A Salute to My Dad & Catholic Scouting America
Help Missio Dei Catholic support Youth Joining Catholic Units with the Ron Hadden Catholic Scout Fund.
Greetings,
I grew up across the river in a sleepy little town from where I live now. A town with a main street, like you may have seen recreated at a Disney park, with three stoplights. I also grew up in Scouting. My Dad, Ron Hadden, a quiet, studious, eccentric man who played the Native American flute and volunteered as an archaeologist, instilled in me an interest in indigenous cultures. Ron was either the Scoutmaster or the assistant Scoutmaster for my entire childhood. All the Scouts would flock to him for his storytelling, jokes, and wisdom in scoutcraft.
My older brother—fifteen years older—had always been the Eagle Scout in my earliest memories, so it was expected that I follow the same path. I remember his portrait hanging in our hallway as a kid, proudly wearing his Boy Scout uniform and his Eagle Medal, glaring at me. And so, answering the challenge, I earned the rank of Eagle Scout. At my Eagle Board of Review, I had been asked how, as an Eagle, I would give back to Scouting. I said something to the effect of, “I am sure when I have kids, I’ll be back involved in Scouting.” I earned my Eagle in 2003 and, like many of my fellow Eagles, went to college and completely disconnected from Scouting altogether. I felt the separation was natural after changes in Scouting in the 2010s. The program was different from what I had experienced as a youth, so I didn’t have to uphold my end of becoming an Eagle Scout.
My path back to Scouting began to adjust in 2010 when my Dad died in a car accident. Scouting was such an important aspect of his life and how he related to his own boys. The Boy Scouts of America’s fleur-de-lis is etched on his headstone—my Eagle Scout medal pinned to him and buried with him. Dad understood that the spirit of adventure is in every child but needs to be positively directed as a child matures into adulthood. So, a parent may want to know why they should have their child join Scouting. I pose to them this question, “Which way do you want to describe your child at their graduation: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, or reverent? All of those qualities are learned in Scouting.”
The Scouting programs provide a medium for youth to develop self-confidence, leadership skills, good citizenship, and moral living through the Scout Oath and Law. We learn in the Scout Law that a Scout is Reverent. Most folks think reverence is uniquely tied to our religious duties toward God, but the word "reverent" carries a far deeper meaning. Religious duty, understood in Catholicism, is not merely vertical but also horizontal. Jesus taught this understanding by His lesson on the two greatest commandments. This duty plays out in our relationships with our families and community. Do we honor and give obedience to our parents? Do we respect and give back to our local community? The Scouting program teaches this foundation for our youth.
For example, the impact of what Dad helped teach generations of scouts was on full display at his visitation, and it’s an image I will never forget. The image was of a place where his former Scouts —grown men and youth in their Scout uniforms — came to say good-bye to their Scoutmaster—and that’s the impact Scouting at its best can have on our youth.
Dad never received his Eagle Scout rank. I surmise he regretted it as an adult. So, his goal was to make sure his sons earned their Eagle Scout rank. Dad didn’t stop there; he also made an impact on other boys’ lives by teaching them the lessons they needed to earn their Eagle Scout rank. During Dad’s funeral, our family was asked to speak about him. My other siblings weren’t too keen on the idea, so I gave it a shot, Scouting was such an important aspect of Dad’s life and through the scouting movement he helped so many people I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give him his long awaited and missed Eagle Charge. I don’t remember quite what I said because an Eagle Charge is a sort of challenge to live out the Scouting Spirit throughout one’s life. I’d like to think I said something like St. Paul’s 2nd Letter to Timothy that Dad had “fought the good fight—he had finished the race.”
I wish I could ask my Dad questions now about being a father. I think back on my memories with him, and most of them are in the setting of Scouting. So, while I cannot ask him questions about being a Dad, I can go to the place where being a Dad makes the most sense to me—Scouting. A place where we can learn time-tested skills together that help build virtue and allow us to marvel at God in His creation.
Some groups of Catholics may object to the many changes made by the Boy Scouts of America, now Scouting America, but units chartered to any organization take on that organization's mission. However, most of these objections do not fully understand the concept of the franchise model of Scouting America and how units specifically take on the mission of their chartering organization. My Scouts are marked with the first mission of the Church—to proclaim the gospel to all creatures! Catholics should expect a program that exists in the social reality of the world—to make a difference in this program, Catholics need more Catholic Scouts and units. Catholics need to be thankful for a program where a strong moral foundation still exists. The foundation of scouting is the Scouting Spirit. What is the Scouting Spirit? It is the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan.
“No Man is much good unless he believes in God and obeys His law.”
