WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE NEW OA INDUCTION

A copy of the full text of the proposal, dated the end of March, was posted on my Facebook group SAVE THE OA. Although the poster was initially told he had to take it down or face legal action, this was corrected by higher authority, and he was told that no action would be taken. I have made those documents available here. Upon official request, I will take them down. I believe in transparency. It is past time for OA members to be permitted to see the details for themselves. And to thus be able to give detailed feedback.

You can download the two documents here. Since the various OA “passwords” like the Admonition can be obtained with a simple Google search, I see no point in requiring a password to unlock. I liked the old days when ceremony pamphlets were physical documents that could only be obtained from the ceremonial team advisor. No longer.

New Induction Ceremonies March 2026

Induction Administration Handbook March 2026

I understand that these are not the most current versions, but that the differences are not substantial.

Anyone who has further clarifications, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at billhartman@acm.org or post to the SAVE THE OA Facebook group.

Below are my personal comments about the proposal. Corrections by participants and/or national officials are welcome. Send to billhartman@acm.org

The source page in the above documents is indicated in the comments below by [CI pg xx] for the Ceremony for the Induction, and [IAH pg xx] for the Induction Administration Handbook.

–

Differences Compared to Current Ceremonies

1. The Ordeal Sash is awarded at the end of the pre-Ordeal equivalent ceremony before beginning the weekend challenges. It is removed and put back on later. [CI pg 16]
   1. It removes any sense of challenge, as they are already called members and have their sash at the beginning of the weekend. This appears to be the actual intent: to remove any sense of challenge or hardship. Fun without concern or difficulty. This is not the way that good Scouting works.
   2. What happens if someone decides not to complete the Ordeal? Are they members anyway? Do you take the sash back? We don’t give insignia for awards that have not yet been earned.
   3. Giving the sash early changes the entire character of the experience. Is no one involved concerned about this? Is there evidence that this will be better in some way, or is it just an assumption? We know that older Scouts quit when challenge is lacking; for example, high adventure is critical.
   4. The process of sashing is slow. It requires multiple stations. [CI pg 16]
      
2. Total elimination of all Native American words, except Wimachtendienk. [CI pg 41]
   1. Must we rename 25 of the 50 US states because their names are based on Native words?
   2. By what logic is this one word retained, yet others eliminated? It appears to be convenience, not principle, as changing the song would not go down well.
   3. Rather than be replaced, the admonition is defined to be its translation, “to love one another”, and is no longer whispered. See detail on the Admonition here.
      
3. The relationships between the officers (Voices) and the principles of the Order, and symbols, are different than current practice. Voice of Brotherhood is concerned with adding wood to the fire? This is inconsistent with the Brotherhood ceremony, where Cheerfulness is associated with this. [CI pg 7]
   
4. Renaming Elangomats as “Luminaries” (correctly) indicates that the new role of “patrol leader of candidates” is more complicated. The word Elangomat was meant to be unfamiliar; discovered through experience, not explained. It signifies a friend who leads by example. “Luminary” is a lofty title, more official than companion, and reveals too much.
   
5. The spoken parts are verbose compared to current practice. Seem to be trying to say everything they can about the subject rather than focus on key memorable ideas. Memorization is not required. Reading is allowed. Prompting by the Chief Luminary is allowed. [CI pg 3]
   
6. Current ceremonialists memorize their parts. That memorization is itself a commitment: hours of practice, the words becoming part of you. When a ceremonialist speaks from memory, the audience feels the difference. The words are lived, not read. Their ceremony is so bloated it can’t be memorized. So they allow reading. And prompting. And the Chief Luminary saying other people’s lines for them. That’s not a ceremony. That’s a table read. “The Chief Luminary stands at and reads their parts of the ceremony from a lectern (or music stand) that is surrounded by ornamental and functional lights that provide enough light to read”. [CI pg 3]
   
7. Required backdrop panels are consistent with a play but inconsistent with an out-of-doors experience. [CI pg 5]
   
8. The current ceremony shoots a real arrow. The proposed ceremony projects a shadow of an arrow on a panel. “As the ‘woosh’ of the arrow is heard from the musical underscore, the Chief of the Fire extinguisher the flashlight ending the archers shadow on the white panel.” [CI pg 19] They’ve literally replaced reality with a shadow of it. The current ceremony happens by firelight in the woods. A ceremonialist who memorized his part speaks words, some of which have been spoken for a century. The arrow is real. The fire is real. The clearing is real.
   
