Scout-like Organizations

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HOME—International Scouting—Scouting Organizations—Scout-like Organizations

Scout-like Organizations

What about those organizations that don't call themselves Scouts, but are "Scout-like"? Or what about groups that call themselves Scouts, but are far removed from what Baden-Powell would have defined as Scouting? There is no clear line of distinction between "true" Scouting and "Scout-like" programs, nor is there any worldwide agreement on what is "true" Scouting. Here are some guidelines that I use to help determine if an organization is "Scout-like" (and please email me if you can improve on these guidelines, or if you can offer additional information about any of the organizations listed below):

Most avoid using the terms "Scout" or "Scouting".
Most do not particularly acknowledge Baden-Powell as the ultimate founder of their program (and a couple pre-date Scouting).
Most deliberately pattern their programs after traditional Scouting (often including not only an outdoor program, but advancement, merit badges, ranks, and a Scout-like uniform), but usually consider themselves to be an alternative to traditional Scouting.

Many of these organizations are US-based, although some have branches around the world. Many are also church-centered Christian evangelizing groups, some belonging to specific denominations, and others available to any "bible-believing, evangelical Christian" church that wants to use the program.

We should note that two of these organizations pre-date Scouting, so calling them "Scout-like" is not quite fair. Both of these organizations were doing "Scout-like" activities before there was Scouting. German Scouting owes much to, and has much in common with, the Wandervogel movement. And Scouting founder Baden-Powell thought highly of the Boys Brigade, and counted Boys Brigade founder William Smith as a good friend.

American Heritage Girls—AHG was started in West Chester, Ohio, in 1995, by a group of parents disillusioned with "the increasing secular focus of existing scouting organizations for girls." The organization is US-only and Christian-only, for girls age 5 to 18. AHG calls itself "the premier national scouting organization for young women that embraces Christian values and encourages family involvement" and a "Christ-centered scouting ministry". They wear a minimal uniform consisting of a vest or sash, earn badges in five different program levels (all part of a single troop), and can earn the highest AHG award, the Stars and Stripes Award.

American Heritage Girls

Awana—Started in Chicago in 1950, this coed, non-denominational, Christian evangelical ministry has as its goal a "global effort to ensure the opportunity for children and youth to be evangelized and discipled in Christ." It claims Awana groups in 10 000 US churches and 3000 churches in 110 other countries. Awana is an acronym from the first letters of each word in 2 Timothy 2:15, "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed".

Awana

Boys Brigade/Girls Brigade—The UK-based Boys Brigade is a forerunner to Scouting, and was founded in Scotland in 1883 by Sir William Smith. Baden-Powell presided over the 1903 annual Boys Brigade display at London's Royal Albert Hall, and became friends with Smith. Today, the Boys Brigade has over half a million members in over 60 countries. The Boys Brigade is Christian-only. Their motto is "Sure and Steadfast", and their object is: "The advancement of Christ's kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness." For ages 5 through 18, each company is split into four sections: Anchor Boys (ages 6-8), Junior Section (ages 8-11), Company Section (ages 11-15), and Seniors (ages 15-18). The separate Girls Brigade was founded in 1893, and exists in over 60 countries. Their motto is "Seek, serve and Follow Christ".

Boys Brigade

Calvinist Cadet Corps—This independent, non-denominational, Christian youth ministry began in 1952. It claims more than 650 "clubs" throughout North America. It is divided into 5 levels, called ministries: Kingdom Kids (ages 4-5, and the only coed level), Junior Cadets (grades 1-3), RPB (grades 4-6, RPB stands for Recruit Pathfinder Builder Ministry), Guide Trails (grades 7-9), and Voyageurs (grades 9-11). The organization has Scout-like uniforms, and offers many merit badges.

