m0mmaBuck Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 We are looking at starting our own troop for the sisters of the kids in our Cub Scout Pack (as well as for whoever else wants to join). There is another troop in town (that DD joined when she turned 5 in February) but they are chartered by the Catholic Church so most of their events come down from the archdiocese. Some of our Cub Scout parents who aren't Catholic don't want to be part of a troop "owned" by the Church. Other parents want a troop that meets on the same night as our Pack and the leader of the est. AHG troop said we could meet any night we wanted and still be part of their troop on paper or, obviously, we could start our own troop. While this option makes sense for the parents (one stop shop) it's hard on the leadership because it will spread us thin (between the Pack and Troop). Anyway, we started looking into starting our own troop. And by "we" I mean "I." And I'm wondering how much additional work is this going to create for me (both in getting the unit chartered and in running the troop) as I don't see anyone else stepping up to take this on. Part of me wants to start a troop for the families in our Pack and part of me wants to stay with the already established troop and just be a parent. I already homeschool (obviously), run the business end of our IT business, work per diem as a Physical Therapist, am the Committee Chair for our Venture Crew AND for the Cub Scout Pack, and am on the District Training Committe for Scouts. I have a little time, but not a whole lot to dedicate to AHG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kchara Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 WOW, you've got a lot going on!! I was looking at starting AHG in the town we just moved from. Basically, to start in the fall, you really need to begin getting chartered and stuff around January. BUT... if you bust your tail, it *might* be able to get done by October, when the year starts. Basically, you buy a kit, I think it's about $250. And then you have to find a church to charter you. It should be your home church, I think I read it's strongly recommended that you be an actual member (problem for us where we are now...). Anyway, there's much more involved, that I'm just not 100% sure of, but here's the link on the AHG site that gives you a basic overview. You could always call them, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 I would suggest you tell them you are willing to do the legwork, but someone else needs to be the chairperson. You need a chair, a vice-chair (we have 2) and 2-3 leaders for each age group (usually K, 1-3, 4-6, 7 and up). You can't have just one leader because AHG has a rule that 2 leaders need to be with the kids at all times. Do you think you can get that much help? Our AHG group meets at the same time and place as the scout group that meets at the church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 I have all the (free) info from AHG and have talked with their membership person a few times. We are actually looking to have the Elks charter us (if the statement of faith doesn't pose a conflict) since they already charter our Pack, Troop, and Crew. The Pack has members of all different faiths so aligning ourselves with one particular denomination is not an option. Currently we have about 6 girls interested and AHG said it would be fine for us to meet as one group until we have enough girls of the different age/rank categories to justify splitting them up. The woman from AHG said we could start out with 2-3 leaders in that case. The problem I see happening is that to meet on the same night as the Pack is going to cause problems for leadership (I'm the Pack Committee Chair, another mom is a Webelos den leader, another is a Wolves Den Leader, and so on). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine_librarian Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Any church that sponsors you will have ownership of your troop, so I'm not really sure what type of problems you might be referring to with your current troop at the Catholic church. I know we often have to run activities by the head pastor before we can finalize planning. And since the Statement of Faith is standard for the entire organization I'm curious what things would change for your group by changing locations. Anything is possible, but I would be careful about overcommitting with starting your own troop. You sound like you have a lot on your plate and our troop leader lives and breathes AHG (she's a retired military officer and super organized). So, if there's one already in your community I think I would take advantage of that. Good luck with your choice! I'm a squad leader and on busy weeks sometimes I feel overwhelmed just keeping up with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine_librarian Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Oh, and we meet on a weekday afternoon, which seems to work well for our boy scout families and the mom's that are helping out in both organizations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Any church that sponsors you will have ownership of your troop, so I'm not really sure what type of problems you might be referring to with your current troop at the Catholic church. I know we often have to run activities by the head pastor before we can finalize planning. And since the Statement of Faith is standard for the entire organization I'm curious what things would change for your group by changing locations. Anything is possible, but I would be careful about overcommitting with starting your own troop. You sound like you have a lot on your plate and our troop leader lives and breathes AHG (she's a retired military officer and super organized). So, if there's one already in your community I think I would take advantage of that. Good luck with your choice! I'm a squad leader and on busy weeks sometimes I feel overwhelmed just keeping up with that! Oh, and we meet on a weekday afternoon, which seems to work well for our boy scout families and the mom's that are helping out in both organizations. The existing AHG troop is owned by a Catholic Church and therefore a lot of their activities and service projects come down through the archdiocese and specifically serve the Church or involve a 1-1/2 hr drive to the Cathedral for events. I'm Catholic so I don't really mind but the Protestant parents in the Pack have voiced dissent and are hopeful that we can start a non-denominational troop. As a result, we are trying to have the Elks be our charter (which AHG supports) but right now the Exulted Ruler of the Elks is not sure he can sign the statement of faith because the AHG statement of faith speaks of Christianity and in particular belief in the Trinity while the Elks statement of faith only requires a belief in God. The Elks already charter our Pack, BSA Troop and Venture Crew but AHG is new territory for them. The other reason parents give for wanting our own troop is so we can meet on the same night and at the same time as our Pack and Troop. That way the meetings only take up one night of the families' time. However, I am already seeing some issues with that (for instance, our own Boy Scouts can't be Den Chiefs for our Cub Scout dens because that would mean they couldn't attend the troop meetings) and I know that it will also be an issue for the handful of active