FEATURE
Scouts and guides centenary by Rob Moye
T
HIS year Salvation Army scouting will celebrate its centenary. To celebrate this landmark, the United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland will host the International Scout and Guide Jamboree – Ignite 2013, which will take place from Saturday 3 August to Saturday 10 August at the home of scouting, Gilwell Park, Chingford. In 1910, William Booth received a letter from Robert Baden-Powell asking him to be a member of the governing body of world scouting. After initial hesitation, Booth saw the possibilities of scouting and in 1913 the Life-Saving Scout Movement was inaugurated in The Salvation Army. After the jamboree, the Children’s Ministries Unit proposes to mark this centenary with a year’s programme of events. We will celebrate the past and renew momentum for scouting and guiding in a Salvation Army context. This will be launched at the international jamboree this summer. The purpose of the jamboree is to bring together hundreds of scouts and guides between the ages of 10 and 25 to experience the time of their lives through adventurous, exciting and creative activities, to learn about other cultures and to understand that they have a common bond in Christian life and scouting. There will be lots of exciting activities onsite during the week – for example, archery, climbing and more unusual pursuits such as aerial trek, wobbly pole, 3G swing, high seesaw, crate stacking, grass sledging and zip wire. 14
Salvationist 15 June 2013
In the evenings there will be opportunity to take part in campfires, various social activities and to attend The Gathering – a fun, interactive worship programme hosted by Major Mark Sawyer (Chelmsford) and featuring Matt Leeder (ALOVE) and his band, who will lead worship. Throughout the week The Zone will be available as a quiet space for prayer and reflection; Captain Lynne Clifton (Associate Officer, Maidstone) will look after this. An international market day will be our main event on Sunday with an opportunity to sample delicacies and traditions from all attending countries. The week’s programme will also feature the entire camp going into London for a day to take in the sights and there will
be many special guests visiting the camp. As part of the celebration, we will be holding an open day on Sunday 4 August for former leaders, scouts, those involved in Salvation Army children’s work and anyone else wishing to visit the camp. If you would like to come along and be part of this special day you will need to register your interest by completing the open day registration form by visiting www.ignite2013.org/ registration/open-day-registration Presently we have nearly 800 participants registered to attend from Europe, Africa, Australia and North America. For more details and information about the camp, please email us at info@ignite2013.org or visit our website www.ignite2013.org
ROB IS PROGRAMME AND RESOURCES CO-ORDINATOR, CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES UNIT, THQ