Figure 1.--Here we see Boy Scouts attending church, we think during summer camp (July 17, 1960). The wire service photograph was captioned, :"Boy Scouts of Troops 272 & 123 on Mackinac Island Duty. Sunday morning brings Church Service for the two troops. Here Troop 273 Explorer Sea Scout Phil Braid marches troop away afterattending services at the Island's Little Stone Church (Congregational). Boys of a different faith attended services at their churches."

American Scout troops were organized and supported by various groups, including fratenal orders, municipalities, schools, and religious groups. There was from the beginning a religious component to Scouting--Christianity. As the movement began in Britain and quickly spread to America and Europe, Scouting took on a non-denominational, but still Christian orientation. Scout camps promoted Sunday services which accomodated boys of various denominations. As Scouting spread to non-Christian countries, the movement gradually became more inclusive of other religions. In America this meant primarily Jews, the principal non-Vhristian religious group. In some cases synagogues sponsored Scout troops, but there were troops that were organized by schools and other groups that had mixed religious composition. The religious component of Scouting has varied. Of course the troops organized by churches and synagogues were made up of mostly boys of that denomination. The Church-sponsorded troops had religion as an important component of the program which was not the case for the school-sponsored troops. Since World War II schools have tended to move away from sponsoring troops. Churches and other religious bodies have become increasingly important in promoting Scouting. The Boy Scouts are the official boys’ youth group of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons--LDS). One source suggests that more than 10 percent of American Scouts are now Mormons. ["Controversy ...] As the BSA has become increasingly associated with conservative religious groups in recent years. This may be a factor in the declining membership. While the BSA has accomodated a wide range of religious groups, they have no accomodated athesists.

Sources

"Controversy: Read, Write and Scout," Newsweek (November 24, 2003). I'm not entirely sure about the date. I got the refeence from the Newsweek website and there dating procedure is confusing.