Trail Life USA, a “boy-centered” and “Christ-centered” alternative to the Boy Scouts launched in 2014, has grown to 65,000 members, thanks in part to church partners, especially Baptists. Trail Life has 1,309 troops, 400 of them in Baptist churches.
For decades, many churches sponsored Boy Scout troops. But the Scouts, which were founded in 1910, made a series of changes a century later that alienated many conservative evangelicals, including welcoming gay leaders in 2015 and admitting girls to its programs in 2017.
Not to mention the massive sexual abuse scandal that has rocked Boy Scouts in recent years.
Mark Hancock
“We didn’t leave Boy Scouts, the Boy Scouts left us,” said Mark Hancock, CEO of Trail Life, who formerly was active in Scouts and had two sons who were Scouts. “By the time our sons reached the ages of 10 and 12, we said we just can’t do this anymore.”
Trail Life promotes a “Christian worldview” and requires adult members and leaders to be Christians and sign its statement of faith. Hancock says “boys of any faith or no faith at all are welcome” to attend gatherings that include prayers or short devotions and camping experiences that include Sunday worship services.
However, individual churches have the right to require Trail Life boys to be Christian if they choose to do so.
When it comes to homosexuality, the group adopts a don’t-ask-don’t-tell approach. Gay boys can join troops, but not if they’re “open” about it or if they disagree with Trail Life’s “uniquely masculine program,” which emphasizes biological differences between boys and girls.
“We believe boys and girls are different, and our programs and environment are aimed at strengthening, which is the way we get good and godly men,” Hancock said.
“More than ever, boys need a uniquely masculine program where their assertive, audacious and adventurous nature is celebrated, not sequestered. Every new troop means boys are being impacted by our Christ-centered, boy-focused approach to building godly men.”
The Boy Scouts had 4.6 million members in 1968 but now has little more than 1 million, nearly 20% of them girls. The COVID pandemic played a role in its membership loss, as did cultural issues.
In 2020, Boy Scouts of America, the national organization, filed for bankruptcy protection so it could prepare to compensate victims of sexual abuse who had sued the organization. In 2023, it paid $2.46 billion to settle claims of more than 80,000 former scouts.
On Feb. 8, the group’s name change became official and the Boy Scouts became Scouting America.
Trail Life said the name change “caps a rapid philosophical shift that includes the organization accepting girls and transgender youth into its flagship scouting program and efforts to be more inclusive, including DEI badges.”
“I don’t know that Trail Life would have been started if the Boy Scouts had stayed on their traditional Christian trajectory.”
“I don’t know that Trail Life would have been started if the Boy Scouts had stayed on their traditional Christian trajectory,” Hancock said, “but they lost their way and created a need for churches and families to promote traditional values and Christian values.”
Press materials say Trail Life has been endorsed by Franklin Graham, James Dobson, Mike Huckabee, Alex and Stephen Kendrick, Family Life, Promise Keepers, the American Family Association and many others.
Trail Life partners with American Heritage Girls, a faith-based alternative to the Girl Scouts that offers “a Christ-centered character and leadership development program for girls.” Founded in 1995, it now has more than 50,000 members.
In 2022, the two groups appeared on Focus on the Family’s flagship radio program. The shows were titled “A Strong Place for Boys to Grow Up as Men” and “A Safe Place for Girls to Grow Up as Women.”
Churches including Prestonwood Baptist in Plano, Texas, and First Baptist in Simpsonville, S.C., have sizable Trail Life programs.
Some of the biggest Baptist troops are at The Shepherd’s Church, an independent Baptist church in Cary, N.C.. These SBC-affiliated congregations also have large programs: First Baptist in Covington, La.; Calvary Baptist in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Excell Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tenn.
Trail Life also partners with Kirk Cameron’s Brave Books, which has published a children’s book by Hancock titled Too Much Tubular!
Publicity says the book “follows team BRAVE as they learn about the importance of moderation while saving Freedom Island from all of the animals that have become obsessed with Tubular photos.”