adult leaders that we have. Personally, I would just as soon run a "satelite" branch off of the existing AHG troop and meet on Fridays with our Pack (and go to the monthly family meetings with the rest of the AHG troop one Monday/month) as a trial run and see if it is even something we can tackle at this time. The other moms are pushing for me to tackle this and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of reinventing the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 I should add that DH and I started our Cub Scout Pack from the ground up a few years ago and if starting an AHG troop is anything like that, I don't think I can add it to my fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3Monkeys Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Personally, I would just as soon run a "satelite" branch off of the existing AHG troop and meet on Fridays with our Pack (and go to the monthly family meetings with the rest of the AHG troop one Monday/month) as a trial run and see if it is even something we can tackle at this time. The other moms are pushing for me to tackle this and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of reinventing the wheel. It seems like that would be a great way to get started. You could share the expense and draw from the existing knowledge of the current group. It would also mean that you'd have more girls and families and girls to connect with and still be able to meet when you want to. Maybe you can have your group suggest some service projects as well and that way any family that's uncomfortable doing the ones with the Catholic church could just sit those out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine_librarian Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 (edited) The existing AHG troop is owned by a Catholic Church and therefore a lot of their activities and service projects come down through the archdiocese and specifically serve the Church or involve a 1-1/2 hr drive to the Cathedral for events. I'm Catholic so I don't really mind but the Protestant parents in the Pack have voiced dissent and are hopeful that we can start a non-denominational troop. As a result, we are trying to have the Elks be our charter (which AHG supports) but right now the Exulted Ruler of the Elks is not sure he can sign the statement of faith because the AHG statement of faith speaks of Christianity and in particular belief in the Trinity while the Elks statement of faith only requires a belief in God. Yeah, I can see where this might be a problem with the Elks if Christianity is a problem, as AHG is a Christian Ministry, strictly speaking and not actually a Scout organization. Also, with our troop we have never been required to attend any events at our sponsor church, nor have we been told what type of volunteer work we needed to do by our sponsor church. Edited April 29, 2011 by sunshine_librarian Bad choice of highlighting color - I just love yellow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC in KS Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I'm an AHG Troop Coordinator (all of 1 year's experience now!) The existing AHG troop is owned by a Catholic Church and therefore a lot of their activities and service projects come down through the archdiocese and specifically serve the Church or involve a 1-1/2 hr drive to the Cathedral for events. I'm Catholic so I don't really mind but the Protestant parents in the Pack have voiced dissent and are hopeful that we can start a non-denominational troop. Every Troop must be non-denominational. While it's understood, expected, and recommended that the Troop offer a service project or two a year to their Charter Organization as a way of showing appreciation and gratitude, the Troop doesn't exist solely to support the church. Perhaps what is needed is a parent to track down some other, outside service opportunities. Personally, if I can spot something within our church that fits well with the Troop I suggest it because it's *easy for me*. Everything else we've done has been because a parent took some initiative to get it started. The other reason parents give for wanting our own troop is so we can meet on the same night and at the same time as our Pack and Troop. That way the meetings only take up one night of the families' time. However, I am already seeing some issues with that (for instance, our own Boy Scouts can't be Den Chiefs for our Cub Scout dens because that would mean they couldn't attend the troop meetings) and I know that it will also be an issue for the handful of active adult leaders that we have. Yup, you've got a issue here. Of *course* the parents like the idea of doubling up their time -- but are they going to double up their volunteering? Truly, you should expect a family with both a son and a daughter involved to have BOTH a father and a mother participating. Run that past them and see if it doesn't dampen their enthusiasm. Personally, I would just as soon run a "satelite" branch off of the existing AHG troop and meet on Fridays with our Pack (and go to the monthly family meetings with the rest of the AHG troop one Monday/month) as a trial run and see if it is even something we can tackle at this time. The other moms are pushing for me to tackle this and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of reinventing the wheel. I think you should listen to yourself here. While running an AHG Troop is both a blessing and a lot of fun, it is a LOT of WORK. If these other moms want it so badly, tell them to form a committee and do it! FYI, I've got a Troop of about 50 girls (4 levels out of the 5). To do that, my volunteer staff looks like this: Me: Troop Coordinator, Special Events Chair, Service Projects Chair, Advancement Chair Co-Coodinator, also Registrar, Health & Safety Lead, and Fundraising Chair Treasurer Shepherd 8 Leaders/Asst Leaders 6 Squad Leaders 8 Parent Helpers 2 Paras (help with a special needs child) If your Troop is small enough to just have one level, you're still going to need Coordinator, Vice Coordinator, Treasurer, Shepherd, 3 Leaders minimum, and a variety of chairpeople. With just 6 girls, I'm not sure you've got enough mothers to pull it off. (Then there's the question of what happens when word gets out there's another Troop in town. Let me tell you -- there is a need and a desire out there for this program!) Now, let me tell you, if you decide to do this, I will be happy to offer any help, support, and encouragement I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Yeah, I can see where this might be a problem with the Elks if Christianity is a problem, as AHG is a Christian Ministry, strictly speaking and not actually a Scout organization. Also, with our troop we have never been required to attend any events at our sponsor church, nor have we been told what type of volunteer work we needed to do by our sponsor church. The Elks is a Christian organization that requires a statement of faith also so that shouldn't be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine_librarian Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 The Elks is a Christian organization that requires a statement of faith also so that shouldn't be a problem. The OP said her Elks organization had a problem with the trinitarian statement of faith for AHG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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