Starting an Outpost

There are four basic steps to establishing a Royal Rangers outpost to minister to the boys and young men in your local church or fellowship.

Establish the Leadership Roles

The Pastor: The pastor is the key to having a successful Royal Rangers ministry . If he is fully aware of how evangelically effective Royal Rangers is, he will support the ministry wholeheartedly. First, he must learn about Royal Rangers. If your pastor wants to learn about Royal Rangers, this Web site is a great place to start. It is best if he is the one to initiate the program in the church to ensure congregational and staff support for this vital ministry. He should discuss with the congregation the basic needs of the boys and recommend that the program be adopted.

The Church: The congregation should recognize that the Royal Rangers groups are a part of the "total church ministry." Also, they should realize that the men in the church should assume responsibility for the promotion, leadership and financing of the work. The church is also responsible to screen its leaders for the safety of the children in the church. Some churches may choose another leader or ministry to exercise authority over the Royal Rangers.

Ministry Oversight: The church's board or department head should promote and oversee Royal Rangers. Those individuals must become familiar with the aims, purposes and mission of this ministry.

Outpost Council: An Outpost Council is appointed by the local Men's Ministries Committee or the church board. It is comprised of three to five men who are interested in ministry to boys, capable of leadership and willing to spend time developing the program. This council is responsible for appointing leaders, securing a meeting place, finances and equipment and honoring advancements
.

Choosing Outpost Council Leaders

Because the commander is looked up to as an example by the commanders and boys in Royal Rangers, the Outpost Council should consider the qualifications of a good commander, as suggested by the following guidelines:

Is the candidate a born-again Christian, well-grounded in the Word of God?
Is the candidate loyal to the church?
Are the candidate's habits and ideals above reproach?
Does the candidate have a heart for ministering to boys and enjoy working with them?
Does the candidate have a consistent testimony in daily Christian living?
Is the candidate able to lead and delegate authority?
Does the candidate possess good judgment?
Is the candidate willing to accept responsibility?
Does the candidate command the respect of other men?
Does the candidate cooperate with the program of the church?
Will the candidate take leadership training?
Is the candidate 21 years of age or older? (Lieutenant commanders must be 18 or older.)

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Outpost Commander:
Each outpost group of Royal Rangers needs a leader (called "commander") and, when possible, a lieutenant commander. A survey ascertaining the number of interested boys in each outpost group will help in determining the number of groups and leaders needed.

Charter Your Outpost
After you have established your outpost, you can receive a great deal of assistance and help with implementing the program through chartering your outpost. In order to obtain chartering, you must meet minimum requirements, including:

A qualified leader and, if possible, one or more assistants
At least five boys who have met the recruit requirements
A registration fee for each participating boy and adult
Holding three regular meetings

Along with being officially recognized as a Royal Rangers outpost, your ministry will receive helpful materials such as:

An outpost number and an official charter certificate
Membership cards for the boys in your program
Quarterly publications of High Adventure for your boys and High Adventure Leader for your commanders
Award program enrollment, making your group eligible to participate in the Outpost Commander's Award Program
Selected brochures that highlight the many areas of ministry available to Royal Rangers participants
Royal Ranger Data Manager CD for each chartered church
Other benefits, such as participation in the Leadership Training Academy; national training camps; sectional, district and national camping activities; and the Royal Rangers of the Year program (which ranges from local to national competition)

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Get Training
Training is the key to a successful Royal Rangers ministry . Leaders should endeavor to receive all the knowledge available to them about Royal Rangers. A novice leader should obtain, the Royal Rangers Leaders Manual. The next step is enrollment is the Ranger Basics Module of the Leadership Training Academy to enable him to meet the challenges of leading boys.

In addition, the national office conducts National Training Camps, designed to help give more assistance to leaders in the Royal Rangers ministry . For information on what training camps are available, visit the Training section of our web site.

Plan and Conduct the First Two Meetings
(Taken from the Royal Rangers Leaders Manual, pages 243-244.)

The First Meeting

The following suggested outline for the first meeting follows the reular meeting plan for the groups.

Before the Meeting:
Arrive early to prepare the room and be ready to greet the boys and their parents and guardians.

While the Boys and Parents Arrive
The commander and his assistant should welcome each boy and his parents or guardians. Keep the boys busy with games, puzzles or crafts before the meeting begins. At the starting time, play games for about 5 minutes.

Suggested Game
Materials: 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper
Play: Place a box or small garbage can (or make an X with masking tape) on the floor at least 10-feet from the standing line. Instruct the boys and parents to make paper airplanes and fly them into the container or marked area. See how many times they can hit the mark.

Opening Ceremony
Have leaders present the colors with the United States flag in the center surrounded by the Royal Rangers flag and the Christian flag. Lead in the Pledge of Allegiance. Open in prayer.

The pastor or senior commander should greet the audience and introduce and introduce each commander. Ask the families to introduce themselves. Distribute any pertinent information related to the church.

Explain the ideals and purposes of Royal Rangers using the information from the kit. Demonstrate how Royal Rangers will open doors to adventure, friendship and fun. Explain how commanders will work with them to make activities and programs a success.

Distribute the Royal Rangers catalogs. Let the boys and parents look at the uniforms, awards and accessories. Discuss how the boys can obtain their uniforms. Explain how they can earn and wear everything.

Speaker: If possible, invite a speaker who is familiar with the program such as a section or district Royal Rangers commander.

Question-and-Answer Time
Give opportunity for people to ask questions.

Closing Ceremony
The pastor or guest speaker should end the meeting with some closing thoughts and prayer.

After the Meeting
Serve refreshments. Be available for further questions.

Make sure you have plenty of handbooks, workbooks, Leaders' Guides and flags for each group. Give the proper materials to group commanders and instruct them to study the introduction and the first lesson for next week. Each commander should be ready for his separate group meeting next week.

Between Meetings
Before the second meeting, call all parents and thank them for attending the first meeting. call those unable to attend and encourage them to send their boys to the second meeting.

The Second Meeting

Begin your second meeting with an Opening Ceremony. This can be done all together as an outpost or in your individual groups.

Make sure commanders are prepared to lead theri meetings. Instruct them to used the program with the aid of the Leaders Guide, Royal Rangers Leaders Manual, workbooks and handbooks.

During the Business/Patrol Corners collect the chartering dues.

Additional Meeting Suggestions

Your outpost should meet once a week for at least one and one-half hour. It is important that you and the boys have an enjoyable time together. Every meeting should provide both fun and accomplishment for the boys. Plan a well-rounded program in every meeting so the boys will always be anxious to return. A meeting that has only fun with no accomplishment causes the boys to soon lose interest.

Begin and end each meeting on time. This is good training for the boys in managing their own affairs. It also helps inspire confidence in the boys' parents.

For additional outpost meeting ideas, refer to the High Adventure Leader and the Outpost Activities Book.

After reading this your probably thinking what now? Well we as a district are here to help you.You probably still have a million questions. For answers contact your Sectional, Division, and District Staff. We will be glad to offer advice, suggestions, and support.

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