Delaware County Church Kicks Out Boy Scouts Over Decision To Allow Gays
By Steve Tawa
ALDAN, Pa. (CBS) -- A Delaware County church has decided it will not renew its charter with a local Boy Scout troop and Cub Scout pack because of the national scouting groups' decision to end its policy that had banned gay members from joining.
Rev. Paul Thompson, the pastor of Aldan Union Church on Providence Road, says the church's council of elders made the decision to part ways with the scouts.
"As a church, we have a responsibility to our convictions," he told KYW Newsradio today.
He says the scouts' decision to allow gay scouts was "at odds" with the Christian nondenominational church's understanding of the Scripture. But, he adds, "not in a way that oftentimes churches are accused of being homophobic if they teach that homosexuality is sin. If anybody reads the Bible they would have to understand that's the position the Scriptures take."
Thompson says it was a difficult decision because one of its pastors was the first scoutmaster. Scouts have been gathering at Aldan Union since 1920.
The nearby American Legion post has agreed to take in Boy Scouts Troop 2 and Cub Scouts Pack 2.
