wfn.org | Church to review pact with Presbyterian Scouters (revised)

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6540 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

1-June-2001
01179

Editor's note: Due to an editorial oversight, additional information
received by the Presbyterian News Service confirming that the Boy Scouts of
America policy of banning gay men as troop leaders - recently upheld by the
U.S. Supreme Court - extends to membership in the Boy Scouts by openly gay
boys was omitted from the original story on this issue. This revised story
includes that information. - Jerry L. Van Marter

01179

Church to review pact with Presbyterian Scouters

Supreme Court decision raises questions about inclusivity

by Alexa Smith and Gary Luhr

LOUISVILLE - A question raised about whether a gay boy would be allowed to
join the Boy Scouts of America is bringing about an early review of a
covenant between the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the National Association
of Presbyterian Scouters (NAPS).

	The review will probably take place in the fall, but plans for it may be
discussed by the Congregational Ministries Division Committee (CMDC) in June
during a meeting here of the General Assembly Council just prior to the
opening of the 213th General Assembly.

	Concern has arisen about a possible conflict between the denomination's
goals for youth ministry and a widely publicized U.S. Supreme Court case
last year upholding the right of the Boy Scouts of America to refuse to
allow a gay man to be a troop leader. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled
that the Boy Scouts, as a private organization, has a right to establish its
own membership standards.

	In 1990, the General Assembly approved a "Vision for Presbyterian Youth
Ministry" that included five goals, one of which is to "be inclusive of all
people."  After the church renewed its covenant with NAPS last year, a
member of the CMDC asked how the pact was affected by the Supreme Court
decision. A separate question about inclusiveness was raised this year by
the National Presbyterian Youth Ministries Council, a group that oversees
the denomination's youth ministries program, the Presbyterian Youth
Connection (PYC).

	"We would never tell a young person that they couldn't walk into ... a
church or the youth room because they are gay or lesbian," said Gina Yeager,
coordinator of the PCUSA's youth ministry program and a liaison to NAPS and
the Presbyterian Youth Connection. "We could never discriminate."

	The issue arose most recently when Yeager's office got a $7,000 funding
request from NAPS. The money was to be used to develop a Christian resource
for a national gathering, or "Jamboree," of more than 35,000 Scouts this
summer in Washington, D.C. Although its members belong to and support both
the Boy Scouts of America and the PCUSA, NAPS is independent. Its support
comes from membership fees.

	After consulting with the Youth Ministries Council, Yeager told NAPS Vice
President Eliot Kerlin, of Fort Worth, TX, that the request was being
denied. The Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office agreed, however, to pay
$6,500 for a give-away item - a compact disc opener - marked with the NAPS
initials, to be given to scouts who stop by the NAPS booth at the Jamboree.
The novelty will not bear the PYC logo because of the concerns about
inclusiveness.

	"We feel there is too strong a discrepancy between the Scouts' position and
where we must land as the national youth ministry office," Yeager said in an
April 9 letter to Kerlin.

	The denomination's top executive officer, John Detterick, told the
Presbyterian News Service that the decision not to fund the grant was
"appropriate."

	"This is a specific instance, and does not reflect any decision about the
ongoing relationship with the NAPS," Detterick said. "That relationship has
been good, and we expect it to continue to be good."

	The Boy Scouts of America, which has more than 110 million alumni, doesn't
shy away from questions about what it considers right and wrong moral
conduct. It says clearly on its Web site that "homosexual conduct is
inconsistent with the values we wish to instill."

	In a list of  "values imperatives" on the site, the organization says it
makes no effort to discover the sexual orientation or religious orientation
of any person, but is committed to the concept "that sexual intimacy is the
sole province of a man and a woman." That language is similar to language in
the PC(USA)'s constitution that forbids the ordination of sexually active
gays and lesbians.

	David Richardson, the Scouts' associate director for relationships, says,
so far, no Scout has openly claimed to be gay - and the organization doesn't
ask since it doesn't have a general membership policy. "If that were the
case, we'd tell the boy to discuss the matter with his parents and with his
religious advisors ...

	"If, after talking and after deep consideration with prayer, then, yes,
(the Supreme Court decision) would apply to him," he said.

	The Rev. Lynn Shurley, of Paducah, KY, who chairs the CMDC, said he was
surprised that the church's covenant with NAPS was coming up for review so
quickly. It has been renewed at two-year intervals since 1988, and was
signed again last December.

	"There was no action taken by the CMDC to censure or renege on our
covenant," Shurley said. "A question was raised, and we are in an
information-gathering stage."

	The covenant could be renewed again despite any differences between the
Scouts' perspective and that of the denomination, according to the Rev. Ed
Craxton, an associate director of the Congregational Ministries Division.
"This doesn't mean dissociation … This is coming about because of a
committee member's question, based on an issue before the Supreme Court."

	Yeager said the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office has worked with
NAPS and the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Her office
regularly sends out letters of congratulation to Presbyterian Scouts who
have earned "God and Country," "God and Family" and "God and Me" awards. It
also has promoted a video and other materials on scouting that are available
in church resource centers.

	Referring to an article in The Presbyterian Layman, an independent
newspaper, reporting that the PCUSA staff "has begun dissociating the
denomination from the Boy Scouts of America," Yeager said that has never
even been discussed in youth ministries office.  "As long as they're a
covenant group, we're fully backing them," she said.

	NAPS President Jim Snyder told the Presbyterian News Service that he has
not been informed that the denomination is "dissociating from the Scouts."

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