- Yes, I see the need for some change. I am a bit dissapoint no body wanted to talk about wether a full revamp of the program is actualy necesary (I think just a few small things needed to be worked on), but instead people gloated about the error proof ways of the National Office.
The question of "whether a full revamp of the program is actually necessary" is not the issue. It was settled two years ago by the leadership of our denomination that we would change. As I've stated before, that decision was made after much input from pastors around our nation, as well input from many Royal Rangers commanders.
But if you want to know some of the reasons why change is needed, let's explore just some of them.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING. The current LTC's structure dates back to 1962. In 1962, no one knew anything about Royal Rangers, so the LTC had to be constructed to help educate everyone in the church about Royal Rangers. That's why in section one we still have the requirement for you to explain the organizational structure of the outpost to your pastor, among many other requirements. I don't know about your pastor, but my pastor, by the time I did this requirement in 1978, knew the answers as well as I did! So the focus of the training needs to shift from how to start an outpost and educate a church about Royal Rangers to how to effectively minister to boys today -- those from single-parent families (which are much more prevalent today than they were in 1962), those with ADD or ADHD, or learning disabilities, and those who are experiencing the negative influences of television, books like Harry Potter, secular music, and other features of our society today. You have to agree that today's boys are quite different from the boys of 1962. Thus, the leadership training needs to change to help leaders be more effective today.
In addition, leadership training needs to be restructured. We are losing way too many of our commanders during the LTC -- they drop out. Some of that is due to work load of the LTC, some of it is due to the lack of relevance in the LTC material to what they are facing in their outposts, and some of it is due to the crazy work and home schedule that many commanders have. Show me any other organization that still uses 40-year old training materials to train their workers.
LESSON PLANS. For almost 40 years we have expected Royal Rangers leaders to come up with 90 minutes of fun, training, Bible study, and devotion each week. Most commanders are not trained as teachers, so developing curriculum is very difficult for many. Thus, many commanders, through lack of training, are not as effective in the weekly meetings as they would like. We all know that if the weekly meetings are not interesting, the boys won't come, and if they don't come, they won't get the gospel message. I've used this analogy for some time to discuss the need for lesson plans for Royal Rangers. If my pastor calls me on a Saturday night and asks if I can teach the sanctuary Sunday school class, no problem. I have a copy of the Adult Teacher quarterly, so I can spend a couple of hours studying the lesson and be ready to go for an hour on Sunday. If, however, he called and asked me to preach on Sunday morning, that would take a lot more work! The difference is that I have a lesson plan to follow for Sunday school, but not for a sermon. Basically, what we've been asking commanders to do for almost 40 years is to do the equivalent of a sermon every Wednesday night, with very little guidance. Hopefully you will agree that some type of written curriculum will help every commander -- we can put our efforts into preparing the lesson, and we will all be much more effective than we've been before. We will have Bible study lessons and devotions that tie into the lesson theme, and that will be effective for reaching boys. And if you want to vary from the lesson plan, you can, just as I often vary from the Sunday school lesson plan when I'm teaching.
ADVANCEMENT TRAIL. The current advancement trail has every boy at a different point. Some are working on recruit, while others are on Powder Horn or Mountain Man. Some on the Gold Track while others on the standard track. How is a commander supposed to work with each boy during the meeting? How is a commander supposed to structure his meeting to help the boys with their advancements? With the new circular advancement trail, each boy in your group will be working on the same advancements at the same time, which means you will be able to structure your meeting in a way that it helps ALL boys with their advancements.
WORKLOAD RELIEF FOR THE COMMANDERS. Whether this is true for you or not, many commanders are stretched to the limit. We seem to be working longer hours, and have less time to devote to Rangers. In addition, many of the commanders who are active in Rangers are also Sunday school teachers, deacons, ushers, etc. in the church, and many of them fill multiple positions. They need a program that takes less time to accomplish more. The written curriculum, circular advancement trail, streamlined training, new handbooks, new Leaders Manual, etc. are all designed to make the commanders' job easier so he/she can do an effective job with the boys, and still have time for their other ministries, their job, and most importantly, their family and their relationship to God.
Hundreds of current Royal Rangers commanders have embraced this change so much that they are willing to take their time to help write, edit, and pilot test the new curriculum, everything from the weekly lesson plans to the merit requirements to the leadership training materials. I hope you can see the value in the changes too and embrace the changes that are coming.
Remember, the central thing to Rangers is not changing. We are still committed to Reaching, Teaching, and Keeping Boys for Christ. It's just a matter of making sure we have the best tools possible to accomplish that today.
- The new program is going to be very different than the one I was on when I was younger. I feel rather sad my children wont be able to experience what I experienced with the Royal Ranger program. I think the drasticness of the change was wrong. God bless!
Royal Rangers is not changing that dramatically. It is still a camping-oriented program. It still has patrols. It still has uniforms. The meeting plan is still basically the same (before the meeting, opening ceremony, business/patrol corners, Bible study, program feature, advancements, recreation, devotion, closing ceremony, and after the meeting). We will still be ministering to the boys, trying to reach them for Christ. That may be during a weekly meeting, or on a camp-out around a council fire. Sure, the names of the groups and the awards are changing, but that's a very small piece of the changes.
Keep an open mind, especially if you have not seen the new materials. Don't rely on what others have told you about the program. Find some place where one of the leaders from the national office will be presenting about the new program and go hear it straight from them. Ask questions. Voice your concerns. I think you will end up enthusiastic about the changes. I'm convinced that they are a positive step forward for Royal Rangers, or I wouldn't be devoting all the time I am helping with the changes.
Jonathan
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