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As a former scout, this saddens me deeply. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52619808-78/scouting-thomas-friends-scout.html.csp in the article, he was quotes as saying: Quote:“I don’t think any member of the church should be afraid of standing up for the truth.”
I don’t think this is the problem. I think if he knows something, a scoutmaster should be working through the bishopric before communicating to members of the ward. Is his information sound? Is it truth? Or is it misinformation?
When I was in the bishopric, we had a scoutmaster very passionate about his calling and principle-minded, but at times was over-zealous and caused problems for the ward and the parents. I had to reign him in a few times, and he didn’t appreciate it.
I like it when people take their calling seriously, and can raise important issues, but I’m not sure this scoutmaster handled his pet issue the right way.
doug wrote:Heber13 wrote:I think … he … should be working through the bishopric before communicating to members of the ward.
Touche’Realistically, people only care if you’re wrong, right? If the actions promoted great results…no need to ask the bishop, just do it. When you screw up…”You should have ran it by the bishop and this could have been avoided.”
:problem: The information on Friends of Scouting is interesting, of course. However, that’s not up to Kenny Thomas to decide. He sent an email to ward members… Quote:
The email said he was “shocked to learn that the ever-increasing cost of scouting is driven by the growing inefficiency, bureaucracy, top-heavy organization and million-dollar-plus salaries being paid within the BSA.”You know, to me, that sounds like a message with an agenda, not somebody just trying to keep parents in the loop on a fund raiser. Frankly, it’s not up to Kenny Thomas to decide whether the church/stake will support a particular fund raiser. I have people that work for me. Decisions are made all the time and invariably, there will come a time when one of the employees will not necessarily agree with a company decision. Regardless, each employee is expected to present the company view to our customers, and if an employee went directly to a customer to give them an alternative view from the one the company is presenting, I’d fire the SOB.
I’ve worked in scouting for many years. I find the high salaries somewhat disturbing, but not necessarily surprising. I don’t really find anything disturbing in the idea that a stake president wouldn’t be happy with the actions of a local scout leader.
I also find the tone of the article to be a little sensationalized:
Quote:the LDS Church locally uses [high] pressure methods…having stake presidents and bishops ask members for $50 to $100 each, and sending armies of Scouts to knock on every door in their boundaries (including people who are not LDS) to seek money.
You know… I don’t see that. $50-$100 for a FAMILY OF A SCOUT maybe, but $50-$100 from each member? Old Sister Sorensen… and 100 bucks for your little girl, Emma, too. Also, the idea that asking non-LDS people is high pressure is kind of strange… BSA is a non-LDS institution. I get non-LDS Boy and Girl Scouts at my non-Utah door regularly.
It seems that he did communicate his feelings to the Bishop, prior to sending out the e-mail. “Thomas said he told his bishop before he conducted their Friends of Scouting drive that he felt he needed to tell members about that so they could make an educated decision about whether to give.”
Good point, OHN. I missed that part of it. Obviously the SP was more bothered by it than the bishop that didn’t warn him against it.
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