We are in the process of re-writing our by-laws in a similar way. It appears, based on BSA published docs that the chartering organization is the one who gets to make the call on this issue, regardless of what the BSA may do.
For that reason we are having the official church body (board of elders or whatever name your local group goes under) require that we submit or by-laws to them as a condition of renewing the charter.
I’m not lawyer, but that really looks like it gives some protection. In the meantime, it may only be treading water until BSA grants the okay for homosexual leadership, at which point we will probably move to something like the OnMyHonor.net group.
This is from Boy Scout Publication 522-023_WB.pdf, page 9
Available here: www.scouting.org/filestore/membership/pdf/522-023_WB.pdf
Chartered Organization and Council Responsibilities
The chartered organization agrees to:
• Conduct the Scouting program according to its own policies and guidelines, as well
as those of the Boy Scouts of America.
• Include Scouting as part of its overall program for youth and families.
• Appoint a chartered organization representative (COR). This person will serve as a
member of the unit Key 3, will be a member of the organization, and will coordinate
all Scout unit operations within it. The chartered organization head or chartered
organization representative must approve all leader applications to ensure that the
individuals meet the organization’s standards as well as the standards of leadership
of the Boy Scouts of America.
• Select an organizing committee (minimum of three) of parents and members of the
chartered organization who will assist in the selection of leaders.
• Provide adequate facilities for the unit(s) to meet on a regular schedule with time and
place reserved.
• Encourage the unit(s) to participate in outdoor activities and all programs of the council.
The council agrees to:
• Respect the aims and objectives of the organization and offer the resources of Scouting
to help meet those objectives.
• Provide year-round training, service, and program resources to the organization and
its unit(s).
• Provide training and support for the chartered organization representative as the primary
communication link between the organization and the BSA.
• Provide techniques and methods for selecting quality unit leaders and then share in the
approval process of those leaders.
• Provide primary general liability insurance to cover the chartered organization, its board,
officers, chartered organization representative, and employees against all personal
liability judgments. This insurance includes attorneys’ fees and court costs, as well as
any judgment brought against the individual or organization. Unit leaders are covered in
excess of any personal coverage they might have, or, if there is no personal coverage,
the BSA insurance immediately picks them up on a primary basis. Vehicles owned by
the chartered organization and loaned to the unit will be covered on an excess basis
for the chartered organization’s benefit.
• Provide camping facilities, a service center, and a full-time professional staff to assist the
organization in every way possible.
For information about training the chartered organization representative, go to www.scouting.
org/scoutsource/Media/Relationships/TrainingtheCOR.
I wouldn’t call our approach ironclad, but we are largely just buying time till the other shoe falls and there is a viable alternative to jump to.
Hope that helps.
Along the way, I will be interested in seeing if BSA makes any changes to the YPT after January 1- especially these lines (from the current training):
“All persons involved in Scouting shall report to local authorities any good faith suspicion or belief that any child is or has been physically or sexually abused, physical or emotionally neglected, exposed to any form of violence or threat, exposed to any form of sexual exploitation including the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child pornography, online solicitation, enticement, or showing of obscene material. No person may abdicate this reporting responsibility to any other person.” (emphasis mine)
Fact is BSA will not stop moving in that direction. Look at the UK where the boys can have sex in the tents. It is heading in that direction.