New National comander.

Has he actually taken office yet?

When do you guys think he'll start making changes IF he does?

The only thing constant is change, I'm sure there will be changes.
As previously stated I simply hope they are not radical. I dare not hope for a return to a camping focus, but if he spoke of growth it would be nice if they would keep the single commander outpost in mind. If one spirit filled Christian can run it, and they quit changing the rules on him, then we have an opportunity for growth in new or former churches.

Phillip Gross wrote:Has he actually taken office yet?

Yes he has

Phillip Gross wrote:When do you guys think he'll start making changes IF he does?

Hard to say. being that the National office has been signalling that there will be no big changes right away, I would tend to think he might start out slow & make a series of small tweaks, but anything is possible.

Personally, I hope that one of the first things he addresses is improving morale of the of the Commanders in the field. We have lost a LOT of good Commanders in the last 5-6 years. In my opinion that is partly due to the attitude of National leadership.

The last administration's attitude towards local leaders has been very negative for the last 6 years. looking down at & talking down to the people who volunteer their time to this ministry.

"Leaders doing things the same old way" "legacy leadership" "worn out old camping program" etc.


Personally I really hope for a bit more honesty out of the National Office.

ccm2361 wrote:

The last administration's attitude towards local leaders has been very negative for the last 6 years. looking down at & talking down to the people who volunteer their time to this ministry.

"Leaders doing things the same old way" "legacy leadership" "worn out old camping program" etc.

It was taking the "Servant Leader Concept" to a whole new level.


Heavy on the "Servant" and Light on the "Leader".

ccm2361 wrote:

Personally I really hope for a bit more honesty out of the National Office.

would be nice. I'm not looking for an apology, I'm not looking to make these last few years look any worse than they were. But this is a good ministry, it does good work, the LORD's work. It deserves to be healthy again, growing again.

It would be nice if we could drop the "all things to all people " concept. Has that ever worked for anyone? We RTK. I would LOVE if we could bring that back formally.

Good post Strods. RTK. Forever. I would enjoy hearing and reading that again. The other stuff turns my stomach when I hear it.

Mark Jones

Mark, I know that you are cautiously optimistic.

Do you have any intuitions about the Future?

I hope. I hope. I hope. He is a outdoors type of man. Loves to work with boys and has a heart after Christ. IF we can get these qualities we will see growth. No data as of yet. Just a few comments that were positive. Dear Lord send us a Holy Ghost filled man of God that loves Rangers like Johnnie Barnes did. WE would grow! Couldn't help but grow.

Mark Jones

Claymore wrote:Mark, I know that you are cautiously optimistic.

Do you have any intuitions about the Future?

Any news about the change of command?

Pretty quiet around Springfield. No news to report.

Just got the word. Cmdr. Fleig will be speaking at our State Pow Wow, end of May. I look forward to hearing from him, maybe even shaking hands

Look forward to hearing you impression of him. Hopefully we can get back on track with a camping/outdoors focus.

I get to meet him in 2 weeks. Our leadership felt positive about him after attending the conf in Dallas.

Mark Jones

Mark, then we need you to be our Representative to let him know about our Concerns with past years.

Kind-of like the Delegate for the Peasants presenting the Magna Carta to the King back in 1215.

(Please make sure that you come back with your head attached.)

Ha. I have already been assured he has his head on much straighter than the last Warrenite. I sure hope they are right. We can't handle another rabbit trail. We need Gospel and Church Boyscouts with a focus on Jesus Christ. The rest of it is just a grand idea that never worked.

Mark Jones

So in the hypothetical situation that he is "good" (whatever that means to whoever), what changes to curriculum do you think should be made? What merits should be deleted or added? What Bible lessons should be deleted or added? Is it as much the written material as it is the unspoken direction and "feel", or is there actually curriculum that needs to be changed? New leaders manuals? New boys manuals?

Mark Jones wrote:Ha.  I have already been assured he has his head on much straighter than the last Warrenite.  I sure hope they are right. We can't handle another rabbit trail.  We need Gospel and Church Boyscouts with a focus on Jesus Christ.  The rest of it is just a grand idea that never worked.

Mark Jones

great news Mark!

Since we've got it, and since outposts have currently invested time and money into the current curriculum, I don't think that it is wise to (again) say, "Royal Rangers is going through some exciting times. You're current material & uniforms will be worthless in 3 months."

Maybe, reinforce the basic Christian, Barnes essentials.

Get rid of the Leader's Manual that has you-know-who's name all over it, and strike the insulting language in the online chartering that says that you will only use uniforms and training materials purchased from Royal Rangers HQ & GPH.

Treat Field Leaders like Leaders, don't tell them to "Get off the Bus" if they can't see the beauty in the Emperor's Clothes. Half of the leaders that I know who have quit have said that it was because of the last Regime (the other half was because their own boys were grown, and they felt that they did their time).

So in reviewing this post, I would say that it's not "Things" that need changing, it's "Attitude".

