Sunday, February 3, 2013

Gay issue leads Scouts to find new Keene home

From New Hampshire-

Boy Scout Troop 18 had made its home at St. James Episcopal Church since 1949.

No longer.

The troop and the church recently parted ways over a national Boy Scouts of America membership policy that bans gays from Scouting.

Now BSA's national executive board is discussing removing that policy and leaving it up to the churches and other "chartered organizations" that host scout troops across the nation to set their own membership policies.

But it appears too late to fix the split that policy caused here.

Troop 18 has found a new home at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, just down the street from the Episcopal church.

"We found a very welcoming place, and I'm very happy for the troop," Scoutmaster Mark Hill said Friday evening.

The trouble began last fall when a parishioner at St. James raised concerns about hosting a Boy Scout troop, given the BSA policy that bans gay scouts, according to the Rev. Mark Jenkins, the rector.


More here-

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130203/NEWS06/130209786

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