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BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA & THE UMC

Frequently Asked Questions

Provided below are questions asked by pastors and boards of trustee chairs and answers provided by members of the East Ohio Conference Boy Scouts of America Leadership Team.

1. Are we to sever our Boy Scouts of America charter immediately or just not renew?
   Churches must not renew charters or enter into new charters. Churches are directed to either extend the current charter until March 31, 2022, or to replace the charter with a Facility Use Agreement that would be in effect until March 31, 2022.


2. How can this affect a church's current insurance carrier?
   If a claim relates to a time when your current insurance carrier had coverage, that claim may affect current premiums or cause the carrier to discontinue coverage. A claim under a policy issued by a different prior carrier should not affect your relationship with the current carrier.
   
   
3. Under the Permitted Party Confidentiality Agreement, can we speak to the local church's attorney?
   Yes, but ask the church attorney to sign the Permitted Party Confidentiality Agreement and provide the EOC Boy Scouts of America Leadership Team with a copy.
   
   
4. How do we protect our endowments and other assets?
   This question becomes relevant only in event that a court issues a money judgment against a church entity. With that judgment, the creditor is entitled to cause church assets to be liquidated and applied to satisfy the judgment. Ohio law provides that individuals (natural persons) are exempt from creditors, but that exemption does not apply to corporations or associations. However, the manner by which a particular “endowment” is held may affect the creditor’s right to collect from that asset. The situation that is most clear is one in which the endowment asset is held pursuant to an express written trust arrangement which limits the church right to use the asset only for the benefit of third-party beneficiaries. In that situation, you can be confident that the asset is not reachable by creditors. If the “trust arrangement” is not written, the result will be the same IF the church prevails to prove the existence and terms of the trust. If the asset is held pursuant to an arrangement which allows the church to use the asset for the benefit of the church (whether or not a trust), we believe that the assets are subject to attachment by creditors.
   
   
5. How will this affect the future relationship between The UMC and the BSA?
   The United Methodist Church and the Boy Scouts of America have a long-standing relationship. The UMC is committed to working on how the BSA and The UMC can continue this relationship into the 21st century.
   
   
6. Should we continue to sign for applications for new adult leaders until the charter expires at the end of the year?
   No, we strongly advise against signing anything.
   
   
7. What if another organization is the charter organization, but the Scout group meets in our building?
   Please let the EOC BSA Leadership Team know if this is the case, as it may affect liability. Also, you should let the organization serving as the charter organization know that there may be a claim against it in the BSA bankruptcy case, and that the church may be looking to it for reimbursement if the church has to pay any funds related to the claim. The claim number may be provided to the organization, but other details should not be provided as it would violate the non-disclosure agreement you signed. You should also look at the terms of the space use, lease, or rental agreement that was signed by the church and the BSA or the other organization to determine the allocation of liabilities and responsibilities among the parties.
   
   
8. Who in the local church is allowed to have access to this information? Can other key leadership be brought into the conversation?
   Anyone in leadership who the pastor and/or chair of Board of Trustees believes has reason to have knowledge of the information may be provided access IF such person(s) signs the Permitted Party Confidentiality Agreement and acknowledges that the information needs to be kept private.
   
   
9. Can the church be held liable if it has never had a charter?
   If a BSA unit has ever been in your buildings or on your property with the church’s consent for any reason and any actionable behavior occurred there, an abuse claim (whether or not in the bankruptcy) can be asserted against the church. If the church had entered into a charter agreement with the BSA unit when the actionable behavior occurred, the liability of the church may be enhanced, as the charter makes the church liable or responsible for certain additional conditions and obligations. Most charters also require the BSA unit to have insurance to protect itself and the charter organization as an additional insured, but of course, BSA units may or may not have complied with this requirement.
   
   
10. What if a church has no record of a Boy Scout troop ever meeting at the church and the BSA has no record of ever chartering a troop at the church? What do we do?
    Please let the EOC BSA Leadership Team know, and we’ll make a note of it and report it back to the court.
    
    
11. Do the troops know about these specifics and are we allowed to speak to the Scoutmasters about the situation?
    The information we received came from the Boy Scouts of America. Because United Methodist churches were named, they had to share that information with us. The Boy Scouts of America are doing a similar process, but we don’t know what and how much information they are sharing with their troops. The Scoutmasters probably have access to the same information through their Councils.
    
    
12. Is the claim window closed or could new claims still come in?
    For creditor claims in the bankruptcy court, the window closed November 16, 2020. But it is possible for new claims to be filed outside the bankruptcy court, for example, in civil court.
    
    
13. Do I understand the financial ramifications, that within the agreement made, each church will be expected to share the financial agreement?
    The United Methodist Church hopes to achieve a global settlement on behalf of all UMC entities with contributions from each annual conference. Each U.S. conference leadership will determine how it will fund/raise its allocation within its annual conference and among its local churches.
    
    
14. How can we find out if our church filed a Proof of Claim? What happens if we didn’t file a Proof of Claim? Does the Proof of Claim form give us further protection?
    Confirmation that a claim has been filed can be determined by visiting the claims agent’s website at www.omniagentsolutions.com/bsaclaims. The Proof of Claim does not give any protection against abuse claims being made against the church. The Proof of Claim only entitles the church to share in any distribution of BSA assets through the bankruptcy.
    
    
15. Are there also investigations being done to determine guilt and responsibility of individuals?
    It is uncertain to what degree individual investigations are being done in the legal process underway right now.