Calvinist Cadet Corps

Camp Fire USA—A non-denominational, inclusive, US-only program started almost immediately after the Boy Scouts in 1910 (17 March). Its official founders were Charlotte Vetter Gulick and Luther Halsey Gulick, MD. By 1910, Charlotte Gulick had developed a summer camp in Maine she named Camp WoHeLo (Wohelo is still Camp Fire's 'watchword', representing Work Health Love). At the same time in Thetford, Vermont, poet and historian William Chauncy Langdon coined the name 'Camp Fire Girls' for the girls who were participating in a historical pageant he was leading (the local Boy Scouts were also involved in the pageant). Langdon also created three ranks of achievement for the girls: Wood Gatherers, Fire Makers, and Torch Bearers. On 22 March 1911, Dr Gulick chaired a meeting "to consider ways and means of doing for the girls [nationally] what the Boy Scout movement is designed to do for boys." This meeting also selected the name Camp Fire Girls for the organization. Participants included William Langdon, Ernest Thompson Seton's first wife Grace, Dan Beard's sister Lina, and James West (BSA Chief Scout Executive). BSA's Ernest Thompson Seton, Dan Beard, and James West were all members of the Camp Fire Girls Advisory Committee formed that spring. Interestingly, West always regarded the Camp Fire Girls (and not the Girl Scouts) as the girl's equivalent of Boy Scouting.

Originally for girls only, the program has been coed since 1975, when they changed their name to Camp Fire. In 1984, the organization became Camp Fire, Inc.; in 1993, Camp Fire Boys and Girls; and finally in 2001, Camp Fire USA. Youth membership is open to anyone from birth to age 21, though most of their 750 000 members are between ages 5 and 18. The organization indicates that they do not yet have members in all 50 states. Today, 46% of Camp Fire USA's youth membership is male, though apparently the percentage of males declines substantially after 5th grade. Camp Fire USA's highest award was created in 1962 as the Wohelo Medallion, renamed the Wohelo Award in 1996. Their motto is Give Service.

Camp Fire USA

Christian Service Brigade—This male-only, non-denominational, Christian evangelical organization was founded in 1937, and exists in the US and Canada. Its motto is "Winning and Training Boys and Girls for Christ". They wear a Scout-like uniform, and are grouped into 4 age levels: Tadpoles (ages 4-5), Tree Climbers (ages 6-7), Stockade (ages 8-11), and Battalion (ages 12-18). Stockade even offers a Pinewood Derby equivalent called the "Shape N Race" derby. A separate girls-only Girls Alive program is also available.

Christian Service Brigade

Frontier Girls—This new organization began in California in 2007, and is starting to spread around the US. It is a uniformed, Scouting-type program specifically aimed at girls living in small towns. Girls work on merit badges and other awards as they progress through four age levels: Otter (grades K-2), Dolphin (grades 3-5), Butterfly (grades 6-8), and Eagle (grades 9-12). Each troop includes all four age levels, with some activities for all the girls, and others set up for the separate age levels. Their motto is, "If you see a need, Take the lead!" They also have a Promise and Creed (comparable to the Scout Law).

Frontier Girls

Junior Forest Wardens—Officially named the Alberta Junior Forest Warden Association, this Canadian organization has clubs primarily in the province of Alberta, with a few clubs in British Columbia and Newfoundland. They officially began in 1935, and provide an outdoor program of camping, hiking, snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, canoeing, and wilderness survival, focused on the four key areas of Outdoor Skills, Ecology, Leadership, & Forestry. Open to boys and girls aged 6 through 18, clubs are divided into four levels: Pathfinders (Grades 1-3), Trailblazers (Grades 4-6), Adventurers (Grades 7-9), and Challengers (Grades 10-12). They estimate a membership of about 50 clubs with 1000 'wardens' and 700 adult volunteers and parents. Uniform is a red shirt. AJFWA hosts a 'National Campout' that is somewhat like a Scout jamboree. Interestingly, AJFWA holds a casino license and raises some of their operating funds through casino gambling.

Junior Forest Wardens

Pathfinders—A coed program of the Seventh Day Adventist Church for grades 5 through 10. One church website indicates that there are 30 000 clubs in 120 countries, which sounds like every Seventh Day Adventist church may have a club. Pathfinders follow a Pledge and Law, earn honor patches, go on campouts and attend camporees, and wear a Scout-style uniform.

