Joy Harris

Hartselle Enquirer

The Boy Scouts of America recently lifted a ban on accepting openly gay youth into the organization.

Many wonder how this new rule will affect religious support of Boy Scout troops.

Fairview Church of God in Falkville has a charter with Troop 7077. When the rules changed, Fairview had a meeting with the leaders and parents of its troop to discuss their future, and the troop felt the need to discontinue their charter.

“We decided to continue sponsoring them until our charter runs out in December,” Fairview Pastor Milan Dekich said. “The troop decided to discontinue their charter after December, so we will look for another similar organization with whom to charter.”

Of the 1,400 votes of the BSA’s National Council, more than 60 percent voted to abolish the ban at a meeting in Dallas, Texas, May 22.

This change will take effect on Jan. 1, 2014, allowing openly gay youth to become scouts. This new rule, however, did not lift the current ban on openly gay troop leaders.

Pastor Dekich said he felt sexual orientation should not be included in the conversation of Boy Scout ideals.

“I don’t think anyone should be denied membership, but I feel like the Boy Scouts bowed to pressures from political leaders,” Dekich said. “Boy Scouts is about building young men into leaders and helpers. They should stay focused on their initial purpose of producing well-rounded men. There are other organizations that strive for the same goals but do not deal with sexual orientation.”