It was a partnership that lasted over a century. But, with recent changes designed to prop up girls and further denigrate boys, the Mormon church has announced that they will cut ties with the recently renamed Scouts BSA — formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.
The move is significant for the uber-inclusive Scouts BSA since boys in the Mormon church constituted 425,000 of its 2.3 million members in the U.S. (in 2016). That large number of exiting Mormon members comprise 18.5 percent of Scouts BSA’s total membership.
While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) weren’t happy with the 2015 decision by the Boy Scouts to allow gay troop leaders, the Mormon church decided to stay with the organization.
However, it seems as though the decision by the Mormon church is less about allowing girls into the Boy Scouts and more about providing faith-based services to its youth, which the Mormon church plans to do.
“For years, Church leaders have been preparing a new initiative to teach and provide leadership and development opportunities to all children and youth, to support families and to strengthen youth everywhere as they develop faith in the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” the church said in a statement. “This new approach is intended to help all girls and boys, young women and young men discover their eternal identity, build character and resilience, develop life skills and fulfill their divine roles as daughters and sons of God.”
While the partnership is ending between the LDS Church and Scouts BSA, BSA spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos said that the BSA “deeply appreciates” its relationship with LDS Church.
The partnership between the Scouts BSA and the Mormon church — which has lasted nearly as long as the Boy Scouts have existed — will officially come to an end on December 31, 2019.
H/T: Fox News