Of Special Interest:

Reaching Out 2

Encountering Jesus 3

A Sleeping Giant 4

4th in Scouts Served 5

The SBR Experience 6

Scouting Ministry to Cubs 7

www.baptistscouters.org

Some very exciting developments are taking place right now in the Boy Scouts of America and in Baptist Scouting ministries! The BSA’s new faith-based initiative envisions a major involvement for Baptists. At no time in our history has there been a greater opportunity for Baptists to reach children, young adults, and families for Christ through Scouting as a ministry tool of our Baptist churches.

It is not possible to explain all of the details here, but it is a large opportunity that requires face-to-face discussion. A door is opening and we must enter soon.

This is a blessing that will enable us to help start new, vibrant, Baptist Scouting ministries and re-energize existing ones. It will result in people coming to know the Lord, as well as families being strengthened and discipled.

This is your personal invitation to join us in this God-sized vision. It will be revealed in detail during the Bringing Youth to Christ through a Baptist Scouting Ministry course at Philmont

Scout Ranch, July 10-16, 2011.

If you have ever thought, ―I’d like to go to Philmont someday,‖ that day is this year! And, if you’ve already been there, this is THE YEAR to return.

This Philmont course offers information and resources to Baptist church leaders on how Scouting programs can be used as part of a church’s evangelical outreach ministry and also as an in-

reach ministry for developing Christian youth leaders. Focusing on Scouting’s Duty to God, the course equips attendees on how a Scouting program can reach youth and their families for Christ.

Registering for the course is as simple as 1-2-3-4-5:

Go to the Website www.myscouting.org and sign in. If you don’t have a myscouting.org account, it is quick and easy to establish one.

Select Event Registration at the lower left of the screen.

Click on Philmont Training Center at the top of the page.

Click on Register for the 2011

Philmont Training Center Courses at the top of the page.

Complete the step-by-step process. Note: Select Bringing Youth to Christ through a Scouting Ministry during the week of July 10-16.

Do not miss this most important week as we mobilize to enter the open doors of evangelism and ministry. We want Y-O-U to be a part of this opportunity. Will you answer the call? Y-O-U are needed.

Please note, you no longer need your Council’s approval to attend a course at the Philmont Training Center.

Photo: the newly renovated interfaith chapel at the Philmont Training Center in Cimarron, NM.

Attending Bringing Youth to Christ through a Baptist Scouting Ministry at Philmont Training Center is as Simple as 1-2-3-4-5 By R. Chip Turner, Past National President (rchipturner@att.net)

ABS Today Page 2

Reaching out to the Scouting Community

A Game With a Purpose Sir Baden-Powell’s succinct charac-terization of the methods of Scouting was recently applied to a religious emblems display at the Scouting Expo at Baker Park in Frederick, Maryland. The display, underwritten by People’s Baptist Church of Fredrick, presented the Religious Emblems program using a cross-word puzzle format. Scouts could earn a complimentary promotional puzzle patch by completing the crossword and making a commit-ment to do their duty to God. Clues to each of the crossword questions were contained in short descriptions posted throughout the display. In the process of completing the game, the Scouts learned the essential facts about the Religious Emblems pro-gram.

Forty Scouts and three adults earned their patches during the Sat-urday, October 16, 2010 centennial event co-sponsored by the Appala-chian Trail and Catoctin Mountain Districts of the National Capital Area Council, which serves the greater Washington, D.C. area.

PRAY as an Outreach Dr. Kent Ramler, pastor of People’s Baptist, conducted the God and Family program last winter at the request of a Scout in his congrega-tion. An invitation was also extended to local Scouting districts (mentioned above) to which four Scouts responded. It was through this exposure to the local Scouting community that Dr. Ramler was in-vited to pray the invocation at the Scouting Expo’s opening ceremony. But more importantly, the four guest Scouts and their adult partners re-ceived a clear presentation of the Gospel during each of the six God and Family classroom sessions, as well as during the post-course inter-views and the Sunday morning awards presentation.

The study was well conducted and well received. The traditional bible stories were brought alive to stu-dents who were largely unfamiliar with them, who listened with rapt attention to learn the outcome of stories such as Ruth and Naomi, the fiery furnace, and the feeding of the 5,000. An unchurched Scout has a

very real challenge in doing his duty to God. In that sense, Scouting es-tablishes an expectation for religious training and service that should naturally raise constructive questions within the unchurched Scout. It is to these challenges and questions that our Gospel preaching churches can provide both a practical outlet, via the PRAY curriculum, and the ulti-mate answer that Christ Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

To better accommodate the stu-dents, particular attention was given to preparation and organization of materials. Copies of the scripture texts were made for distribution to youth and adults, and craft elements were arranged so that students could easily complete those aspects of the assignments. The course, in-cluding awards, was offered free of charge to participants. People’s Baptist Church anticipates offering additional installments of the PRAY curriculum in the future, including invitations to the unchurched Scout-ing community.

The Brevity of Jesus

Greatest Sermon (read in 7 min-utes): Matthew 5-7

Best Known Story (read in 90 sec-onds): Luke 15:11-32

Prayer in five phrases: Matthew 6:9-13

One Challenge to Accusers: John 8:7

Rescued Soul In One Sentence: Luke 23:43

Summarized Law (three verses): Mark 12:29-31

All Teachings – One Command-ment: John 15:12

There are always CEOs in the pews. But they are not business related. They are the C-hrismas, E-aster, O-nly attendees.

Give us this day Divine presence ―The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in

order that through me the proclama-tion might be fully accomplished.‖

II Timothy 4:17.

May the Lord stand with you in our service to God through our reaching youth for Christ in our Baptist out-reach. Will you pray with me to uplift all of our members for the best effort on moving forward in enlarging of the mission for Jesus.

Have a great summer, Sam

Chaplain’s Corner By Sam Houston

Page 3 A Publication of the National Association of Baptists for Scouting

Where Scouts Encounter the Love of Jesus By Mr. Vick – Scoutmaster Troop 10, Pensacola, Florida

The year 2011 marks my 72nd year as a member of the Boy Scouts of America. I tell my Scouts today that in 1939 my parents encouraged me to join Scouting. Their hope was that being a Scout would ―improve my character.‖ Now, 72 years later, it is still a work in progress. Every week on Wednesday evening I join the Scouts of Troop 10 in rededicat-ing myself to the Scout Oath and Law. These principles have become the values and goals I strive to live by and seek to pass on to our Scouts and their families. God has given me the privilege and responsi-bility of serving as their Scoutmaster for the past 15 years.

First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida, has partnered with the BSA continuously over the past 84 years in providing the Boy Scout program as a key element of our youth ministry. There is a sign hang-ing over the troop meeting room door that reads, ―Troop 10, Where Scouts Encounter the Love of Je-sus.‖ Our troop leaders are commit-ted to making this ―encounter‖ a part of every troop meeting and event.

Ways We Direct This “Encounter” First, the church, through the

Troop Committee, selects leaders who have this commitment to God and the Church. Often the church

recognizes their service with the Good Shepherd Award. Currently, Troop 10 is blessed with nine dads or granddads who are Eagle Scouts. They are men our Scouts can look up to.

Classes to help Scouts earn the Baptist Religious Awards are held twice a year.

In every Scoutmaster’s confer-ence, I encourage the Scout to set meaningful spiritual goals.

The chaplain’s aid presents at the beginning of each meeting a re-minder of our Duty to God respon-sibilities.

After the Scoutmaster’s minute, meetings are closed with a prayer circle. We pray for our Scouts and their families. And, the chaplain’s aide leads in prayer for special needs that have been brought to our attention by Scouts.

Over the past seven years our Troop has partnered with Troop 433 of the Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church. We celebrate Scout Sunday together. Our Scout family worships with theirs on the first Sunday in February and they worship at First Baptist on the second Sunday. We hold courts of honor together and help serve a Christmas dinner for the homeless each year.

As you can see, much like my char-acter, Scouting at First Baptist Church is a work in progress. Today is Wednesday, so once again it is time to be about God’s business of helping boys become men of char-acter. The ministry of Scouting paral-lels the goals and objectives of the Baptist Church. It may be a perfect fit for your church. Today is a great day to start that Boy Scout Troop or Cub Scout Pack.

Photo: ―Vick‖ Vickery, Scoutmaster of Troop 10, First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida. To learn more about Troop 10, visit their Web site at http://www.troop10fl.org.

