Over the weekend, John Stemberger, one of the leading social and religious conservatives in Florida, helped launch Trail Life USA, a conservative alternative to the Boy Scouts of America.
Stemberger and more than 1,200 people with scouting experience met over the weekend in Nashville to form the new group which defines itself as a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts.
With the Boy Scouts voting earlier in the year to allow gay youth to participate, Stemberger, the president of the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC) who had been an Eagle Scout in his youth, announced back in May that his family was leaving the organization. Stemberger launched a website calling for the creation of a new alternative to the Boy Scouts which would follow traditional Christian teachings in regard to sex and sexuality.
Stembergers OnMyHonor.Net teamed up with Faith Based Boys, TrailHead USA and Frontier Service Corps to form the new group. Scouting leaders from 44 states met in Nashville to form the group. Over the weekend, attendees heard from leading conservatives including former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. Huckabee, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, has opened the door in recent days to running again in 2016.
Stemberger, who worked as a scoutmaster, will take over as chairman of the board for the new group. Our vision will be to become the premier national character development organization for young men which produces godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens, Stemberger said. Parents are going to love the new outdoor adventure program and we are very excited to be part of this next chapter in the history of scouting in America.
Back in July, at a media event in Washington, D.C., Stemberger announced that Rob Green, who has two decades of experience in leading Boy Scouts in Florida and South Carolina, would be the interim executive director for the new group. Green will stay on in that role and he is joined by other leaders with scouting experience. Richard Matthews, an attorney who worked as an in-house counsel for the Boy Scouts for more than a decade before moving over to serve as general counsel for seven years, will be serving as legal counsel for Trail Life USA. Veteran scouting historian John Burkitt will be writing and editing the inaugural handbook for the new organization.
Already more than 30,000 parents, Eagle Scouts and church leaders have contacted Stembergers team about the new organization. Over the weekend, Trail Life USA announced it would start chartering new chapters towards the end of the month and plan to officially start on Jan. 1. The group will include boys between the ages of 5 to 17.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
