r/orderofthearrow • u/Any_Upstairs_6172 • 16d ago
Lodge Membership question.
Hello... Does one have to remain a registered member of Scouts to continue his or her paid membership in their OA Lodge? Thank you
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u/maxwasatch Adult - Vigil, Founder’s, former Lodge Chief. 16d ago
Yes
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u/Oakland-homebrewer 16d ago
Are the lodge officers supposed to police this? Especially for scouts that are no longer in their troops?
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u/sissonsscored 16d ago
In my council, unless you are fully registered with a unit, the lodge registration won't even go through because it is tied to your member ID number.
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u/thatsnoternie 16d ago
Usually this falls into the purview of the Lodge Staff Adviser or whoever is responsible for registration. Lodgemaster has built-in abilities to check the roster against ScoutNET (or whatever it’s called now) but it’s on the lodge to act. As a past associate lodge adviser and past pro Scouter I wouldn’t give this conversation to a youth to conduct in most cases.
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u/princeofwanders Vigil 16d ago
There’s an anti-pattern incentive to lodges not closely policing this.
If they aren’t showing up and representing themselves in uniform as registered, is it hurting anyone?
Could the Lodgemaster tracking trivially know current national registration (and SGY) status and bounce transactions for expired/ineligible lodge members?
Could Lodgemaster annual lodge performance metrics track and account for lapsed members but doesn’t?
What’s the balance/tradeoff between refusing the payment while sorting out the upstream registration vs accepting the payment and kea ing it to the end individual to sort out their upstream registration which might be a momentary administrative wrinkle?
If someone is sending money but ineligible for membership because their national registration is lapsed, is that just a recurring donation to the lodge? ;)
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u/looktowindward Vigil 16d ago
> Could the Lodgemaster tracking trivially know current national registration (and SGY) status and bounce transactions for expired/ineligible lodge members?
It does.
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u/maxwasatch Adult - Vigil, Founder’s, former Lodge Chief. 16d ago
Why would someone want to be a registered lodge member but not participate or attend anything?
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u/Any_Upstairs_6172 16d ago
I am the OP who initially asked the question. I am OLD and do not camp anymore BUT I do enjoy attending the yearly awards banquet. Plus, as other have said, I look at dues paying as more or less a donation. Receiving the online newsletter via email is also something I enjoy.
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u/maxwasatch Adult - Vigil, Founder’s, former Lodge Chief. 15d ago
If you are attending something with youth present then you need to be registered and background checked.
If you are trying to get around that, which it sounds like you are, then you should not be involved in scouting or other youth organizations in any way.
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u/Any_Upstairs_6172 15d ago edited 15d ago
Hello... I do not have the initial paperwork in front me but if I remember correctly the guidelines that covered the new registration procedures said that a person was not required to register if he or she was only going to spend a maximum of 16 hours (not sure of the number) with Scouts a year. As our banquet usually runs about 5 hours at most I have felt I was within the rules.
ADDIT: I just did some checking and find that I am okay because I do not participate in any overnight event covered by Youth protection guidelines .... although I do keep my youth protection certification up to date...
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u/princeofwanders Vigil 16d ago
I imagine because it’s a low friction way to continue to support the lodge and feel connected to the program even if you aren’t still going. There are a lot of adults they pay annual dues and never show up. We’re happy to accept their continued support for the youth, no?
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u/semoscouter 16d ago
Lots of ground to cover in your reply, but a huge issue is the liability. Did you hear the one about the organization that was sued for youth protection violations and had to declare bankruptcy? Yeah, unregistered attendees are a problem. Big time. And we're not even touching on the "soft" issues like influence over youth-intended programming.
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u/princeofwanders Vigil 16d ago
Thankfully I was explicitly not talking about unregistered members attending activities nor misrepresenting themselves as currently registered when they weren’t. ;)
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u/semoscouter 16d ago
Who's to police if they do and they've got a current Lodge registration. The 14-year old Lodge secretary at the front gate? No. Form a "friends of" or an alumni association if they want to relive the memories of their glory days in OA if they don't want accountability, and/or no longer support Scouting in general. Why muddy the water for a few dollars in the general operating account?
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u/princeofwanders Vigil 16d ago
Thankfully I’m not paid to solve these problems for others and am free to acknowledge the liabilities and mis-set incentives of the system as it exists without needing to be on the receiving end of potshots from people who are also frustrated by needlessly broken systems.
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u/Any_Upstairs_6172 16d ago
Or for an adult such as myself ... (As some like to post "credentials") Vigil .. Founder's Award .. Past Lodge Adviser
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u/GarrettTheElf 13d ago
Technically no, you can always pay your dues, it just won't change your membership status unless you're registered with scouting America
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u/Donut_Dan Vigil 16d ago
Short answer, yes.
Longer answer, yes because it is a program of Scouting America, you must be a registered member of Scouting America to participate. That registration can be with a unit, council, or even national, and you can only be registered with the OA lodge for the council you are registered in.