Conservation of Boyhood is Still Relevant Today From the 1917 Annual Report of the Boy Scouts of America

Conservation of our natural resources is universally approved, but of what value would material resources be unless we conserve the moral, intellectual and physical future of the coming generation? Prevention is recognized as better and less expen-sive than cure. The Boy Scout Movement takes the boy at that time of life when he is beset with the new and bewildering experiences of adolescence and diverts his thoughts therefrom to wholesome and worth-while activities. In this manner our character-building movement has done much in numerous cities to diminish the problem of juvenile delinquency. Discipline—Boys Need it, and Like it.

ABS Today Page 4

ABS Shares the Sleeping Giant of Outreach at Baptist Conventions By Merri Addison

President’s Message

Philmont 2011 ―Philmont, here’s to thee, Scout-ing paradise…‖ We are excited this summer to be offering a week of learning and fellowship at the Philmont Training Center. The week of July 11 through 15 the Association of Baptists for Scouting will offer a seminar enti-tled, Reaching Youth for Christ Through a Baptist Scouting Min-istry. The focus of this week will be to offer practical suggestions for ministers and Scout leaders on how to use their Scouting program as a ministry for their church. It is a goal of the week that each attendee will catch the vision on how Scouting can make a positive contribution to their church’s mission for their community.

This seminar will be held in the midst of the beauty of northern New Mexico. Philmont offers wonderful activities for the entire family. From hiking, to crafts, to shopping, to horseback riding, to history, the week will be filled with fun activities for everyone. Please make plans to come to Philmont in July. Not only will it be a great vacation, but you may bring back ideas that will forever change the lives of your youth and families for Christ. For more information, visit this Website: www.philmontscoutranch.org /PTC/conferences2011.aspx.

Reaching America with the Christian message requires boldness and a willingness to ―go out where the peo-ple are.‖ Last year ABS had an op-portunity to share the idea of Scout-ing as an outreach ministry with pas-tors, youth pastors, and members of several Baptist conventions around the country. God truly blessed us with this opportunity to share His word with hundreds of believers.

At the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, Florida, ABS board mem-bers and local volunteers provided information on using Scouting as an ―outreach ministry.‖ A knot-tying ac-tivity was very well received, with many adults and youth returning home with a new skill; and former Scouters enjoyed the challenge of competing. During an informal survey we counted over 60 Eagle Scouts among those we talked with and are pleased to advise that the North Flor-ida Council started five new Scouting units in Baptist churches as a result of our follow-up.

At the Cooperative Baptist Confer-ence in Charlotte, North Carolina, Pastor Edward Bolen, his son, and Jeff Thompson shared how Scouting worked in their churches. They also taught about the P.R.A.Y. awards program and how it has a positive effect on youth. At this June conven-tion, the informal count of Eagle Scouts attending was more than 40.

As many of us were on our way to the National Jamboree, ―The Summit‖ was happening in Franklin, Tennes-see, for the General Baptists.

The call for help at the General Bap-tist convention came very suddenly, as many of our usual volunteers had committed to staff the Jamboree or Philmont. But, Mike Hazelwood of the P.R.A.Y. program re-arranged his schedule to assist with the confer-

ence. We were excited because the General Baptists were looking to make Boy Scouting a major compo-nent of their youth program in all of their churches.

2011 is lining up to be a wonderful year for ABS to attend a wide variety of Baptist conventions. We would like to extend an invitation to you to be part of them as a volunteer staff member. After you have read through the list below, prayed about it, and felt the call to share the word about Scouting, please contact us.

Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, June 13-15. For information, visit their Website at http://www.sbcannualmeeting.net.

The Mission and Ministry Summit, General Association of General Baptists, July 25-27, Collinsville, IL

Cooperative Baptist Convention in Tampa, Florida, June 22-25. For information contact: Jeff.Thompson@nghs.com.

National Baptist Convention USA Inc. Congress of Christian Educa-tion, June 20-25, Indianapolis, IN

God is opening doors for ABS to help Baptist churches reach the un-churched through Scouting. Be a part of this exciting opportunity!

