LDS Comments from "Troop Bylaws That Violate BSA Policy" Thread

[wagionvigil]

This is one of the reasons that LFL Totals will no longer be reported and Exploring is going back under traditional scouting.

[FrankJ]

Scouting is the LDS's youth program for boys.

Having a policy of church youth members automatically enrolled in the church's youth program just doesn't bother me that much.

Now if the LDS churches are enrolling all youth, that would be nice to know. We can change our scout's listing to multiple & save $10.00 bucks per scout.

[ronin718]

How about this list from the CO:
10) Every boy of age who lives in the geographical boundaries of the CO is part of the troop - we don't care if they like us or have any interest or have found a different troop

How does the LDS church get all the boys names, addresses, parents data etc. to complete an application? We are not an LDS family but you are saying that my son is incuded on the charter of the local LDS body?...

According to the general church policy, then your boy is included on the local LDS Troop charter.

In actual application of the policy, I'm not sure if/how it is done. In most cases, your son would probably not have been added to the charter without an application being filled out by you and/or your son. The church does try to be aware of who lives in the area and would probably contact you when your son was of age. In areas with large concentrations of LDS people, your neighbors probably know enough about you and your family to get name/address/etc information. Then all they would need from you is birthdate and a signature.

I do know of some cases where a boy was added to the charter without an application form.

Time to nip this in the bud. The "automatic" registration only applies to LDS members within the congregational boundaries. It does not include ALL residents within the boundaries. Someone's trying to stir up trouble, and I take exception to it. Folks may have issues with how the LDS folks run their program, but to make the accusation that they are running up their numbers by registering neighborhood non-LDS boys without permission is slanderous, especially for those who say they have a lot of experience with the program.

Keep in mind that there may be boys/families out there who are no longer active in their Sunday attendance, but are still on the membership roles of the LDS Church. These folks would still be registered through the YM program. Perhaps this is where some may get the idea of the unsolicited registration of neighbors.

[ThunderingWind]

Time to nip this in the bud. The "automatic" registration only applies to LDS members within the congregational boundaries. It does not include ALL residents within the boundaries. Someone's trying to stir up trouble, and I take exception to it. Folks may have issues with how the LDS folks run their program, but to make the accusation that they are running up their numbers by registering neighborhood non-LDS boys without permission is slanderous, especially for those who say they have a lot of experience with the program.

Keep in mind that there may be boys/families out there who are no longer active in their Sunday attendance, but are still on the membership roles of the LDS Church. These folks would still be registered through the YM program. Perhaps this is where some may get the idea of the unsolicited registration of neighbors.

Thank you for the clarification. However, the grammer used in the Item 10 in the above posts does support the statement that non-LDS boys are placed on the unit rolls and that this is a policy of the LDS HQ. I, for one, am glad to hear this is not the case. Well, at least, I hope it has never happened.

[ThunderingWind]

Scouting is the LDS's youth program for boys.

Having a policy of church youth members automatically enrolled in the church's youth program just doesn't bother me that much.

Now if the LDS churches are enrolling all youth, that would be nice to know. We can change our scout's listing to multiple & save $10.00 bucks per scout.

I can accept that the LDS automatically enrolls its own youth. That is the choice of the LDS.

I would prefer the membership numbers be reported with the LDS breakout so we can see a more detailed membership count.

And yes, if they put my son on the local unit rolls, I want to have him dual enrolled so I can openly accept the LDS charity of membership and save my $10 in these very tough economic times.

[FrankJ]

Thank you for the clarification. However, the grammer used in the Item 10 in the above posts does support the statement that non-LDS boys are placed on the unit rolls and that this is a policy of the LDS HQ. I, for one, am glad to hear this is not the case. Well, at least, I hope it has never happened.

You really have to careful about what you read on the internet. Just because some body writes it, does not make it true. My kid's schools does not allow Wikipedia to be used as a reference for that reason.

[smtroop168]

We seem to have spun this thread out of what the subject line is. Maybe someone should start a new thread just on LDS units.*

Suffice it to say, LDS troops have bylaws that are not in synch with BSA policies. Having separate 11 yr old scouts that are not members of the troop is one but how many have "New Scout Patrols" that although we think they are part of the troop, they are doing their own thing. I don't like New Scout Patrols.

As far as membership goes, if they use BSA as their youth program and it sticks on ANY of the boys, it's a good thing. My understanding is that a number of the youth are not really active. You should have seen some of the eyebrows that were raised last year when we registered the entire 1st grade class at our Catholic school as Tigers. "Did they have to sign up?" "Did the Pastor make them?" No and No.

As far as Coed Crews...they don't. The lady I referred to did a lot behind the scenes for their crew.

[smtroop168]

You really have to careful about what you read on the internet. Just because some body writes it, does not make it true.

Or what political ads say either.

[scoutaholic]

...
10) Every boy of age who lives in the geographical boundaries of the CO is part of the troop - we don't care if they like us or have any interest or have found a different troop ...

Time to nip this in the bud. The "automatic" registration only applies to LDS members within the congregational boundaries. It does not include ALL residents within the boundaries. Someone's trying to stir up trouble, and I take exception to it. Folks may have issues with how the LDS folks run their program, but to make the accusation that they are running up their numbers by registering neighborhood non-LDS boys without permission is slanderous, especially for those who say they have a lot of experience with the program.

Keep in mind that there may be boys/families out there who are no longer active in their Sunday attendance, but are still on the membership roles of the LDS Church. These folks would still be registered through the YM program. Perhaps this is where some may get the idea of the unsolicited registration of neighbors.

ronin718,

I don't want to stir up any trouble. I was simply reporting as I hear it. I have heard this mentioned both by local church leaders and by council professionals.

I HOPE that what I am hearing locally is a misunderstanding of the general policy.

I HOPE that nobody is actually doing wholesale registrations of non-LDS youth. (Inflating the numbers by registering the less-active youth is bad enough. I KNOW that is happening.)

[FrankJ]

I do not think that you can say LDS churches have violated policy. They have modified the program to suit their needs. BSA certainly knows what they are doing & could put a stop to it if they wanted to. This tacitly amounts to permission if not approval.

[Mrw]

Ronin

Thanks for the clarification! It does make a world of difference.

I am not overly happy with the description of how the LDS troops are structured and I get the impression they could be delivering a better program for the boys. But id the BSA and the LDS involved families are accepting it as it is, I will go off and just worry about my own troop getting it right.

[ronin718]

Trust me, I wish they'd get run in a better manner myself. Not that I'm saying I'm unhappy with my community troop, 'cuz I'm not. It would just be nice if I could take advantage of the free registration the LDS program offers.

Well, I suppose I could, but that wouldn't be honest for either program. And since my son is enjoying the community program so much, we're staying put.