"I feel your pain" I've been there before so I know how hard it is. The church I'm at now is by far the most organized I have ever been involved in so I have actually seen that Outpost Councils and the Patrol system does work. Finding Commanders is probably going to be your biggest problem. One way we have attempted to solve that is if the would be Commander is unsure offer a term limit, say 6 months, and just start them out as a Lt. Commander or "helper". They soon will get interested and get more involved. Maybe set up a table in the foyer of your church with pictures and poster promoting Rangers. Or if your pastor alows it show one of the short promotional videos during the offering or something. But first get your pastor involved!!! That makes all the difference. Our new pastor is great, He attends most of our campouts, most other outings, all of our council of achievements and even visits us ocasionally on wed. nights. Outpost Councils are great talk to your Pastor and then to the Men's director let him know that the men's dept. should be behind the Ranger program. Once you have a Outpost Council get them to take the Ranger Basics course then they feel they know the program better. And finally your boys, this is the easiest problem to fix. Since I have taken over our Adventure Rangers group this past year it has doubled to 17! I only occasionally have help so it can getr a little crazy sometimes but I couldn't do it with out the patrol system. My Senior Guide, two Patrol Guides and two Asst. Guides will be getting thier GMA this year so I put all of them to work. They all have charge over certain parts of the service and even though they make mistakes they are learning. I have Gold bar staff meetings every month and have had a Gold Bar staff campout and lock in, both helped us bond and I was able to teach the a few things. Also keep your meeting exciting. The new Leaders Guide is helpful but don't be afraid to do something different every now and then. When I was teaching the Backpacking Merit last month I brought in all my gear and took it out, let them paly with it and even cooked a survival meal on a sterno stove for them. They loved it and are still talking about it. If your meetings are fun then you won't have any problem getting boys to come. The ones you have will get the word out and they will start rolling in. Remember you where a kid once so don't get too upset when they like to have fun.
Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com |
- Re: [RR] Just curious Mark W Jones
- Travis Wayne
