‘A space ripe for interfaith engagement’: Inclusive Christian traditions team up at Scouting America national gathering to offer support, presence, education

The Rev. Aaron Wisman says he was raised as a “none” – someone with no religious tradition.

But when he attended his first Scouting America National Jamboree at age 13 (then known as Boy Scouts of America), he learned about Unitarian Universalism for the first time, attending UU worship and picking up a pocket guide with an overview of the faith tradition. It resonated with him.

“I like to say my form of teen rebellion was taking my family to church,” Wisman reflected, smiling.

Now, Wisman is the minister at Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church in Michigan, and he used some of his vacation from this role to serve as a chaplain at this year’s National Jamboree, July 22-31, where thousands of Scouting America members gathered for the event that typically takes place every four years.

Wisman was among a group of representatives from the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Unitarian Universalist Association who collaborated to represent these faith traditions in a shared booth at this year’s gathering.

‘We support all Scouts!’

This year’s national Scouting America event was pressured by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to remove its inclusive spaces designated for Scouts of color, LGBTQ+ youth, and women, which had been established at the last Jamboree.

This made it even more important that the four members attending from the UCC Scouting Working Group came with a whole lot of rainbow-colored pins with the message “We support all Scouts!” to distribute at the booth, shared the Rev. Justin Griffiths. Griffiths is a member of the United Church of Christ in New Brighton, Minnesota, a local Scout leader, and a hospital chaplain.

Griffiths spent his time at the Jamboree volunteering at the shared booth, which was located among booths of many different faith traditions – Sikh, Quaker, Jewish, Baháʼí, and Catholic among them – in a section of the Jamboree called “God and Country.” Scouts could earn this patch by visiting each booth and learning about each faith group present.

“Many people enjoyed taking our rainbow buttons, and I had several conversations about the sadness of Scouting America stepping back from its inclusive spaces,” Griffiths said. “I’d share about the UCC and how it is inclusive and Open and Affirming.”

‘Young people need to see and hear from faith traditions that celebrate diversity’

The Rev. Conner Thompson, pastor of First Christian Church in Wilmington, Ohio, a Disciples of Christ congregation, reflected how now is an “especially important” time for the UCC, DOC, and UU traditions to have a presence in Scouting America. Thompson is a lifelong Scout who served as a chaplain at this year’s Jamboree.

“In a time when the celebration of diversity and difference can feel increasingly under attack, young people need to see and hear from faith traditions that celebrate diversity, welcome people as they are, and believe that our differences can be a source of strength rather than division,” he said,” That isn’t about trying to convince every Scout to believe what I believe. It is about making sure they encounter people of faith who can model what it looks like to hold convictions while still making room for questions, differences, and genuine relationships with people who aren’t exactly like us. I think that is an important part of the kind of community Scouting can be.”

Wisman, too, described small, intentional ways he showed signals of being affirming and welcoming while serving as one of the Jamboree’s chaplains – he wore a rainbow wristband on his watch and added pronouns to his name tag.

‘A space ripe for interfaith engagement’

In its origins in the early 1900s, Scouting was established as a space of openness and respect for diverse religious traditions, Griffiths noted.

“Reverence” is the 12th point of Scout Law. “Respect the beliefs of others,” it directs – an element also noted in the Memorandum of Understanding established between the UCC and the (formerly named) Boy Scouts of America in 2015.

“Having this space at the gathering helps us to offer the youth who experience it a sense of how we see reverence and interact about it in community. We have conversations about how everybody does it differently,” Griffiths said.  

With the foundational connection being Scouting experiences and identities, it’s “a space ripe for interfaith engagement,” Wisman said, noting that “the best interfaith and ecumenical work happens when you have that third thing to focus on that helps create community. For everyone at the Jamboree, that third thing is Scouting that teaches both independence and interdependence.”

‘We are all part of life-changing, life-saving faiths’

During the National Jamboree, a wide variety of faith traditions offer worship services that Scouts are invited to attend. This is one of Wisman’s favorite parts of the gathering, as these offer “a very low-stress, low-barrier entry to explore a new faith tradition,” he said.

Wisman led a UU worship service this year, and Griffiths noted that they missed the registration deadline for a joint UCC/DOC service that has been held in the past, but they’re already strategizing to hold one at the next Jamboree in 2030.

It’s the energy that Scouts bring into these spaces that lead the Scouting Working Group folks to believe in this work. They have largely supported the costs to host the booth through their own donations.

Many of these faith leaders had their own formative experiences in Scouts, and they are committed to creating such opportunities for youth today.

“We are all part of life-changing, life-saving faiths, and it’s important for our voice to be represented,” Wisman said. “The Jamboree was so important to my own formation and my own path to ministry, and now I need to show up and provide that good first experience to somebody else.”

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