On May 8th a joint statement was released by the LDS church and the Boy Scouts of America that outlined the strategy the LDS church has established to develop a worldwide youth program to serve its families. Because of this new program, the LDS church has decided to end its relationship as a chartered organization effective December 31, 2019.
For those families who are currently active in a unit chartered to a LDS church and want to continue your scouting journey after 2019, we wanted to let you know our volunteers and staff in each district will be there to help facilitate that for your family.
Official National Boy Scouts of America Statement:
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) deeply appreciates the long-standing relationship we’ve had with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a chartered organization. While Scouting remains a beloved program for many LDS families, the Church has decided to pursue programming that helps it meet the needs of their increasingly global membership and will no longer charter units after December 31, 2019. We jointly express our gratitude to the thousands of Scout leaders who have selflessly served over the years in Church-sponsored Scouting units and wish the Church all the best as it prepares to introduce the new program in 2020. There are many religiously-affiliated programs that are offered alongside Scouting, and as such, we are confident that many LDS Scouting families will go on to enjoy Scouting for years to come – continuing the legacy of LDS youth who have become Eagle Scouts and community leaders. For LDS families who want to continue the tradition of Scouting beyond 2019, the BSA will ensure a smooth transition to community-sponsored units that will welcome youth previously served by LDS-sponsored units. At the same time, the Boy Scouts of America is excited about our future and the opportunity to grow by providing families more options for their children to benefit from the incredible character-building experiences we provide. On background, approximately 425,000 youth in the LDS Church are served by the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs. As one of the nation’s largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations, the Boy Scouts of America is deeply heartened by the commitment of our many chartered partners whose ongoing commitment to Scouting enables us to serve about 2.3 million youth each year.