Photo: ABS booth at the 2010 Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Page 5 A Publication of the National Association of Baptists for Scouting

Baptists Place Fourth in Number of Scout Units, Sixth in Total Youth Served By A. J. Smith

(ABS) — In terms of total congrega-tions in the United States, Baptists are far and away the largest Protes-tant group with over 100,000 local churches in all 50 states. Yet, Bap-tists rank fourth in the number of Scouting units (Cub pack, Boy Scout troop, Ven-ture crew) sponsored by faith-based or-ganizations, and sixth in the total number of youth served. In 2011, Bap-tist churches were char-ter partners for 3,874 units serving 79,072 youth, down from March of 2010 when we had 4,079 units serving 79,980 youth.

At this time the Boy Scouts of Amer-ica is actively seeking to partner with more faith-based organizations to charter Scouting units. It is a great opportunity for your church to have an impact proportionate to our num-bers. Our goal at ABS is to encour-age more Baptist churches to en-gage in Scouting as an evangelistic tool for reaching communities with the Gospel and impacting the moral values of young people who will be tomorrow’s leaders.

Baptists span the theological, politi-cal, and social landscape. Many churches are quite conservative, even fundamentalist, while others are more progressive in their social views. Some tend more toward an Arminian (free will) theology while others are more reformed (emphasis on God’s sovereignty). Many churches are located in the inner city where a Scouting ministry can have a great impact on social conditions by emphasizing self-reliance, hard work, and making the Gospel available to Scouts and their families. Others are located in suburbia, where a Scout-

ing ministry can help counter the rampant materialism and self-centeredness of middle class Amer-ica by teaching Scouting values of service along with the Gospel.

All Baptists have some things in common that make us uniquely

Baptist. We believe that the new birth and faith in Christ is essential to salvation. We all believe in the autonomy of the local congregation under the Lordship of Christ. We

affirm believer’s baptism by immersion as the New Testament form and

proper mode of this Chris-tian rite of initiation into the visible church. We regard the Bible as God’s word to us. And we believe that God has mandated that we take the Gospel to every creature. We plant churches to fulfill that mandate. Within the context of those churches there are many tools used to reach people with the Gospel. One over-looked tool that is available is a Scouting ministry.

According to the March 2011 BSA report on ―National Chartered Or-ganizations Using the Traditional Scouting Program,‖ the top-five faith groups with Scouting units are as follows:

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-ter-Day Saints with 35,749 units serving 341,245 youth;

