Since Juvenile Lodges were first introduced in Scotland in 1875 they have been regarded as an extremely important branch of the "Orange Family" often referred to as "our future". The vast difference in the age range, 5 years to 16 years, highlighted the need, in some areas, to formalise this difference, and in 1944 Junior Lodges were formed for young people between the ages of 13-16 years. Sadly, today many of our Junior Lodges have closed. This is indicative of the problem being experienced by almost every recognised youth organisation - the problem being that of how to keep the Teenagers "interest" in a world where there are so many other wide and varied interests and opportunities, which we sometimes find difficulty in competing with. However there are still Junior Lodges in operation and we have large numbers of young people in the Juniors age range who are members of Juvenile Lodges.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING

And we are seeing changes within our Juvenile movement. A recent update of our Ritual threw out the old fashioned

 language and reviewed some of our dated rules and regulations. The phased introduction of a Badge System is a significant step in providing for our young people, not only "readable" information about our culture, history and principles etc. but also offers Superintendents the basis of a more structured educational programme for our Lodge meetings.

ARE THE CHANGES ENOUGH

We recognise that it is difficult today for our Juvenile meetings to compete with the facilities, resource and opportunities being offered by other youth organisations and clubs. Many of our Lodges have embarked on a programme of events using the expertise of outside organisations and agencies and a priority is to encourage young people back to church and Sunday schools. The County Grand Lodge of the East summer camp which was started in 1990 as part of their celebration of the "Tercentenary" has proved a tremendous success story. It has now become an annual event and because of it our Juveniles and Juniors have had the opportunity to share not only a week's holiday but so much more. They have made and maintained friendships not only within the Institution but even further afield. Camping with members of the "scouting fraternity" from America, Norway, Germany, England and even the Republic of Ireland has allowed our members to meet and exchange cultural experiences with people from different countries and backgrounds in an atmosphere where they do not in any way feel threatened of losing their own identity.

We recognise the need to "share" experiences, resources, ideas etc. and are creating greater opportunities for our Juveniles and indeed for our Superintendents to do this. The Juvenile and Junior Central Committee have identified the business of training, or lack of it, and will be exploring, in conjunction with the Grand Lodge Training Committee, the possibility of offering training programmes for newly elected Superintendents and possibly a training programme for our more senior Juvenile/Junior members.

Just how important the Grand Lodge of Scotland view the future of our Juvenile and Junior Section was evident in the high profile they contributed to the Bi-Centenary year programme of events. They took part in a highly successful "Orangeade" where our young people from all over Scotland worked together not only to produce a first class variety show but helped raise money for an extremely worthwhile children's charity. Later that year a week long Summer Camp provided a unique opportunity for 400 of them to come together again and to share recreational, educational and social experiences and opportunities.

For any organisation reflecting on the past is of great importance but even more important are our hopes and aspirations for the future. If the future is Orange and our young people ARE our future then we will spare no cost to ensure that an Orange and Protestant future is safeguarded to them.

WORDS FROM JUVENILE LODGE MEMBERS

I was born in Belfast in 1984. when I was six years old I moved to Edinburgh and shortly thereafter I joined the local Juvenile Lodge, Young Covenanters J.L.O.L. 144.

The public perception of the Orange Order is of an anti-catholic organisation full of bigots. However, those of us who are in the Orange Order know that the Lodge encourages us to show tolerance to people of different religions.

My Lodge has many different activities. Firstly we have our regular monthly meetings where we get a chance to practise our Juvenile Ritual, learn a bit about the Bible and where we can discuss a variety of different things. We regularly do our Badgework which is interesting and educational but there is much more to being a member of the Lodge than just meetings. We meet with other Lodges in our County for parades, sports activities and much more. Our annual camp is a great way for Juveniles from different Lodges to meet and get to know one another. I have been going to the East summer camp since its second year and I think its great. I have made a lot of friends from different parts of the country and we keep in touch and have even met up with each other outside Lodge activities.

At our parades I enjoy the music of the flute and accordion bands and the colourful banners each with its own history and many painted with scenes from the Bible.

The Orange Order has been opposed by Roman Catholics both verbally and in recent times physically. In Northern Ireland even our Church Parades are under threat. I think that our Leaders could do more to inform people what we are about instead of letting them attack us with their propaganda.

I am enjoying my membership of the Juvenile Lodge and look forward to transferring to an Adult Lodge when I am old enough. I wish every member of every Juvenile Lodge would put some real effort into our Lodges. If they did and if they could show the same dedication and hard work as our Superintendents do then I see no reason why the Order can't survive for another two hundred years.
Keith Rutherford
 

My name is Roisin Paton. I'm 13 years old and I'm in the Orange Lodge because I believe in Protestantism. My Mother was born and brought up in a staunchly Orange Protestant family from Wishaw but I only joined the Juvenile Lodge three years ago when I was ten, mainly because my Dads work took us down south to Coventry and we lived there for some years.

There are a lot of things I like about the Lodge. I love parading because it gives me a chance to show that I am proud to be a Protestant. I also enjoy the music and the colourful banners. We started working the badge system last year and we have found it really interesting. It gives us good information about the history of the Orange Order. Last year our Lodge started a "reminiscence project" and I went with my Superintendent to visit some of our very senior members when they were on holiday at the Scottish Orange Home Fund holiday chalet at Port Seton. It was great fun and really interesting to hear what the Lodge was like many years ago. Our summer camp is excellent because it gives children the chance to meet up with friends from different parts of the country and we get the opportunity to do activities like canoeing and abseiling.

This years camp will be brilliant because there will be Juveniles from all over Scotland and not just the County of the East. I am looking forward to the Bi-centenary parade in Cumnock. I am sure that it will be very special and I am really glad that I'm going to be part of such an unforgettable experience.

The Orange Order is a good Christian organisation and I look forward to playing my part in helping it flourish in the new Millennium.