Region's churches deciding stance on gay Boy Scouts
Policy adopted by national organization will take effect Jan. 1
Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr released a statement recently indicating the archdiocese would like to continue to support scouting. / Enquirer file
Faith-based groups in the region have begun to weigh in on the decision by the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay Scouts.
The policy, which takes effect Jan. 1, has created a potential conflict among churches locally and nationwide.
Faith-based groups make up more than 70 percent of the Boy Scouts of America’s chartering organizations.
Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr released a statement recently indicating the archdiocese would like to continue to support scouting.
“It is my hope, and at this point my expectation, that we in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati can continue partnering with the Boys Scouts of America in the healthy formation of young men,” Schnurr said in the statement. “We have long found the Scout program to be a valuable and effective program for our youth.”
There are 148 troops and more than 4,000 Boy Scouts sponsored by Catholic parishes or organizations in Cincinnati.
The archdiocese has taken a much stronger position on the issue than the Diocese of Covington.
Tim Fitzgerald, spokesman for the Covington Diocese, said its stance has not shifted since the Boy Scouts announced the policy change.
“Our position is the same as it was a couple of weeks ago, which is that we will be guided by the decision of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, which has not yet taken a position,” Fitzgerald said.
Schnurr said in his statement that Catholic institutions have sponsored Boy Scout troops from the organization’s inception.
“For more than 100 years the Boy Scouts of America has provided a wonderful opportunity for boys and young men to develop character, virtue, and the values of service, community, friendship, leadership, and duty to God,” Schnurr said.
Schnurr also appeared to address the decision by the Boy Scouts to exclude gays as troop leaders.
“Our parishes, schools, and other Catholic entities have always had the right and duty to choose leadership for their units,” Schnurr said in the statement.
“That remains the case. Catholic-chartered units will continue to select leaders who promote and live Catholic values, and whose lifestyles are consistent with authentic Catholic teaching.”
The policy, which takes effect Jan. 1, has created a potential conflict among churches locally and nationwide.
Faith-based groups make up more than 70 percent of the Boy Scouts of America’s chartering organizations.
Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr released a statement recently indicating the archdiocese would like to continue to support scouting.
“It is my hope, and at this point my expectation, that we in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati can continue partnering with the Boys Scouts of America in the healthy formation of young men,” Schnurr said in the statement. “We have long found the Scout program to be a valuable and effective program for our youth.”
There are 148 troops and more than 4,000 Boy Scouts sponsored by Catholic parishes or organizations in Cincinnati.
The archdiocese has taken a much stronger position on the issue than the Diocese of Covington.
Tim Fitzgerald, spokesman for the Covington Diocese, said its stance has not shifted since the Boy Scouts announced the policy change.
“Our position is the same as it was a couple of weeks ago, which is that we will be guided by the decision of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, which has not yet taken a position,” Fitzgerald said.
Schnurr said in his statement that Catholic institutions have sponsored Boy Scout troops from the organization’s inception.
“For more than 100 years the Boy Scouts of America has provided a wonderful opportunity for boys and young men to develop character, virtue, and the values of service, community, friendship, leadership, and duty to God,” Schnurr said.
Schnurr also appeared to address the decision by the Boy Scouts to exclude gays as troop leaders.
“Our parishes, schools, and other Catholic entities have always had the right and duty to choose leadership for their units,” Schnurr said in the statement.
“That remains the case. Catholic-chartered units will continue to select leaders who promote and live Catholic values, and whose lifestyles are consistent with authentic Catholic teaching.”
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For some churches, conflict has been resolved
A June 12 Enquirer story about Hebron Lutheran Church pondering whether to renew its charter of Boy Scout Troop 228 also prompted responses from faith-based groups.Hansel Ramathal, president of the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Council, pointed out that the conflict confronting Hebron Lutheran Church has already been resolved by other congregations.
“The Church Council of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Crestview Hills reaffirms our commitment to continue into a third decade as a chartering organization for BSA,” Ramathal wrote.
Gloria Dei belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the country, with 10,000 congregations.
A statement on the ELCA website indicates the church lacks consensus on the issue of lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships, but encourages all people to live out their faith in the community. It also calls for mutual respect in relationships and for guidance that seeks the good of each individual and of the community.
Hebron Lutheran Church belongs to Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, a denomination with a different set of governing principles.
Lawrence Snyder, an associate professor of American religion at Western Kentucky University, said the different stances within the Lutheran Church exemplify the wide range of opinions on homosexuality among Christian faiths.
“Not all Christian faith-based groups are in unison on the issue of homosexuality at all,” Snyder said.
“The United Methodist Church came out pretty quickly after that decision by the Boy Scouts and declared they had no intention of withdrawing their support. The Southern Baptists Convention, on the other hand, was pretty loud and vocal against the decision, but have softened their rhetoric a little bit and may allow for individual congregations to make those decisions.”
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One parish leader takes a position
While the Covington Diocese has not yet weighed in on the issue, at least one of its parish leaders has taken a position.The Rev. Nick Rottman, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Burlington, called the change in policy by the Boy Scouts of America a “good decision” in a letter to parishioners.
“Living out any sort of sexual lifestyle is, first of all, not an issue for Boy Scouts, most of whom are young and still interested in the more innocent things in life. And second, any sort of sexual activity within Boy Scouting events is already prohibited by BSA policy, whether heterosexual or not,” Rottman said.
Snyder said the whole issue of gays has become a major battleground for faith-based organizations.
“Churches on the more conservative side have been consistently opposed to any changes culturally and within their churches that would seem to endorse homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle,” Snyder said.
“Churches toward the middle or to the left have taken one degree or another of a position that this is where people are, and regardless of their lifestyle we are called to love them.”
Snyder sees the Boy Scout debate, and the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, as flashpoints in a cultural mood swing by society on a much larger issue.
As society in general becomes more accepting of gay people, individual faith-based groups are going to be faced with tough decisions about how to reconcile that within their own belief system. ■
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