Key 3

As District Commissioner, I am part of the District "Key 3," and I can tell you, it has been an eye opening experience for me in a lot of ways. On the district level, the Key 3 consists of the District Executive, the District Commissioner and the District Chair. The three meet together once or more a month and stay in close contact throughout the month. They work together to set the direction of the district and keep things moving along as they should. I love the two other members of my Key 3. They are really great to work with, and it is pretty exciting to be a part of helping everything come together. I talk to both of them frequently, and we all keep each other updated on important things in our different areas of District Operation.

On a unit level, the Key 3 consists of the Chartered Organization Representative (in LDS units, this is a member of the bishopric), the Unit Leader (Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Varsity Coach, Venturing Leader), and the Committee Chair. Having seen the Key 3 concept in action, I can see now what a difference it makes whether a unit's Key 3 are working together closely to keep the unit on track.

In all honesty, I have only ever seen this in one unit - the first pack I was ever involved in. I was only an Assistant Den Leader, and I had never heard of a Key 3, but even from that position, I could see how closely the Bishopric member, committee chair and Cubmaster worked together, and how they supported each other. It was obvious they were on the same page and they were coordinating their efforts. The Committee Chair ran the Committee Meetings, but the Bishopric member was always there, and the presence of his priesthood authority was felt, without taking anything away from the authority of the Committee Chair. Since these were actually combined Committee/Leader Meetings (which I know is common), the Cubmaster ran the portion of the meeting pertaining to Pack Meetings. Everyone knew their part, and the coordinated efforts of the Key 3 trickled down to the rest of us and affected how we approached our callings.

The Church's Scouting Handbook states that every Scouting committee should have a member of the bishopric on it. I believe that bishopric member is most effective when he takes an active role, guiding and working closely with the Committee Chair and Unit Leader in everything. I do not know whether there needs to be a once a month meeting (the BSA does recommend once a month Key 3 meetings on a unit level). Even maintaining contact (e-mail, phone, touch base at church) throughout the month would make a huge difference, I think.

I know in the units I have been involved in since that first one, it would have made a huge difference if the Bishopric representative had taken on that role and worked closely with the unit leadership. Most of the problems the units had would never have happened.

This is another part of Scouting that draws a parallel to Church leadership. In every level of the priesthood (all the way up to the top; no I mean the step even above the First Presidency), there are presidencies of three. How well would a ward function if a Bishop did not meet with his counselors regularly and keep in close contact with them?