Mormon church to stay with Scouts

SALT LAKE CITY – The Mormon church announced Wednesday it will maintain its longtime affiliation with the Boy Scouts despite the organization’s decision to allow gay troop leaders – preventing what would have been a thundering blow to the national association.

The decision from senior leaders of the Mormon church – the nation’s largest sponsor of Boy Scout units – came as somewhat of a surprise. The church said it was deeply troubled and considering other options when the Boy Scouts announced on July 28 that it would lift its ban on gay adult leaders, while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to continue excluding gay adults.

Church leaders decided to stay with the Boy Scouts after getting assurances they can appoint troop leaders according to their own religious and moral values, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a news release Wednesday.

The Mormon church sponsors nearly 38,000 Scout units with 427,000 boys – accounting for about 18 percent of all youth Scouts.

Officials with the Boy Scouts of America noted that the organization is successful because of affiliations with groups like the Mormon church.

“The BSA affirms, and will defend, the right of all religious chartered organizations to select their Scout leaders in accordance with their religious beliefs,” the Boy Scouts said in a statement.

Scout leaders in Utah were relieved and thrilled with the decision. About 99 percent of the 167,500 Scouts in the two largest councils are Mormon.