Investitures - By: Albert Fuchigami

A while back, a Rover Advisor came up to me and asked me how to do a 'proper' Investiture. I've had this question asked a couple of times, and also how to incorporate Investitures into the new Rover Program. So I thought I'd write an article for the EH! and share some of the stuff that I've heard.

Is there a 'proper' way to run an Investiture? Like everything else with the Rover program, it's up to the individual Crews. I know many who follow the traditional knighthood theme and incorporate it into their ceremonies. I've seen some use torches and swords, deep in the woods at midnight. But I've also seen an investiture where each member brings something meaningful to them, and shares that item with the Crew during the ceremony. Others have held their investiture on a rooftop overlooking the city, in canoes on a lake, and some Rovers have even been invested at the closing of a Rover event.

No matter how the Investiture is run, there should be some common elements. The new Rover should be asked if they understand that they are joining a Movement, and the responsibilities of being a Rover. To themselves, to the Crew, and to Scouting. They should make the Rover Promise.

Most importantly, the Investiture should be meaningful to the Crew and its members. After all, it is for them. They should be involved in its planning, where it will be held, and who will be invited.

The new Rover program states that a new Rover should be invested within 3 weeks of their decision to join Rovers. Many Rovers have complained that this ruins the program. These 'instant' Rovers haven't been through the same process as they have. They haven't gone through the Squireship, or the Vigil, or any other processes that the Crew may have.

The intention behind this change was to make these new members of Rovering feel welcome. Scouting is a movement full of tradition and sometimes people who haven't come up through Scouting or Guiding feel left out. We've all heard of the five-year Squire. If someone doesn't feel like they belong, then they're going to leave. That's a terrible waste of new membership.

What I've suggested to Crews who have a strong squireship process is to use the first investiture as a way to welcome the new member into Scouting. Once invested, they can then work on their squireship to become 'invested' as a full member of the Crew. This second investiture can be the elaborate ceremony. To make it as meaningful, perhaps the new member could be invested with the Crew neckerchief, a lanyard or thumbstick. Something meaningful to the Crew that signifies their accomplishment.

As I said before, it's up to the individual Crews to decide what's best for them. The investiture that the Smith Falls Crews uses won't necessarily work for a Crew in Toronto or Sudbury. But the important thing is that it's a Rover investiture. And that makes it special in its own right.