The LDS Church is ending its relationship with the Boy Scouts of America.
The expiration date for the remarkably robust, 105-year alliance is Dec. 31, 2019, according to a joint statement released Tuesday night by BSA and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The decision by LDS leaders is part of a broader restructuring of the church’s programs for all Mormon children ages 8 to 18.
“In this century of shared experience, the church has grown from a U.S.-centered institution to a worldwide organization, with a majority of its membership living outside the United States,” the joint statement said. “That trend is accelerating. The church has increasingly felt the need to create and implement a uniform youth leadership and development program that serves its members globally. In so doing it will be necessary for the church to discontinue its role as a chartered partner with BSA.”
Their decision will have a vast impact on all 30,500 congregations around the globe. Millions of young men and women will see changes to both their Sunday meetings and activities they attend one night a week. The church’s Young Men program no longer will focus on supporting boys on a journey to becoming Eagle Scouts. The Young Women program no longer will emphasize for Personal Progress for girls with its eight values — faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, virtue — and earning Young Womanhood medallion.
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