2. United Methodist Church with 10,685 units serving 279,671 youth;

3. Roman Catholic Church with 8,340 units serving 227,038 youth,

4. Baptists with 3,874 units serving 79,072 youth; and

5. Lutheran Church with 3,844 units serving 97,241 youth.

Good Shepherd Honorees 2011 Doug Green of Hoover, AL

Ronald Yuan of San Marino, CA

Ronald Hartley of Lexington, NC

Clarence Keever of Colfax, NC

Mary Castles of Alexandria, VA

Thomas Castles of Alexandria, VA

Ricky Castles of Alexandria, VA

Dennis Bixler of Deltona, FL

Marlisa Gibson of Hephzibah, GA

Bertra Manning of Wamego, KS

Randall Hooper of Winthrop, ME

Judith Forget of Lunenburg, MA

Kimberley Stevens of Columbia Station, OH

Michael Akers of Festus, MO

Richard Grayson of Hillsboro, MO

Denise Kass of Omaha, NE

Phil Kass of Omaha, NE

Charles Benson of Haddonfield, NJ

Gail Benson of Haddonfield, NJ

Gregory Baker of Rosenhayn, NJ

Helen Reed of Jackson, PA

William Cornish of Hornell, NY

David Sullivan of Elmira Heights, NY

Tim Mathews of Canton, NC

Frank Laney of Cary, NC

Wayne Currie of Wilmington, NC

Logan Prince of Elgin, OK

Jon Rogers of Piedmont, SC

Charles Eppes of Greenville, SC

Harry Harllee of Camden, SC

Bobby Henry of Christiana, TN

Laura Brundage of Clarksville, TN

Virginia Fineout of Mesquite, TX

Daniel Solis of Dallas, TX

Bruce Boobar of Mount Pleasant, TX

Mark Addington of Texarkana, TX

Jeffery Lindsey of Texarkana, TX

William Windham of Texarkana, TX

Louis Ranne of Longview, TX

Melody Richers of Longview, TX

Albert Crawford of Virginia Beach, VA

Linda Crawford of Virginia Beach, VA

B. George Lee of Chesapeake, VA

Michael Toliver of Chesapeake, VA

Brenda West of Hurst, TX

Michael West of Hurst, TX

ABS Today Page 6

A New Jamboree Home at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scouting Reserve in 2013 Get ready! The next National Scout Jamboree is coming and it ain’t your father’s jamboree. We’re talking seri-ously high adventure, people! White-water rafting, zip-lining, rappelling, mountain biking, hiking, and more!

And when Scouts and Scouters gather for the next jamboree, they will do so at a new location for the first time since 1981. The 2013 Na-tional Scout Jamboree will be held at The Summit Bechtel Family National Scouting Reserve, located about 20 minutes from Beckley, West Virginia. This 10,600 acre site, bordered on three sides by the New River Gorge National River, will hold 40,000 Scouts and 10,000 adults.

A survey was taken to determine what Scouts want in a jamboree. The results will be used to develop the site and the program. Scouts can learn more and share their com-ments at: www.SummitBechtelReserve.org.

The Summit site Construction is un-der way in West Virginia. All timber-ing is nearly complete and roads are 60 percent designed. Paving for the roads is being produced on-site by crushing 416 tons of granite into gravel. Phase one of the construc-tion plan will be completed by the 2013 jamboree, but phases two and three will continue for at least 10 more years until the final configura-

tion is achieved. A high-adventure base and permanent summer camp will be included in these phases. When complete, the maximum grade change will be no more than 5 per-cent, so there will be no major physi-cal challenges in getting around the camp.

Attendees at the 2013 jamboree can expect a completely different jambo-ree experience than in the past. The footprint for the jamboree site will be smaller than past jamborees, which is in keeping with ecological consid-erations, but there will be more space dedicated to program areas. Accommodations may be sparse in 2013, but improvements will con-tinue afterward.

In addition to the present property, surrounding land will be purchased over the years. BSA is also working with the National Park Service to help develop the New River Gorge National River so that the adjacent 70,000 acres of the National Park Service property will be developed with Scouting in mind.

Registrations for the 2013 Jamboree will begin in late spring 2011.

Do you Have a Scouting Story to Share? This is your opportunity. Help us spread the story of Scouting with our members by sharing things that are happen-ing with Scouting — especially events in Baptist Scouting Units or at God and Country retreats that will inspire oth-ers. We’d also like to hear about ways we can improve the delivery of the Scouting program as Baptist ministry. Do you know leaders who are reaching youth in unique ways that should be shared? Do you have stories of excep-tional Scouts who are Godly leaders? If so, let us know so that we can share them with others.

Please e-mail submissions to Merri Addison at merri81@bellsouth.net. You may also mail them to ABS Today, c/o 665 Lee Road 212, Phenix City, AL 36870-8475. By submitting material to the newsletter, the author grants the ABS the right to reproduce and distribute the material in all forms of print and electronic media, including but not limited to PDF files and html pages, without royalties or fees payable to the contributor.

Page 7 A Publication of the National Association of Baptists for Scouting

Scouting as a Ministry of Christ By Thomas Martin, Associate Pastor

Pack 828, sponsored by the First Baptist Church of Pineville, Louisi-ana, is a member of the Attakapas District in the Louisiana Purchase Council. The Pack selected its unit number from Romans 8:28, which states, ―And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.‖

The Pack reflects this spirit on its unit hat, which says ―all things work to-gether.‖ The church chartered the Pack just over a year ago as a way of reaching out to the community and sharing its love of Christ. Pack 828 currently has more boys who are not church members than those who are, but is very pleased the Pack is reaching families they do not nor-mally see in church and that they have an opportunity to change lives.

Pack 828 utilizes the following tech-niques to bring Christ to its Scouts:

Pack and Den meetings usually open or close in prayer.

Its Cubmaster has a son in the Pack and is an active member of the church.

The Pack Committee is comprised of church members — who help the Pack to be a success and en-sure that its program stays a min-istry — and parents of Scouts.

They encourage Scouts to earn their religious emblems awards.

