Church to review pact with Presbyterian
Scouters
Supreme Court decision raises questions about inclusivity
by Alexa Smith and Gary Luhr
NOTE: An addition to this report, dated
June 1, confirms 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.
LOUISVILLE - 30-May-2001 - 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."
