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Boyoboy do I have a bunch of sharp-eyed readers! Remember that
question in my last column, from a dad whose son was elected to
the OA by his troop last spring but didn’t do his Ordeal and
can’t do it in the fall, but there’s a bunch of Ordeal weekends
running at the Scout camp he’s working at, and they’ve welcomed
him to do this, but it’s not his home council? At the time, I’d
said that I’d not heard of any national policy to prevent this,
but clear it with both lodges—home as well as the council he’s
presently working in. Well guess what… That big BEEEEEEEP!
you’re hearing is me getting it wrong! Here’s what you all had
to say about my gaffe…
Hi
Andy,
If
you check the revised 2008 version of the OA’s Guide for
Officers and Advisers, on-line version, on page 23, it
states, under the heading of Ordeals: "Candidates for membership
in the Order must complete the Ordeal and must be inducted…by
the lodge that serves the council in which the unit is
chartered. Out-of-council Ordeals are not permitted except when
religious custom and observance precludes attendance at the
Ordeals of a Scout's home lodge (e.g., Sabbath-observant Jewish
Scouts). In this special case, the region Order of the Arrow
chairman may be petitioned for an exception to permit the scout
to be inducted by another lodge." I think this is what that dad
is looking for. (Les Houser)
Dear Andy,
Love your column, but in last one you gave bad information on
the Scout who wanted to do his Ordeal at another lodge.
National policy is quite clear
that is must be done at the home lodge, with very limited
exceptions. The National Order of the
Arrow Guide for Officers and Advisors states: "Candidates
for membership in the Order must complete the Ordeal and must be
inducted in to the Order by the lodge that serves the council in
which the unit is chartered.” Part of growing up is making
choices. This Scout must choose which events to attend, and if
he misses his Ordeal opportunities he can be re-elected the
following year. (Mike Shavel, Lodge Advisor)
Dear
Andy,
There is an official policy concerning Ordeals taken in the home
lodge or not. The OA’s Guide for Officers and Advisors states
the following on page 23: “Candidates for membership in the
Order must complete the Ordeal and must be inducted…by the lodge
that serves the council in which the unit is chartered.” (Bob
Reeder, Past Section Adviser)
Dear
Andy,
You
were correct that he must complete the Ordeal within a year of
his election. But there is a rule regarding where the Ordeal
must be completed. According to the OA Guide for Officers and
Advisers there is a rule regarding where an OA candidate
completes his Ordeal. He must complete the Ordeal and must be
inducted into the Order by the Lodge that serves the Council in
which the unit is chartered. (John Pojman, Ta Tsu Hwa Lodge)
Dear
Andy,
Unfortunately, I must disagree with your response about where OA
candidates can do their Ordeal. There’s actually a policy
pertaining to this situation. The current edition of the OA's
Guide for Officers and Advisers (“GOA”), page 27, says: “Ordeals.
Candidates for
membership in the Order must
complete the Ordeal and must
be inducted into the Order
by the lodge that serves the
council in which the unit is
chartered. Out-of-council
Ordeals are not permitted except
when religious custom and
observance precludes attendance at the Ordeals of a
Scout's home lodge (e.g.,
Sabbath-observant Jewish Scouts). In this special case, the
region Order of the
Arrow chairman may be petitioned for an exception to
permit the Scout to be inducted by another lodge.”
Although it doesn't appear to apply to Mr. Kotz's son's
situation, the previous section of the GOA, on the same page,
talks about another situation in which a Scout who has been
elected as a candidate, but who has not yet attended his Ordeal,
yet permanently relocates to a new Council, may take his
Ordeal in the new Council: “Candidate
status. Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, or adults
remain candidates until completion of the Ordeal and
Ordeal ceremony. If this
period of candidacy exceeds one year, the candidate's name will
be dropped. To become candidates again, they must be
elected/selected again. The
executive committee of the lodge may extend the one-year
limit if a candidate is ill or there are other unusual
circumstances. If a candidate
permanently relocates to a new… council prior to completing the
Ordeal, the candidate should immediately join a troop or team
in the new council. A copy of the election report must be
presented to the new unit leader to arrange induction in the new
lodge. The candidacy period is not restarted or
extended.”
IMHO, one of the primary reasons for the rule is that the
election, call out, and Ordeal are all part of the same
induction process that is, and should be, considered an honor to
be recognized and witnessed by those who honor the candidate by
electing him. You are correct that he must complete his Ordeal
within one year of election. I recommend, as you do, having the
conversation with the lodge chief and the lodge adviser to see
if there are any accommodations that can be made within his
lodge. If that fails, I recommend discussing this with his camp
staff supervisor to see if he can be released for the one
weekend the Fall Fellowship is being held. (Karl Kaszuba, Lodge
Adviser, Kola Lodge #464)
Dear
Andy,
This
is from page 23 of the Order of the Arrow Guide for Officers and
Advisors: “Ordeals. Candidates for membership in the Order must
complete the Ordeal and must be inducted into the Order by the
lodge that serves the council in which the unit is chartered.
Out-of-council Ordeals are not permitted except when religious
custom and observance precludes attendance at the Ordeals of a
Scout’s home lodge (e.g., Sabbath-observant Jewish Scouts). In
this special case, the region Order of the Arrow chairman may be
petitioned for an exception to permit the Scout to be inducted
by another lodge.” (Jeff Mawdsley, ASM, Blackhawk Area Council,
IL)
Sincere thanks to these alert Scouter Arrowmen!
