Gay-Friendly Church Cuts Ties With Anti-Gay Scouts

From USA Today:

A Brandywine Hundred church and the Boy Scout troop it has sponsored for the past 40 years are parting ways over the Scouts' national policy barring gay members and leaders.

Troop 70, nicknamed the "Peacemakers," is still meeting at Silverside Church while it seeks another organization to host it. Leaders at the nondenominational church, which touts its inclusiveness on its website, say the troop should have no trouble.

"I'm sure there are many organizations that would be a good match for them. They've been a wonderful troop," said Bruce Smith, leader of Silverside's lay Church Council.

"But at the same time, we have what our church stands for," he said. "When you're a sponsor, somebody is saying, â??We agree with the other's belief system and values,' and that isn't the case anymore."

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The Scouts' long-standing policy has been a source of friction with some of its sponsoring and funding organizations across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 upheld the group's right to set its membership and leadership rules. The policy returned to the spotlight in July when the Scouts reaffirmed their ban on "avowed homosexual" members and leaders.