If curriculum is changed tracclub can be updated without scrapping books.

This past weekend we did a survival campout out at our District Commanders ranch. Jerry Millhouser stayed with us 90% of the time even camped out in his own survival debris hut and was a major asset to the nature study and finding edible plants and animals.
In the middle of the night he awoke to something crawling under his survival blanket. He popped it with his hand and it went away. soon it was back he got up at 3 am and went and laid on the plywood bench under a pavilion about 300 feet from his shelter. Then a got up after a bit and went and grabbed his survival blanket and went down to the group fire where about 9 of our group of 17 was laying out around the fire.

Now folk. That is the kind of leadership we need in Royal Rangers.

A man or woman, boys and girls that are open to roughing it a bit for the sake of denying flesh will grow measurably from that. Just doing this once a year makes one so appreciative of what they have at home and taking things for granted is a vapor that will return soon enough...yet it's good to teach it.

Mark Jones

Agreed!

While I'm at the age that it is difficult to just pack up and camp out (do to God's Warranty expiring on this earthly vehicle), I have hundreds of nights sleeping outside, and am still willing to go out a couple of nights per year to be with the troops.

But for a 34 year-old National, District, or Sectional Commander to just stay in the Tower at Headquarters and not be willing to sleep on the ground in an organization with roots like R/R is inexcusable.

Yesterday, our Pastor gave a sermon about how he was placed in charge of a church when he was young, had only finished Seminary, and had no practical experience at managing the day-to-day business of a church. He said that he had to learn from those under him who had much more experience.

But with the wealth of talent of leadership in Royal Rangers, there is no excuse to not have someone who is qualified, vetted, and has the appreciation & experience of most/many positions below the top.

We tried that with the Presidency, and we're seeing how well that is working out.

Good post. I have often felt over the past 7 years we had a National Leader that was simular to our President in means and ways. Manipulated and sidetracked the basics to a all time low. In Outposts and attendance. Of course with Camporama..the numbers don't lie... we just had a group focused on adding every tid bit of people to the attendance sheets. Yet when we look around and use our ears, eyes and hearts we realize that a whole lot of somethings is missing.

It will be wonderful to find a leader that actually likes working with boys and camping. I hope we have those basic requirements in our new leader.

Mark Jones

Claymore wrote:Agreed!

While I'm at the age that it is difficult to just pack up and camp out (do to God's Warranty expiring on this earthly vehicle), I have hundreds of nights sleeping outside, and am still willing to go out a couple of nights per year to be with the troops.

But for a 34 year-old National, District, or Sectional Commander to just stay in the Tower at Headquarters and not be willing to sleep on the ground in an organization with roots like R/R  is inexcusable.

Yesterday, our Pastor gave a sermon about how he was placed in charge of a church when he was young, had only finished Seminary, and had no practical experience at managing the day-to-day business of a church.  He said that he had to learn from those under him who had much more experience.

But with the wealth of talent of leadership in Royal Rangers, there is no excuse to not have someone who is qualified, vetted, and has the appreciation & experience of most/many positions below the top.

We tried that with the Presidency, and we're seeing how well that is working out.

In an effort to keep the money flowing, we're always repackaging. Doesn't matter if it's education, politics, or Royal Rangers. Also doesn't matter what the outcomes of our repackaging are. After all, it's the intent that matters. We've lost the ability to look around and say, loudly, "Hey, this isn't working!"

Education - readin', writin', 'rithmetic; as our growing country needed it
Politics - constitutional republic; as our founding fathers meant it
Royal Rangers - reach, teach, keep; as Johnnie Barnes received it from God

Hey, National! Dig up some of the original RR stuff, read it, reflect on it, and return it to our ministry. Yeah, I'm old school and proud of it.

joecool wrote:In an effort to keep the money flowing, we're always repackaging. Doesn't matter if it's education, politics, or Royal Rangers. Also doesn't matter what the outcomes of our repackaging are. After all, it's the intent that matters. We've lost the ability to look around and say, loudly, "Hey, this isn't working!"

Education - readin', writin', 'rithmetic; as our growing country needed it
Politics - constitutional republic; as our founding fathers meant it
Royal Rangers - reach, teach, keep; as Johnnie Barnes received it from God

Hey, National! Dig up some of the original RR stuff, read it, reflect on it, and return it to our ministry. Yeah, I'm old school and proud of it.

That guy don't talk much...........

.....................................................but when he does, it's worth lisnin' to.

Wouldn't that be something if they actually did (reach back)? It'd be great to see.

I was talking to a guy this morning about our school that we started and how much interest from parents we've had because we teach a Christ centered, classical education curriculum. He mentioned that he's noticed more and more little upstart schools and people starting to home school because people are getting sick of the government overreach and crazy 'new' stuff that just doesn't work.

I'm praying that there will be a rise in common sense in America and return to principles that work. Hopefully RR will do that too!