- Lord Robert Baden-Powell
Scouting America’s franchise/chartering system allows Catholics to participate in its youth ministry program, Catholic Scouting. Again, it’s important to reiterate that Scouting America allows Catholic chartering parishes to set their own membership standards. My parish uses the Scouting America program as a youth ministry with Catholic Scouting America’s religious awards and activities program. Our units differitiate from its neighboring units because we emphasis the Duty to God in Scouting.
Regarding a parish’s chartering of a unit, the Catholic Scouting website explains, “Catholic Scouting offers all the adventure, character building, and values-based lessons of Scouting—all grounded in the Catholic faith.” The website explains how Catholic Scouting is an official program of the Catholic Church in the United States. The three principles of Catholic Scouting are Faith, Family, and Adventure. The family aspect of Catholic Scouting naturally includes all aspects of the family—that includes girls, too. The family, the Domestic Church, is served by the family, the foundation of society, thriving together outdoors and learning skills that build values and leadership for the future of all youth who participate in the program.
You might ask: How does this relate to evangelization and Missio Dei Catholic’s mission? Scouting America teaches leaders a concept called the Three R’s: Recruit, Retain, & Reactivate. While it is true that the Catholic Church had a record number of converts become Catholic this past year (recruitment), it’s also true that parishes have difficulty retaining and reactivating Catholics. The idea of starting a unit at my parish is partly borrowed from my wife’s cousin. Brandon had an idea for a developmental baseball program for his church with a simple twofold reason—to keep both parents and youth around and active at his church enough that it becomes an opportunity for further participation. What makes Scouting different from a developmental baseball program? One of the three principles is Duty to God—reflected in both the Scout Oath and Scout Law. A Scout is Reverent—our program is grounded in the Catholic Faith.
While Lord Robert Baden-Powell is considered the founder of the worldwide Scouting Movement, the founder of Catholic Scouting was a French priest, the Venerable Fr. Jacques Sevin, who wrote, “The Scout’s law is sacred and the holy Bible its perfume. The Scout’s law is our Lord Jesus’ law.”
Fr. Sevin was instrumental in convincing the ecclesial authority of the qualities of the Scouting program founded in the Scout Oath and Law by the Anglican, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, were universal expressions of Catholic virtue. Fr. Sevin’s first troop was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in 1918.
My appeal to our readers is one born from experience. The units I serve within the Springfield Diocese in Illinois cover an area largely populated by blue-collar immigrant communities with no prior ties to Scouting or little cultural familiarity with it. I can assure you that any family that joins our units has found joy in the Scouting program. The fee for the National annual membership is $87. The local council provides financial assistance to many families; however, it covers only up to 50% of the fee. At our recent recruitment night at my parish, we had three families with several kids—two of them had 3 or more. The parents want to participate in a program chartered by our parish, but even with the council’s help, the cost would become burdensome.
I need you to bring a Catholic Scouting revival into the Scouting America program. We need more Catholic units and more youth to join them. Our scholarship fund will be available during the first year of a Scout’s membership to assist families who want to participate in a Catholic unit. The requirement is a written statement from the unit leader requesting assistance for a family, including the reasons for the request, along with the family's commitment to earn the Religious Award and Knot, which only 2% of all registered Scouts earn.
Please help me honor my Dad, who gave so much to me and others through Scouting, and support our initiative to set up the Ron Hadden Catholic Scout Fund.
Donors who donate $20 will receive a first release Missio Dei Catholic lapel pin.
Donors who cover the full $87 membership cost will receive a signed copy of The Eucharistic Revival Project (signed by Phillip Hadden), our devotional book on the Rosary: The Crown of Roses: Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the first release of the Missio Dei Catholic Lapel pin.
Donors who donate $174 or more for two full memberships will receive all of the above plus a handmade St. George (The patron of Scouting) decade rosary. The rosary will be similar to our St. Hubert Decade Rosary.
Missio Dei Inc. is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization. Its EIN is 99-4190264. All donations are tax-deductible.
Train up a child in the way he should go… - Proverbs 22:6
Together, let’s remove barriers so more Catholic Scouts can grow in virtue, service, and live adventure!
Donate. Share. Pray.
Together, we can keep the sacred Scout law alive in our parishes.
God Bless All of You,
Phillip Hadden
President of Missio Dei Inc.
Cubmaster Pack 127
Eagle Scout, 2003
Here's to Catholic Scouting! Our family is pretty involved too. It has been a beautiful thing to witness how Catholic Scouting has helped my sons grow in faith, virtue, and character. But what has been a surprise blessing has been how it has encouraged my husband to grow too. I love the way that the Catholic factor has shaped them to evangelize through the rest of their Scouting encounters!