And,
since we have so many fine Arrowmen reading these columns,
here’s a question I’ve asked the OA national website several
times in the past half-year, with no response. Perhaps there’s
an answer among you on this one…
If an OA lodge does not provide an election team of Arrowmen,
or lodge or chapter representative, to a local troop or team
wanting an election, and that troop or team has—according to its
own record-keeping—Scouts qualified for election into the OA,
can that troop or team conduct its own election sans lodge or
chapter representation, and thereupon submit the correct
paperwork?
Since this column’s theme seems to be righting wrongs, it’s not
inappropriate for another mea culpa here…
In
my July 27 column, I answered a long-dedicated Scouter from
Kentucky’s Blue Grass Council, who despite knowing that the BSA
doesn’t permit “numbers” on “being active,” decided, in keeping
with his own conscience, to do just that: He institute a
metric—a “number scheme,” he called it—on “active.” He claimed
that “It’s worked, but many of the Scouts think it’s a burden…”
Instead of responding, I reacted—in high dudgeon would put it
mildly. Justified by being a died-in-the-wool straight-arrow
Scouter? Maybe. But appropriate for a Commissioner?
Absolutely not! Appalling, in fact—No tact, diplomacy, or much
of anything except anger.
I
owe this Scouter an apology for my conduct unbecoming a
Commissioner. I’ve re-thought my answer and I’m about to
correct it; I hope this Scouter is willing to re-think his
position as well. Here goes…
Yes, the world has changed… Today more than ever the moral fiber
of our youth is being challenged daily, in mass media, in
theater, at rock concerts, in the streets, and even at the very
schools that for so many generations before were virtual safe
havens. Today, in the face of these threats to the future
ethics of the coming generations of our countrymen and citizens,
Scouting as a moral foundation is needed more than ever before.
Our primary responsibility, as volunteer role-models and
mentors, is to help those youth whom we serve to see the path
ahead that points to True North and then help them make the
personal decision to aim at it to the exclusion of ethical
distractions. We started doing this a hundred years ago; our
goal is no different today. But it may be more important
today—it may be, in fact, the most important thing we can do
with our time, talents, and treasure.
Scouting is founded not on getting badges or even going camping
or hiking – It’s founded on principles of thinking and behavior
that lead to happy, productive, contributing citizenship. Those
badges and campouts are parts of an overall method, but they are
not ends in themselves. Part of our job is to assure that these
don’t become the ends; that they continue to remain methods and
nothing more. When we ourselves lose our focus, we begin to
supplant the wrong things where the right things should be. Our
job is to encourage advancement and the out-of-door life; not to
set ourselves up as final arbiters of achievement—Because it’s
ultimately up to the youth whom we serve to decide what they
want to achieve, and then get out there and do it. We,
meanwhile, keep our true goal to ourselves—This is how Scouting
is, and remains, “Fun-With-A-Purpose.”
Youth seek fun—it’s in their very nature—plus adventure,
challenges, team-spirit, and teamwork. Many activities
available to them offer these things, including sports and
sports teams, theater and performing arts, debate and forensics,
music both instrumental and vocal, church and temple youth
groups, and the list goes on and on. It’s always been this
way. Sports have been a part of youths’ lives since “Day One,”
as have most of all other activities. Perhaps the choices are
greater now—more than the classic Football, Basketball, and
Baseball, there’s now track and field, soccer, lacrosse,
swimming and water polo, and on and on. But the essential
pull-and-tug remains the same: Scouting for nearly 100 years has
been the most flexible part of the milieu of youth—always there
and always welcoming when the season’s over, the last race is
run. This is as it should be, because Scouting isn’t an
organized sport, or a “program,” or a “class” or series of
classes. No, Scouting is a movement. It’s a way of
life. It’s a way of living one’s life by a very particular set
of fundamental values. Once caught hold of, it doesn’t “go
away.” Why? Simple: The values of Scouting are as real and
relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. And they
“stick.” All we volunteers need do is give Scouting itself—it’s
essence—room to work. We do this best when we follow the
signposts to good Scouting; we interfere with this process when
we begin to believe we somehow have the right and the authority
to make fundamental changes in how Scouting works.
Scouting doesn’t choose youth; youth choose Scouting. “They” do
not somehow “belong” to us; we belong to them. We have a
covenant with the movement itself to provide Scouting as it is
intended to be delivered; not our own particular version of it,
no matter how justified or conscientious we might feel we’re
being. When we ourselves slip from Scouting’s True North, the
youth to whom we have made the commitment to provide positive
and constructive role modeling receive less of what Scouting has
to offer, replaced by our own idiosyncrasies. Let’s not do
this. Let’s, instead, recommit ourselves to delivering what
Scouting expects of us, and what every youth we serve deserves
from us.
The difference between getting Scouting right and getting
Scouting almost right is the difference between lightning and
the lightning bug.
Happy Scouting!
Send your
questions and comments to:
AskAndyBSA@Yahoo.Com
(August
13, 2008 – Copyright © Andy McCommish 2008)
Letters to AskAndy may be published at
the discretion of the columnist and the editor. If you
prefer to have your name or affiliation withheld from
publication, please advise in your letter.
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