9. Although lodges are permitted to use their traditional ceremonial ring, they are allowed other alternatives, including inside. The new ceremony doesn’t really belong in the woods. [CI pg 4]
   
10. It uses music in the background while people aren’t talking, much like a movie or play, turning an outdoor ceremony into a pageant. Listeners have described the music as pleasant but monotonous. It breaks any sense of the outdoors and contributes to the sense of a stage play. Thankfully, they have made the music optional. [CI pg 5]
    
11. It is presented as a stage with backdrops, not a natural clearing in the outdoors. [CI pa 5]
    
12. Their ceremony asks new members to “discover brotherhood, reflect on cheerfulness, and to provide service” [CI pg 17]. Three cognitive tasks. Think about brotherhood. Think about cheerfulness. Do some service. [CI pg 17]. The current Ordeal doesn’t ask you to think about stuff. It gives you genuine challenges to think about. It puts you inside the experience and lets the experience teach. Brotherhood isn’t discovered. It happens because silent communication during work forces you to pay attention to everyone around you. Cheerfulness isn’t reflected upon. It emerges, because you’re tired and hungry and the only choice is to smile or to quit. Billy Clark didn’t reflect on cheerfulness. He smiled face down in a bedpan. Service isn’t provided like a deliverable. It reshapes you into a servant leader, which is a different thing entirely from completing a work assignment.

The Induction Weekend

1. Silence is limited to the Night Alone and short periods of silent meditation. The day of silence is eliminated.
   1. This is a major fracture in the character of the Ordeal. Dr. Goodman went through a lengthy process to select the four tests using experimentation. We believe we know better?
   2. Yes, this test makes it more difficult to do the service. That is its objective. To force us to pay more attention to each other while working. It teaches Brotherhood.
   3. By preventing the Elangomat from speaking, Silence allows the candidates to work on self-selected tasks rather than just following orders.
      
2. Scant food is eliminated. Instead, there is a grade-school-like game of trading food. Another major change. [IAH pg 5 Food Consumption]
   
3. Candidates are moved between large-group presentations and small-group sessions on a detailed schedule. Transfer to Main Lodge. Transfer to Break Out Areas. Transfer to Work Sites. Transfer back to Main Lodge. And so on. It is complex to run and lacks the intimacy of the Elangomat patrol. [IAH pg1-2 Schedule]
   
4. Requires a 74-page administration handbook to execute. To replace something that needed only a willing volunteer (Elangomat) and a simple schedule. [IAH pg 1-74]
   
5. Renaming Elangomats as “Luminaries” correctly indicates that the new role of “patrol leader of candidates” is more complicated.
   • “Luminary” is a lofty title, more official than companion, and reveals too much. They lead by telling the new members what to do.
   • “Elangomat” was meant to be unfamiliar; discovered through experience, not explained. It signifies a friend who leads by example. Who leads by showing what to do.
     
6. There is an incredibly strange and awkward challenge where Scouts are told to laugh, then sing, then dance for a period of time, with nothing said that was funny. “When I say go, you will have 30 seconds to get the other members of your crew to laugh louder than you” Followed by forced singing and forced dancing. [IAH pg 23]. Seems appropriate for grade school, but not for the high school Scouts we want to retain.

Conclusion

The National OA Committee’s proposed changes are an almost total remake of the Order of the Arrow. Its objectives, methods, and even tone are fundamentally different. Not just changed. Redesigned from the ground up.

The four tests of the Ordeal were developed by Goodman in 1916 and 1917: The night alone under the stars, the day of service, the silence, and scant food. He chose universal primitive challenges from our hunter-gatherer past. THEY HAVE NOT CHANGED AT ALL SINCE 1917. UNTIL NOW.

National points out that our ceremonies have changed over the years. True. But not the Ordeal. And the current Ordeal ceremony has the same character and is recognizably derived from the earliest written membership ceremony by Dr. William Hinkle in 1916-17.

The 1915 ceremony is unrelated. It was delivered extemporaneously (there was no written script) and conducted in front of the entire camp. Its tests are symbolic acts, not actual challenges. It’s pattern influenced the Brotherhood ceremony.

The material is too much. Too long to memorize. Too complex to perform and coordinate. Too theatrical to execute without props. The current induction needs a few people (Elangomats) with minimal skills and great commitment. The new one needs numerous trained facilitators, deep coordination, and a stage crew.

The proposal is not a ceremony. It is a multimedia spectacle. The BSA is rebuilding its programs around entertainment and instruction instead of lived experience.

Why is this wrong? Because shows are everywhere. On TV, on phones, on demand. It is not an experience. It is passive consumption. Scouts aren’t leaving the BSA because the program isn’t “modern” enough. They are leaving because it is less real, less primitive, and less authentic.

The power of Order of the Arrow ceremonies is that they are uniquely Scoutlike, involving campfires. In the wilderness. With natural, imperfect surroundings. And simple physical props. We can see multimedia spectacles on our phones at any second of the day, on demand. The unique draw of Scouting is that it works without internet access or electricity. It is genuine. Today’s media is not. Neither is the proposal.

Version 11 – 07/18/2026