Trail Life USA takes up the mission abandoned by Boy Scouts

On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

To generations of American men, the Boy Scout Oath is as familiar as the Lord's Prayer. Those 40 words encapsulate a legacy over 100 years in the making.

'In Trail Life, fathers can find a community of like-minded men who also want to make sure their sons grow up to be great Christian men.'

It look little more than a decade to destroy it.

The beginning of the end was May 23, 2013. This was the day the Boy Scouts of America voted to allow the admittance of openly gay members.

The move met with pushback from parents and religious organizations, who saw this supposed concession to the times as a betrayal of the BSA’s founding principles and predicted that it was the first step in a radical reinvention of the storied institution.

RELATED: Destruction of male-only spaces needs to stop — if we want masculinity to survive

Photo by Stan Badz/PGA Tour

Boy Scouts in decline

Their fears turned out to be warranted. A scant two years later, the BSA lifted the ban on openly homosexual adult leaders. Three years after that, in 2018, the organization was opened to women and girls.

Last February, just in time for the 115th anniversary of the BSA, the group rebranded under the “more sort of gender-neutral name” (per president and CEO Roger Krone) Scouting America.

It took only 12 years for the Boy Scouts to go from an organization where young men could learn to embody Christian values and American patriotism to a coed organization intent on indoctrinating its members with the ideals of the contemporary American left.

These changes have left the BSA's traditional adherents at a loss. Fathers who grew up and thrived in the Boy Scouts could no longer trust the organization to teach sound values to their sons. Churches that partnered with the organization have had to cut ties or risk compromising on their own moral teachings.

Be Prepared

Fortunately, some of them noticed the early signs of decline and — in the spirit of the motto "Be Prepared" — began building an alternative: Trail Life USA.

Founded in 2013 as a traditional, Christian version of the Boy Scouts, the organization grew quickly.

According to CEO Mark Hancock, over 1,200 people from 44 states attended the inaugural convention in the fall of 2013. “Three months later, we launched with over 5,000 members.” Trail Life USA currently has over 65,000 members and 150,000 alumni.

The fact that Trail Life was “forged in the fires of this cultural battle” is largely responsible for the continued growth of the organization, says Hancock.

Christian values

The BSA was founded in a society whose common Christianity could be taken for granted. Having seen what happened to the BSA when that faith dropped away, Trail Life USA's founders were careful to incorporate explicitly Christian values into every aspect of the organization.

The most prominent of Trail Life USA's "core values" is a commitment to being a "Christ-centered" organization. To this end, individual churches sponsor each troop, which takes as its aim the formation of "godly young men."

In Hancock's view, Trail Life's call to inspire "the increased demonstration of Christlike character and courage by both adult and youth members" is a way of promoting real action against American cultural degradation.

Or as Hancock puts it, the organization seeks nothing less than to develop “a generation that not only manages the rising tide of cultural change but turns back the tide itself.”

Boys to men

Peter Ohotnicky, a former BSA member whose family has been involved with Trail Life since 2013, agrees. He points to the organization’s reliance on charter organizations and financial policies as assurance of continued fidelity to its principles. “It means that Trail Life is much more likely to stay aligned with our values.”

RELATED: Boy Scouts of America to begin paying $2.4 billion to over 82,000 sexual abuse victims

Photo by Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Ohotnicky says Trail Life’s explicitly Christian focus has made hiking and camping with his sons far more impactful than during their time with the BSA. “These activities have been pivotal in preparing my adult sons for manhood and continue to be how I help my teenage sons to grow into the men God expects them to be.”

Besides its explicitly Christian identity, another element that sets Trail Life apart is its emphasis on the involvement of fathers. Ohotnicky says this aspect has made his family’s involvement even more meaningful. “Boys and men form bonds by doing challenging things together.”

Trail Life has not only helped him to raise his sons, but to bring that experience to others. “In Trail Life, fathers can find a community of like-minded men who also want to make sure their sons grow up to be great Christian men.”

A real demand

Although Trail Life bears many cosmetic resemblances to BSA, such as uniforms, badges, and outdoor activities, Hancock says the organization’s “specific development of boys within a context that embraces biblical principles” allows it to offer “a distinctive and independent experience.”

Offering this experience has worked well for Trail Life so far. The organization currently has over 1,360 troops across all 50 states, showing a real demand among American Christians for organizations that can be trusted with the formation of their children.

As mainstream culture continues to decline, groups like Trail Life will find themselves even more in demand. Their active and unapologetic focus on a much-maligned demographic has been central to Trail Life’s ability to meet that demand. As Hancock puts it, “the emphasis on Christ-centered and boy-focused distinctives cannot be overstated.”

For more information about Trail Life USA — including a directory of troops in your area — visit its website here.