AMERICAN HERITAGE GIRLS: REINFORCING TRADITIONAL VALUES

AS MANY EVANGELICAL CONGREGATIONS ARE BECOMING AWARE OF THE MORAL STANCES, OR LACK THEREOF, OF THE GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA, MORE ARE OPTING TO PURSUE ITS GOD-CENTERED COUNTERPART, THE AMERICAN HERITAGE GIRLS.

by Natalie Kaspar                                                                                      Vol. XVIII, No. 7, August 2005

L. J. Goodwin, pastor of Rodeo Road Baptist Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said he had become "disenchanted" with the Girl Scouts of the USA organization and the direction they are heading. "We wanted something more biblically standard, more focused on Christian values" for girls in the community, he said.

David H. Robertson, pastor of Three Rivers First Baptist Church in Three Rivers, California, had let the local Girl Scouts use the church's buildings for several years. But after concerned mothers approached him and he did some research of his own, his congregation agreed to pursue a program with "more emphasis on spiritual matters and serving the community."

American Heritage Girls founder and executive director Patti Garibay never thought the "kitchen table ideas" she and other informed mothers had bandied about would go so far, "but one person can make a difference," she said.

After learning about key ethical issues concerning the GSUSA, an organization in which her family had been deeply involved, Garibay and others began discussing a Christian alternative. Thus in 1995 came the birth of the American Heritage Girls, a small-town organization that has expanded into a nationwide effort to pass on Christian values to young women.

A variety of GSUSA changes over the years have caught the attention of many. In 1993, the organization's leadership revised the Girl Scout Promise to make the word "God" optional. Prayer is not appropriate for troop meetings, according to www.girlscouts.org, and homosexuality is treated as a normal and acceptable lifestyle in mandatory leader training.

The Temple (TX) Daily Telegram (February 17, 2004) noted that "while the right-leaning Boy Scouts have taken a beating in the media for keeping out gays and atheist, Girl Scouts have been spared any such criticism."

Garibay said she and other mothers wanted "something complementary, not contradictory to family morals" in a scouting program. While the AHG and the GSUSA are alike in their organizational make-up of troops, outdoor activities, and badge-earning systems, differences in the two programs begin with their respective pledges.

American Heritage Girls makes God the center of its organization, as members recite, "I promise to love God, cherish my family, honor my country and serve in my community." Prayer is encouraged at troop meetings, which reflects the organization's desire to "reinforce the Judeo-Christian values upon which this country was founded."

"Our group has a biblical basis, to give the girls a moral compass," Garibay said.

One way the biblical foundation is maintained is through troop charters that are most often private schools and churches, a position Southern Baptists have begun to fill. "I would say that Southern Baptist is the largest denomination we serve, with about 30 percent of our charters being Southern Baptist churches," Garibay said.

Charters are responsible for choosing leaders for the troops and providing a place for the groups to meet, but they also receive benefits, such as reaching unchurched families in the community.

Bulverde Baptist Church in Bulverde, TX, is in its second year chartering an AHG troop, and chairperson Laurene Rice says the organization is a good outreach ministry. “American Heritage Girls promotes the church wanting to be involved in the community and is a great way to present the Gospel,” she said. Garibay notes that she has heard many salvation stories through American Heritage Girls.

She is also quick to attribute the organization's success to the Father. "This is God's ministry," Garibay said, noting that since its founding in 1995 the organization has grown phenomenally with no signs of slowing down.

"God is so good. The Lord has blessed every step of way," she said. "He has let us stumble at times, but we are constantly seeking His guidance. His plan is much bigger than ours."

[Natalie Kaspar, who researched the American Heritage Girls and wrote this reply, is an award-winning writer and editor of The Bells, the student newspaper of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She worked as a Faith & Family Values magazine intern in the summer of 2004. This article reprinted from Faith & Family Values. You can sign up for a free subscription to Faith & Family Values by going online to www.sbc.net, and going to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission site.]