aefenglommung (aefenglommung) wrote,
aefenglommung
aefenglommung

A Pack on the Move

Cub Pack Committee tonight. What a difference a year makes. The year before this one was chaotic. All the leaders were new, nobody knew how to get things done, and too many "helpful" folks trying to tell them how it was done. We were losing kids and parents. Nobody wanted to lead. They finally got a new Chair and were just getting things in order when her family was moved to Seattle early this year. By April, they were struggling, declining, discouraged. But the Committee was having regular meetings.

I asked the new Cubmaster if he needed a Treasurer more or a Chairman more. He said, a Treasurer. So I went to the old Treasurer, now moved up to the Boy Scout Troop, and got the bank account transferred over. The Pack Committee met a couple of months with no one really in charge, but we got things stabilized. We planned the entire program year in May. We wrote a budget. I made up a flyer on our program to hand out at summer events; this morphed into a Pack Handbook for new parents. By September, I had assumed the Chairman duties without formally taking the job, preparing agendas and guiding the Committee meetings.

We completed our recharter process tonight (other than chasing a couple of details). We have grown. There are more Cubs, and they are excited. We are doing lots of cool activities. Our leaders are properly trained. We have a new Chair, ready to take over. We achieved the Gold standard on our Journey to Excellence evaluation. Oh, there are still some snags to be negotiated (like not having a functioning Webelos program yet), but these leaders know that they can do it. We'll get where we need to be. I am very pleased and proud.

My contribution was simply to steady the boat. I didn't have to do any Cub Scout program. I didn't even have to make a lot of phone calls or anything. I simply screened out the chaos and steered the conversation into productive channels. They did everything themselves. For the next year, I'll still be serving as Treasurer (and looking for someone to succeed me).

Insofar as I have done some good work with them, it all depended upon one thing. I have tried for years to get the Pack Committee to meet regularly, and at a time when I could take part. They didn't really do that until a year ago. But once they started the habit of proceeding in good order, it meant that I could find them and help them. And now, they barely need my help any more.

Scouting ministry needs the support of the pastor. That doesn't mean that the pastor has to go camping. Mostly, it means the pastor needs to know the Scouts and Scouters and be a good host to them. And sometimes, it means sharing your experience with making meetings productive and helping volunteers get their feet under them.
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