When I started as the committee chair of our troop, one of the things that went through my mind was how many things I’d need to be responsible for. I had a pretty good handle on advancement (or so I thought), matters of finance and the rules of safety and youth protection. But what about the outdoor program? Camping equipment? High adventure?
Sooner or later, I learned that I didn’t need to know every nuance and detail of those subjects, because we had other volunteers who had the know-how to take care of them. I relied on them for a basic understanding of their areas, and let them do what was needed without any interference.
A committee chair who views himself or herself as the ultimate expert on every aspect of troop operations is fooling himself and shortchanging those around him. Continue reading “Get off your high horse”
The cog that turns the wheels of Boy Scouting is the patrol method, and the grease that lubes the axle is something nebulously called patrol spirit.
A few weeks ago I 
As the Christian world prepares to celebrate Christmas, I thought I’d devote this week’s article to a few reflections on our founder, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, and his wife on the subject of Christmas. 
You have likely heard the fable about the blind men and the elephant. It’s a tale that’s told in many of the world’s religions as a means of explaining how everyone views the diety differently. One version of the story is told: