scouting etc
Baden-Powell
• “I have been asked to describe more fully
what was in my mind as regards religion
when I instituted Scouting and Guiding. I
was asked: ‘Where does religion come
in?’ Well, my reply is: ‘It does not come
in at all. It is already there. It is the
fundamental factor underlying Scouting
and Guiding.’”