The LDS church treats as holy scripture the Book of Mormon, which isn't recognized by other churches, but which it believes was divinely revealed to Joseph Smith in the 1820s.Mormons also disavow belief in the core Christian doctrine of the Trinity — that the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one — instead believing the three to be individuals united in a single purpose.
And now, what does this congregation of the Presbyterian Church of America believe? From their website:
We believe in the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that people are saved by grace alone through faith alone and we believe that the Bible is God-breathed and our only infallible rule for faith and life.
“I have a picture of Jesus in my living room.”
Well, that settles it, then! You’re a Christian!
I am not sure why anyone would be shocked at this story. Evangelical, orthodox churches require that leadership positions in their programs be filled by individuals that have like minded beliefs. Mormonism is considered to be a cult and there would be concern over this couple leading children who are being taught orthodox Christian precepts. The church had a right to make this decision and the Mormon couple should understand that to the rest of the orthodox Christian world, their beliefs are not compatible with Scripture nor tradition for that matter. I am sure that the family would be welcome to attend meetings or socials associated with the scouts, but to hold a leadership position for a troop affiliated with a conservative Presbyterian denomination would not be acceptable. I would also guess that if the couple were Roman Catholics they would also have been denied leadership positions. Certainly, as a fundamental Baptist, I would not expect to be a scout leader for a troop that was affiliated with a Roman Catholic Church because my understanding of Catholicism would not be what the Catholics expect their children to learn from their leaders. People should get over themselves and face reality.
Islam celebrates Jesus Christ as a prophet, too.
This has nothing to do with BSA and is controlled by the chartering org which is the church in question which has the right to allow or disallow any adult wishing to be a leader. The LDS is the largest sponsor of packs and troops in the USA and have even been allowed to adjust the program to fit their religion. I can tell you what the response would be by an LDS unit placed in the same position. No way! LDS leaders are not actually volunteers either being chosen by their bishops to serve as pack and troop leaders. Seems to me that the fellows complaint is not with the other pack but should be with the LDS pack that does not offer the tiger cub program. In addition I don’t think he is a very good Mormon either not enrolling his children in the pack sponsored by his ward and following their carefully thought out rules.
This is just plain silly. Mormons are among the best family oriented folk I have every known. Perfect for scout leaders. Pfffffft!
I would understand the church not wanting someone outside their faith to be a leader in their church. How does theology affect being a scout leader? Certainly a Mormon, Jew or Catholic can share a value set without sharing a theology. Boy Scouts don’t get particular religious training in the scouts, do they?
As a Jewish Eagle scout, this really bothers me. Obviously, the church has the right to do this, but should they?
In 1941, my father founded a Boy Scout troop at the Jewish Community Center, sponsored by the B’nai Brith, here in York, PA. His co-founder was Rabbi Alexander D. Goode. In case anyone does not recognize the name, he was one of the Four Chaplains who went down with the USS Dorchester in WWII. The Chaplains, a rabbi, a priest, and two ministers, all gave up their life jackets so that others may live. They linked arms, and went down, each saying his own prayer.
The conditions under which Rabbi Goode and my father agreed to found and lead the troop were that no boy would be denied membership or advancement on account of race, creed, religion, or national origin. In 1952, it was the only troop in the country to have boys earn the religious awards in all the major religions, including Mormonism.
It was, IOW, an American troop, and my father was succeeded as scoutmaster by a series of Christian men, several of whom were awarded the Shoffar award, usually reserved for Jewish scout leaders.
Every so often, I will run into a man, who tells me that my father saved him from a life of criminal activity. None of those men are Jewish.
Is it a slow day in Mormon-bashing land and we had to drag this out again?
But then I might be wrong too.
IN general, the cub scouts and boy scouts require that the leaders be religious, but not that the leaders be of a particular religion.
I guess they allow chartering organizations to discriminate further, although I would guess they would frown on a church requiring leaders all be of the same denomination. Whether they would allow christian churches to refuse to allow a jewish scout leader, I can’t say — but they are pretty sensitive to the charge of discrimination.
So did my Hindu landlady from 15 years ago.
Can't this couple find another troop that doesn't give the finger to Mormons?
“”I can’t believe they had the audacity to say, ‘You can’t be leaders, but we want your boys,’ “ Jodi Stokes said. “Are you kidding me?””
Yea that would be like a woman who converts to Mormonism so she can marry in the Temlpe not being allowed to bring her non moron Family to the wedding....
No way that happens.... right?
I wonder how many Mormon “churches” allow non-Mormons to be scout leaders?
Not that has any bearing on the issue... Christians would still be called NOT to accommodate false teachers.
I very sincerely doubt any Mormon church would allow an evangelical Presbyterian, or any other Christian, to be a scout leader from their church.
(I live about 1/4 mile from Christ Covenant Church, and it is an outstanding evangelical Church in every respect...)