Scouting for Catholic boys and girls is now being coordinated on the diocesan level thanks to a new group.
The Diocesan Committee on Catholic Scouting formed in April and will be meeting regularly to coordinate events in the state and actively promote the religious emblem program, said Liz Tingquist, diocesan youth director.
Members of the committee include co-chairs, Linda White of Hot Springs and Ed Williams of Cabot; vice chairman, Stan Dargis of Mountain View; religious emblem program co-chairs, Bill Hobbs of Fort Smith and Roseanne Sampson of Little Rock; and professional scouting advisor/communications chairman, Joe Farrell of Hot Springs. Farrell is a scouting executive with the Boy Scouts Ouachita Area Council.
In the past, Tingquist said her diocesan office has coordinated the religious emblem program but didn’t get involved in much else related to the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other scouts. The religious emblem program is an extra advancement taken on by the troop or scout to learn about his or her faith.
A lot of troops are chartered or hosted by Catholic parishes and groups and should be considered a youth ministry outreach, Tingquist said. On the other hand, there are Catholic kids involved with non-Catholic troops and are not aware of the Catholic programs associated with the scouts.
By participating in these Catholic programs, Tingquist said the children and teens are getting spiritual formation that is important.
“Scouting is youth ministry,” she said. “When the USCCB (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) came out with ’Renewing the Vision,’ they said anything that has to do with meeting kids where they are is youth ministry. Just because they don’t come to CYM on Wednesday night doesn’t mean they aren’t involved in youth ministry.”
Some of the committee’s goals include:
Establishing an annual diocesan Scout Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Andrew.
Conducting a Catholic scouting retreat for adult leaders.
Establishing a comprehensive list of Catholic scouting leaders and units in the state.
Ed Williams, a member of St. Jude Church in Jacksonville, currently volunteers on the local and district level with the Boy Scouts of America.
“I have been involved in scouting since I was a Cub Scout,” he said, “and I am almost 40 years old.”
Before Williams moved to Cabot a year ago, he was associated with Catholic scouting activities in the Diocese of Birmingham.
