SCOUTING AND RELIGION.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20158, 10 February 1931, Page 14

SCOUTING AND RELIGION.

O MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING. CO - Ol'lSlt ATI ON WITH THE CHUKCHES. (FilOM OUil OWN CUIUtUtiPONDBHT.) LONDON, January 2.. A subject which is especially interesting Lliu Cliiol SeuUl (Lord biuloni'owoll) at the profit tunc is the relatiuiiKhip ol S>uuuting Lo lliu Churches. This matter ho will probably investigate during his stuy 111 New Zealand. Tlie Committee 011 \outh at the recoil l Uunoetli Conference relerled to •'that lart,o elubb ui' vouiig peoplo uliose religious iiisLinet has lounu yxpiessiuii ui coi'uuw urgumbiitiuiiai wiucu <i2*u oasuHuuiJ.y reugiUUb." 'AilO COiJtiiisAC'b i ''liC.UiO \ iucuu uiu uuuren lutb inucli to icai'ii limn Uie vigour, ciiuiuouiau, and luu dpiiio 01 icuoi-iil]J vtluen aiu wiurujterisLic 01 sucli movements. wo uiu equally convinced Lnut uie i^nui'cli Jills 1..UC11 LO COllU'lOUi-O to tlie lull ueveiiypjneiH 01 an uiai is L-u.ii. m tneiu. 1.110 existing organisations willi--111 tlie Ciiurcn, which ul'e too well Known I<j require mention here, have done bplenuiu work 111 deal lug witii youtn, ana it ii» the uuty ol parochial cieryy to usu and inaintain uiuui. .We als.j believe that it is tlie duty ol' the church to study other (CnristiuiiJ youth muvements, which attract because they seem to meet tho present needs. \Yo have- been impressed witn the evidence given to us (which accords with our own knowledge of the situation), by the representatives ot the headquarters of the Scout movement, which owes its phenomenal success to its appeal to tho imagination and aspiration of youth "A definite request lias been made to tlie Lambeth Conference through this committee for that help which the Church can, if it will, give to this and to the Gni Guide Movement, in order to strengthen and develop % tho religious basis of their work, and to assist them to maintain their high ideal of loyalty to God and brotherhood among all nations of the world, irrespective of Colour or creed, This appeal \vc commend to tho most serious consideration of the Church, believing that it ought to be met with generous and sympathetic response in every countrv where these movements arc at work.'' Conference with Church Leaders. Itccognising tho fundamental importance of the spiritual basis of Scouting, Lord Baden-Powell invited the representatives of the religious bodies to address the last annual County Commissioners' and County Secretaries' Conference. The speakers included the Lord Bishop of St. Albans (representing the Archbishop of Canterbury). Cardinal Bourne, the Hev. J. 11. Bateson (representing the Free Churches), and tlie l?cv. L. Kabinowitz (representing the Chief Rabbi). At the subsequent open conference at Birmingham the relationship of tho Boy Scouts' movement to religious bodies formed I the subject of the most important session. Lord Hampton (Chief Commissioner), in addressing tho meeting, explained that after the last World Jamboree a special Development Committee was set up. This committee fully realised the importance of the closest co operation with religious bodies, and their main findings under this head were:— (a) That the spiritual aspect of Scouting from tho point of view of organised religion is still insufficiently recognised by Scouters. (b) That, 011 the other hand, the implications of Scouting on the spiritual and ethical side arc insufficiently recognised by religious bodies. Any Bystom of education in these matters should therefore bo mutual. A Spiritual Aid. In tho course of his speech Lord Hampton said:— Lack of appreciation on tho part of tho clergyman arises possibly from three main causes—(l) A narrow outlook which precludes appreciation of anything out of the ordinary as lie sees it. • (2) A decided preference for club or brigade work, because he has been brought into direct contact with one of these; and (3) Experience of Scouting based solely on a badly-run troop or a serieti of quarrels with tho local scoutmaster over points which a littlo give-and-take on both sides might have cleared up. 111 this last case it may happen that the wliolo of Scouting suffers from one unfortunate experience. Human, perhaps, but hardly fair to the movement. In all tlirco eases ignorance of our true aims and methods is the root causo. From the Scoutmaster's side the Church has a right to expect as full a measure of co-operation as is possible, and a realisation that tho corporate spiritual centre of the community is tho church or chapol and not tlie troop. The clergyman has a right to expect that Scouting shall be entirely an aid to the spiritual lifo of his parish and not a hindrance, and that, in the case of an open troop, tho rules of Churches are respected. Other conferences have since been held, and tlie subject is having th<j earnest attention ol' a number of the leaders of tho different Churches.