Boy Scout and Girl Scout Groups Hosted by Your Congregation at Tennessee Valley UU Church, Knoxville, TN

Venturing Crew 4 is a coeducational, inclusive, and nonsectarian high-adventure Scouting group for young people ages 14 through 20 in Knoxville, Tennessee.  More information about us is available on our website: VenturingCrew4.org.

The unit that would become Crew 4 began forming on January 31, 2016 when three of its founders met together to discuss organizing a Venturing crew chartered by Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (“TVUUC”).  Soon thereafter, on March 24, 2016, the Boy Scouts of America ("BSA") and the Unitarian Universalist Association (“UUA”) signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding re-establishing organizational ties.  On April 17, 2016, the TVUUC Board of Directors voted unanimously to charter a coeducational, inclusive, and nonsectarian Venturing crew.  An eight-month new-unit organizing process thus began, during which time additional volunteers signed on and an Organizing Committee was established.

On September 12, 2016, the Board of Directors of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club (“SMHC”) voted to support our Venturing crew.  Established in 1924, the SMHC has a longstanding tradition of hiking, fellowship, volunteerism, and conservation, and today its membership includes over 600 hikers and outdoors enthusiasts who love the Smokies and the mountains of East Tennessee.

The Organizing Committee held a volunteer outing on October 30, 2016.  Several of the Crew’s adult volunteers hiked together in Norris Dam State Park and visited the former camp of Civilian Conservation Corps (“CCC”) Company 494.  The volunteers learned that the site later became known as “Camp Sam” in honor of a BSA leader who popularized the area for primitive camping.  This outing, among other factors, contributed to the decision to designate the unit as Crew 4 to honor the CCC in East Tennessee.

On November 7, 2016, the Chartered Organization Representative, Committee Chair, and Scoutmaster of Troop 147, chartered for over 50 years by West Hills Baptist Church, formally agreed to an already-underway partnership between the Troop and Crew.  Our first prospective Venturers began registering that same evening.

The new-unit organizing process culminated on December 19, 2016, when TVUUC and the Great Smoky Mountain Council signed Crew 4’s New-Unit Application and Annual Charter Agreement.  We held our first meeting on January 12, 2017 and completed our first adventure—an 11 mile full moon night hike through Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park—on February 10, 2017.