Last week, the president of the Boy Scouts of America, Robert Gates (former US Secretary of Defense and Director of the CIA), indicated that a policy change was coming for the Scouts. Most of you are aware that just a couple of years ago, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) changed their policy regarding openly homosexual boys being forbidden from participating in the organization. For many of us who were former Scouts (myself included, with a long family history in Scouting), we were shocked by the decision, especially in light of the victory the BSA had secured at the Supreme Court that allowed them to maintain their policy. When the Executive Council reversed course in 2013, they did so expressly maintaining its ban on openly gay adult Scout leaders. The day after that decision, gay activists immediately began to lobby the group to change that ban, also. I knew it would only be a matter of time before this once solid organization would change course once more, after which its moral foundations would continue to crumble until what was left would be nothing like what Lord Baden-Powell began in 1908 in Great Britain. We are on the cusp of that transition today.
Gates’s rationale for making such a change was since society was changing quickly on this issue, the BSA – should it desire to remain a relevant organization at the national level – needed to emulate the change. He made it clear in his remarks that he would make whatever changes necessary to the organization in order for it to remain in place forever. What was also clear in his remarks was that the moral foundation for the BSA would henceforth be established on the shifting sands of moral relativism. If society (or, some vocal portion of it) deems something to be passé, then the Boy Scouts will not be far behind. Sadly, the BSA is really following the lead of many in mainline Protestantism who have eschewed an orthodox understanding of the authority of God’s Word, exchanging it instead for whatever wind of doctrine happens to currently be in vogue (cf. Ephesians 4:14).
Thankfully, there is an organization that has been established to fill the void left by the Boy Scouts: Trail Life USA. Last year, we as a church authorized the chartering of a troop for that 
organization. We struggled for a while trying to find folks to fill the necessary positions on the Executive Council, but I’m happy to report that we have someone to fill each slot! Even though we have filled these positions, there is still a need for men to volunteer to help serve the young men who will be part of this troop in the near future. If you are interested in being part of this exciting opportunity, please see either Brian Miller, Bob Scaia, Kirk Babcock, or me. This is a chance to mentor and pour into the lives of the young men of our church as well as our community, and it’s a chance to reach out to our community with the love of Christ (Trail Life USA is an explicitly Christian organization). How would God use you to serve in this capacity? Just something to think about…
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