Participants in the 2013 Philmont Training Center enjoy the view from Lover’s Leap near the New Mexico Scout Ranch.
ï¼ Want to reach young people in your community?
ï¼ Want to know how scouting can expand the outreach of your church?
ï¼ Want to take your family to a high-adventure camp in a heart-stopping location?
Plan to attend the June 22-28 training event at the Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico.
Bill Byrd, a scouting ministry specialist in Little Rock, Ark., says, “The Philmont training experience is bar-none the best training in my 20-plus years as a Scout leader.”
Byrd, who has served as a Cub Scout leader and a Venture Crew adviser, says the experience at Philmont provided “a greater understanding of why scouting needs to be a part of every youth program.”
Byrd says he is going to the 2014 Philmont Training Center for the third time. “I will be taking a United Methodist pastor with me,” he adds.
Steve Kerr, a scouting ministry specialist in Barnwell, S.C., says the Philmont workshop “really opened my eyes on the role of our scouting ministry. I now have a clear understanding of how scouting can make our local church stronger and make a positive impact on our community.
“For many years I considered myself both a scouter and a United Methodist. After this conference, I became whole and now consider myself a United Methodist scouter.”
Kerr says he will return to Philmont this summer for an Order of the Arrow conference during the same week as the Philmont training conference. “I look forward to seeing some familiar UM faces while meeting some new UM scouters,” he says.
“This conference was very productive for many reasons but I must say the fellowship was the most important,” said Woody Gibson, scouting coordinator for the Elizabeth River District in the Virginia Conference.
“It was great to get to know other scouters across the country and share what works and what doesn’t work. I know I have a network of UM scouters I can go to for advice.”
For additional information and to register for the conference, contact Marc Stowe (615/620-7262) (mstowe@gcumm.org).