This past June, eighteen Baptists met at Philmont Scout Ranch. Surrounded by the legacy of Waite Phillip's gift to Scouting, we sought to better understand how Scouting can be a gift for churches seeking to bring youth to Christ. We came away from the week with excitement of the great potential Scouting offers to a church's ministry and with a challenge to get the word out on how the Association of Baptists for Scouting can support churches in this ministry.
Our Association is here for you. We are Baptist Scouters who want to support Baptist Scouters. We are in the midst of an exciting time. We have a new spirit in our Association dedicated to our mission statement: "To bring youth to Christ through a Scouting Ministry." We continue to be guided by dedicated leadership and since Philmont, we have new leaders coming in with new ideas. We continue to pursue goals we set last year which are:
1) Have 5,000 Scout units chartered to Baptist churches;
2) Have at least 5000 God and Country religious emblems completed by Baptist youth;
3) Recognize at least 150 Baptist pastors and laypersons with the Good Shepherd;
4) Have a fully functioning Joe C. Carrington Society in support of Baptist Scouting.
And we intend to actively communicate to Baptist denominations and Baptist churches our existence and how we wish to be a resource to support Scouting for these groups.
There was a time when Baptists were one of the largest Christian groups that chartered Scouting units. Now, sadly, other Christian groups are using Scouting's potential to reach youth and families for Christ more than Baptist. We want this to change. We believe that Scouting can be a great outreach tool. In the days ahead, we plan to fill this website with resources and links that Baptist units will find helpful. We plan to continue to develop our Facebook site. We want to use all the tools available to better communicate and support Scouting in Baptist churches. We would love to hear from you with your suggestions. Please contact us at members@baptistscouters.org. To quote Lord Baden Powell: "The spirit is there in every boy; it has to be discovered and brought to light."