SIERRA VISTA, Ariz.––Jim Larsen a 30-year veteran of scouting is available to help neighboring churches expand their ministries through Boy Scouts and other youth-serving organizations.
Larsen has been certified by the General Commission on United Methodist Men as a scouting ministry specialist. He joins three other specialists: Chuck Moyer and Doug Wright of Tucson and Tom Denny of Chandler, Ariz.
Larsen has served as a Scoutmaster, Chairman of a troop committee, a varsity team committee, and a district training committee. He has also served as a Charter Organization Representative and a Commissioner for the District, the Boy Scout Round Table ,and units. He has experience on nearly every level of scouting, beginning with a Cub Scout Pack Committee and a Boy Scout Troop Committee, and he has served as a Chapter Adviser for the Order of the Arrow.
The veteran leader has also been a staff member of three world jamborees, five national jamborees and four international campouts (Pimarees) with Mexican Scouts. The on-the-move leader has attended five National Order of the Arrow Conferences (NOAC), four as a staff member, and three Philmont training courses, including a United Methodist Scouters Workshop in 1999.
Along with the Scouting Coordinator, Larsen annually presents Cross and Flame Awards to Scout leaders in the Sierra Vista UMC. “With a troop, pack, team, crew and previously a ship there is usually an adult who is deserving of the award each year,” says Larson.
Larsen says the Sierr
a Vista Church will introduce Duty to God as part of the Sunday school curriculum. “I think the Duty to God program is a great program and the primary reason I am a scouting ministry specialist,” says Larson.
“The biggest challenge to a scouting ministry specialist here is the rural nature of the area and the fact that most of the United Methodist churches have few members and school-age youth attending church,” says Larsen. “My home church is blessed with being the largest Methodist Church in the county and has supported scouting for over 25 years.”