Boy Scouts
Methodists, Mormons back latest Scouting bankruptcy plan to fund survivor claims
By Adelle M. Banks — March 1, 2022
(RNS) — Other religious groups have not taken a position on the plan announced by the BSA on Feb. 10.
United Methodist leaders urge churches to end Boy Scout charters for now
By Adelle M. Banks — August 26, 2021
(RNS) — The United Methodist Church estimated that as many as 5,000 of its congregations remain exposed to potential lawsuits.
It’s time for the Boy Scouts of America to reform
By Mary DeMuth — August 22, 2019
(RNS) — When I see a Boy Scout uniform today, I am transported back to the Pacific Northwest where my innocence is stolen again. This is the nature of trauma — the painful gift that keeps on giving without consent.
Clergy abuse victims haunted by sex harassment news
By Cathy Lynn Grossman — December 22, 2017
"The parallels are in the power dynamics," said one victim struggling, again, with the memory of being abused by a priest. "It puts the victim at a horrible disadvantage."
Boy Scouts Christian alternative sees ‘tremendous response’ after transgender decision
By Adelle M. Banks — February 17, 2017
(RNS) 'Where many people would say that they’re leaving Boy Scouts, we have many others that are saying that the Boy Scouts left them,' Trail Life USA's CEO said.
Boy Scouts of America to begin accepting transgender boys
By Reuters — January 31, 2017
(Reuters) The move bucks a more-than-century-old practice of using the gender stated on a birth certificate to determine eligibility.
Mormon church sticking with Boy Scouts
By David Noyce — August 26, 2015
SALT LAKE CITY – After the Scouts voted to accept openly gay leaders last month, the LDS Church said it "considering creating its own international program for boys, separate from the Boy Scouts of America."
Gay Scout leader rejected by Ky. Catholic parish
By Andrew Wolfson — August 7, 2015
LOUISVILLE — Greg Bourke, who helped win the right of gays and lesbians to marry, said he learned Tuesday (Aug. 4) that he still can’t be a Boy Scout leader in a local Catholic parish troop.
End to ban on gay Boy Scout leaders will go to national board vote
By Reuters — July 14, 2015
The resolution, which includes a provision allowing religious groups that sponsor troops to continue the ban, was approved by the BSA executive committee and moves to a national board vote July 27.
Boy Scouts’ gay leader ban preserves worst stereotypes, Holder says
By Kevin Johnson — June 12, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) Taking aim at the Boy Scouts of America's continuing ban on gay adult leaders, Attorney General Eric Holder called the prohibition "a relic of an age of prejudice and insufficient understanding."
Rod Dreher admits he goofed on gays in the Boy Scouts
By Mark Silk — February 14, 2014
After the Boy Scouts of America decided to open their ranks to (openly) gay members last May, the American Conservatives noted blogger Rod Dreher confidently predicted a schism in scouting ranks of biblical -- well, of Mainline Protestant -- proportions. So why didn't it happen?
Southern Baptists condemn gay Scouts policy but won’t force a boycott
By Adelle M. Banks — June 12, 2013
(RNS) While expected, the Southern Baptists' statement against gay Boy Scouts stopped far short of calling for an all-out boycott, as they did in 1997 with the Walt Disney Co. to combat what they saw as the company's gay-friendly policies.
What Southern Baptists must do to slow their decline
By Jonathan Merritt — June 11, 2013
New data reveals that America's largest Protestant denomination is declining. What must they do to stop the bleeding?
Churches move to cut ties to Scouts after gay policy change
By Bob Smietana — June 3, 2013
The Southern Baptist Convention, whose 3,981 Scout troops make it the BSA's sixth-largest religious sponsor, plans to address the issue at its annual meeting in Houston, June 11-12.
One Scouts ban remains intact: Atheists
By Kimberly Winston — May 30, 2013
(RNS) As of next January, gay boys will be able to join the Boy Scouts of America, but one group continues to face a longstanding ban that's unlikely to change anytime soon: atheists and nonbelievers.
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