Pathfinder uniform Pathfinders

Royal Ambassadors (RAs)—A program of the Southern Baptist Convention, started in 1908, for boys in grades 1-6. Boys in grades 1-3 are called Lads, and boys in grades 4-6 are called Crusaders. There is some camping (RAs can earn 6 campcraft patches: Discover 1/2/3, Hiker, Camper, Woodsman), but the program is designed to develop and train missionaries (ambassadors) for Christ. The RA Pledge states, "As a Royal Ambassador I will do my best: to become a well-informed, responsible follower of Christ; to have a Christ-like concern for all people; to learn how to carry the message of Christ around the world; to work with others in sharing Christ; and to keep myself clean and healthy in mind and body." The RA equivalent to the Pinewood Derby is called RA Racers. There are RA organizations in 14 countries, also affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Royal Ambassadors

Royal Rangers—A program of the Assemblies of God church, started in 1962, used by many Pentecostal churches. This is probably the most widespread Scout-like program, with headquarters in the US and branches in 63 countries. Some German Royal Ranger units call themselves "Christian Royal Ranger Scouting". The Royal Rangers refer to themselves as a "scouting-type" or "Christian scouting" organization. They deliberately parallel traditional Scouting, using non-traditional terminology, and emphasizing their mission "to reach, teach, and keep boys for Christ". Some equivalent terminology includes: outpost (troop), Ranger Code (Scout Law), Ranger Pledge (Scout Promise), Commander (Scoutmaster), merits (merit badges), Gold Medal of Achievement (Eagle Scout). Their four program levels are divided by school grade: Ranger Kids (Kindergarten through 2nd Grade), Discovery Rangers (3rd through 5th Grades), Adventure Rangers (6th through 8th Grades), and Expedition Rangers (9th through 12th Grades). The Royal Ranger motto is "Ready".

Royal Rangers

SpiralScouts—Started in 1999, this is a program of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church offering a Scouting-type program for Pagan families and others of minority beliefs. SpiralScouts International began in 2001, and has groups in the US and Canada, and some other countries. Groups are organized into Circles, which can be composed of Hearths for different age groups: Fireflies (preschool-age 8), SpiralScouts (8-14), and Pathfinders (14 and up).

SpiralScouts SpiralScout dress uniform

Voortrekkers (Pioneers)—Started in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1931, this is an Afrikaans-speaking alternative to traditional Scouting. The Voortrekkers promote an "ABC" philosophy of Afrikanerskap, Burgerskap, Christenskap (Afrikanership, Citizenship, Christianity). They regard themselves as a cultural organization, desiring to maintain Afrikaner culture and the Afrikaans language. The organization is open to anyone who "feels comfortable in an atmosphere of the Afrikaner culture". Their reluctance to be a part of traditional Scouting is perhaps understandable given that Scouting's founder was most famous for defeating the Afrikaner siege of Mafeking in the Boer War.

Die Voortrekkers

Wandervogel (primarily Germany, but some also in Austria & Switzerland)—Started in Germany at the beginning of the 20th Century (and pre-dating Baden-Powell's Scouting), the Wandervogel (translated as freebird, hiker, or rambler) movement began among youth and young adults who sought freedom from the strict organization of German society. They hiked, camped, and sang around campfires. Originally male only, the movement became coed later. After World War I, German Scouting was strongly influenced by the practices of the Wandervogel. Banned by the Nazis from 1934 to 1945, some Wandervogel and Scouts became part of the underground resistance against the Nazis. Today, there are at least 30 Wandervogel organizations around Germany.

Woodcraft Folk (UK)—Founded in 1925, this coed organization appears to be about the sole survivor of a number of Woodcraft organizations started by (or connected with) Ernest Thompson Seton after he was forced out of the Boy Scouts of America in 1915. The Woodcraft Folk regard themselves as "an alternative to the Scouts", and offer a program of "games, drama, discussion, projects, crafts, singing and dancing", along with hostelling and camping activities. They seek to create a world based on "equality, peace, social justice and cooperation." Their five levels are Woodchips (age under 6), Elfins (6-9), Pioneers (10-12), Venturers (13-15), and DFs (District Fellows, over age 15).

Scout-like Political Organizations

We've found a couple organizations that are Scout-like, but highly political in nature.

Ireland's Na Fianna Éireann (Soldiery of Ireland) has aims "to promote the objects, principles and exercises of scouting among the boys and girls of Ireland." Founded in 1909, the organization is highly political and nationalistic, putting primary emphasis on Irish political issues, most centrally the reunification of Ireland (their core tenet is that Ireland should be "a Sovereign, Independent State from the centre to the sea"). The 12-point Fianna Code states that A Fian is patriotic, reliable, diligent, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, humble, temperate, punctual.

Na Fianna Éireann

The Young Pioneers are the sometimes compulsory, government-run youth organization in most communist countries (started in the former Soviet Union, today there are Young Pioneers in China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam). True Scouting, or any other potentially competitive youth organization, is illegal in these countries.