Boys ages 14 to 18 will no longer be part of the Boy Scouts according to the church. However, boys 8 to 13 will be allowed to be part of Boy Scouts.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Boy Scouts of America will lose as many as 185,000 teens from the organization next year after the Mormon church announced Thursday it will pull the teens out, the Associated Press reports.
Boys ages 14 to 18 will no longer be part of the Boy Scouts according to the church. However, boys 8 to 13 will be allowed to be part of Boy Scouts.
The church plans to start its own organization for the older boys that is closely tailored to Mormon teenagers. The church wants the program because more than half of its nearly 16 million members are outside the United States.
No timetable for when the program will be unveiled has been announced.
More than 2.3 million boys belong to the Boy Scouts meaning the loss of the Mormon members is less than 10 percent of the membership. The Mormon church is the largest sponsor of the Boy Scouts.
Mormon teenagers who want to continue working toward the Eagle Scout rank will be able to that on their own while also participating in the new program, said church spokesman Eric Hawkins.