Upon recommendation of a BSA Youth Development Team task force, a Religious Emblems Coordinator (REC) responsibility for both the council and district advancement committees has been established. The purpose of the REC is to:

Encourage all youth to earn the religious emblem of their faith.

Promote the religious emblems program like the Boy Scouts of America promotes other youth advancement.

Establish goals with both council and district advancement committees for the number of religious emblems to be completed each year.

The anticipated outcomes of implementing the Religious Emblems Coordinator plan, which results in an increase in religious emblems usage, includes the following:

Reinforcement of the values taught in Scouting and through faith-based organizations.

Enhanced relationships with existing religious charter partners.

Establishment of relationships with new charter partners.

Strengthened and sustained relationships with existing faith-based Scouting units.

Religious Emblems Coordinators help create opportunities to more effectively use the religious emblems program for youth development by instilling the importance of one’s duty to God, and enhancing the relationship between faith-based charter partners and Scouting. They also create sustainable units that

facilitate the mission of faith-based organizations and Scouting. And, finally, they are involved in the values education parents want for their children.

Functioning much like Religious Emblems Coordinators, Council leadership contributes to religious emblems usage through the following methods:

Setting challenging, attainable goals.

Educating Scouts, Scouters, parents and religious leaders about the program.

Featuring the emblems at Scouting events and in publications.

Working with the faith community to provide religious emblems’ studies.

For more information about the Religious Emblems Coordinator (REC), visit the BSA’s new REC Web page at www.scouting.org/Awards/ ReligiousAwards/Coordinator or the PRAY site at www.praypub.org/rec or e-mail info@praypub.org.

New Council and District Advancement Responsibilities Religious Emblems Coordinator (REC) Becomes a Tool for Growth and Retention

Page 8 A Publication of the National Association of Baptists for Scouting

ABS Today c/o Merri C. Addison 665 Lee Road 212 Phenix City, AL 36870-8475

2010 ABS Officers President: Jeff Thompson

Vice President: A.J. Smith

Secretary/Newsletter: Merri C. Addison

VP Membership: Bobby Boykin

Treasurer: Ed Brown

Chaplain: Sam Houston

Webmaster/God & Country: Michael Grissom

Good Shepherd VP: Open

Endowment: Chip Turner and Charles Holmes

2010 Jamboree Chair: Joe Yoke

Regional VPs:

SR: Kent Gaylon galyon@baptistscouters.org

CR: David Eslick djeslick@undata.com

NER: George Alexander galexander@baptistscouters.org

WR: Applications being accepted

Rosa Gordon and Lynda McQuaid – Woman Who Serve ABS and Scouting We would like to send out a special thank you to two very special ladies for their service that went above and beyond recognition.

Our first goes to Rosa Gordon of Irving, Texas. She is a recent member of ABS and provided more than 300 hours of service writing communications for our endowment. Rosa and her husband Ken also organized a new Cub Pack in their church, and Rosa provides service to her Scouting District and Council.

Or second thanks goes to Lynda McQuaid who served as secretary for ABS during the mid-80s and continues to assist Smoky Eggers in sending out endowment pledge reminders.

We’d also like to recognize the following units for their tenure:

Troop 603 of First Baptist Church in Malden, MA — 98 years

Troop 317 of First Baptist Church of Sanford, ME — 94 years

Troop 1 of Tuxedo Park Baptist Church in Indianapolis, IN — 98 yrs

Troop 2666 of Emmanuel Baptist Church of Overland Park, MO — 95 years

Troop 101 of First Baptist Church of Pomona, CA — 101 years

Troop 6 of First Baptist Church of Paducah, KY — 88 years

Troop 12 of Calvary Baptist Church of Alexandria, LA — 86 years

Troop 8 of First Baptist church of Jackson, MS — 88 years

Troop 9 of Loray Baptist Church of Gastonia, NC — 86 years

Troop 219 of First Baptist Church of Wilmington, NC — 86 years

Membership & Endowment Share the news of ABS with fellow Baptist Scouters and church members by encouraging them to become members. Applications are available on our Website. Checks for endowment and membership may be mailed to: BSA National Office, Attention: Community Alliances; PO Box 152079; Irving, TX 75015-2079.