Our Ministries

Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 2.3 million youth participants and about one million adult volunteers. The BSA was founded in 1910, and since then, about 110 million Americans have participated in BSA programs at some time in their lives. The traditional Scouting divisions are: Cub Scouting for ages 5 to 11 years, Scouts BSA for ages 10 to 18, Venturing for ages 14 through 21, and Sea Scouts for ages 14 through 21. 

On February 1, 2019, the Boy Scouts of America renamed its flagship program, from Boy Scouts, to Scouts BSA, to reflect its policy change which now allows girls to join separate, gender-specific troops.

The objective of Scouting is to provide youth with the opportunity to develop into mature, responsible young adults through leadership development, outdoor skills, civic responsibilities, and cultural awareness. Therefore, our goal is to help young people become confident, self-sufficient, and responsible adults.  

St Joseph’s AME Church has always been an integral part of developing African American youth in the Durham Community. Boy Scout Troop 105 was chartered by St Joseph in the late 1930’s / early 1940’s, thus shaping many esteemed community leaders over the next decades. One of our great Scoutmasters was Noah H. Bennett.  During this time period St. Joseph Troop 105 proudly produced two Eagle Scouts,  

Mr. Albert Smith (1946) and Mr. Eric Michaux (1957).  

During the subsequent years, Troop/Pack 105 transitioned to Troop/Pack 137.  In 1984, when St Joseph Pack 137 was re-chartered under the leadership of Mr. Mason E. Brooks, a new era of scouting began.   As the young Pack continued to grow rapidly, Mr. Brooks noticed that the graduating Webelos had to join organizations outside of St Joseph in order to pursue Scouting on the Troop level.

He then sought to ensure an in-house succession for these young boys through the vigorous recruitment of Troop leaders. With the assistance of Mr. Joel Smith, many volunteers participated.  The revitalization era thrived even more with the addition of Mr. Lionell Parker as Scoutmaster.   

In November 1987, Mr. Lionell Parker took the helm as Scoutmaster who, in turn, recruited Mr. Olanda Sample as Assistant Scoutmaster. They began with only two scouts and by the end of 1988, the troop grew to twelve members. Mr. Parker served faithfully in his role as Scoutmaster until an employment reassignment demanded a schedule that could not accommodate his duties. Mr. Olanda Sample, Assistant Scoutmaster, was then named Scoutmaster and served from 1988 to 1994. During these early years, the late Mr. Charles E. Harris, a member, and officer of St Joseph, also served as the Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 55 of White Rock Baptist Church. Mr. Harris dutifully assisted and took Troop 137 under his wing, providing guidance, sharing resources and whatever was needed to maintain full stability of both troops.   

In 1994, the late Mr. Eric Alston became Scoutmaster of Troop 137 and served until 1999. During that period, Mr. Sample continued as a Troop Committee Member focusing heavily with Advancement and Eagle Rank preparation. As membership continued to grow and scouts advanced in rank, Troop 137 inducted its first Eagle Scout, Damian Humphrey in 1996. Scoutmaster Sample then re- assumed the role as Scoutmaster in 2000 and continues in this position to this date. 

Over the past 24 years, St Joseph’s Boy Scout Troop 137 has continued the Eagle Scout tradition by inducting a total of 36 members into Scouting’s Highest Rank. Statistics says that only 4% of all scouts achieve the rank of Eagle and only 7% of all Scouts are African American.  That means, only 0.57% of African Americans achieved the rank of Eagle. Yet, St. Joseph’s could not be prouder of this magnanimous accomplishment.  This was made possible only through the diligent work of our Advancement Chairs, Mr. Robert Reid, Dr. Frederick Tyson, Mr. Bill Childress, and Mr. Ralph Foster.   In addition, the Troop owes its gratitude to its Committee Chairs over the years: Dr. J.W. Hill, 

Ms. Jackie Futrell, Ms. Terry Sloan, Dr. James Brown, and Ms. Lisa Simms, whose collective dedication ensures our continued existence through operations and funding. 

Further, Troop 137 has been blessed by having a phenomenal Cub Scout Pack 137 under the leadership of Mr. Mason Brooks.  As Pack 137’s membership grew to as many as 100 cubs, it became both a sponsor and “Feeder Pack “to the Troop’s youth and adult membership and leadership.  Many of these members and leaders graduated from Pack 137 to Troop 137. Mr. Brooks has now celebrated over 50 years in Scouting and continues to be involved and engaged in both the Pack and Troop levels and has made our continued growth and existence possible.  

Troop 137 also owes a debt of gratitude to the full support of St Joseph’s AME Church and its pastors.  Because of this support over 125 young men have enjoyed the Troop 137 experience.  As we are now entering an intergenerational phase, we continue to provide our youth with training in leadership and self-sufficiency through experiences in camping, leadership, field trips, merit badge training and community service experiences.  

Pack 137 and Troop 137, a great place to be!

TROOP 137

SCOUTMASTER

Olanda L. Sample

ASSITANT SCOUTMASTERS

Billy Childress, Rieco Izzard

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON

Lisa Simms

ADVANCEMENT CHAIRMAN

Ralph Foster

COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

Rev. Casimir Brown, Velez Childresss, Mason Brooks, Julius Harrell, Jr., Mwenda Kumudu, Daniel Oquin

SCOUTS

Montee Brown        

Kidus Kudumu-Clavell             

Marlon Corbett, Jr.                 

Remy Crumpler    

Jason Izzard                

Jayden Izzard                             

Jordan Izzard               

Bryce Hollowell-McDonald       

Isiah Hollowell-McDolnald 

Edward Moore         

Jerimiah Patterson                 

Clarencedavid Felder-Sutton              

Christopher Walker                 

Jaylen White                            

Caleb Williams          

Carrington Williams (completed Eagle Requirements, awaiting Eagle Board of Review)          

Christopher Williams (completed Eagle Requirements, awaiting Eagle Board of Review)   

Nicholas Williams   

EAGLE SCOUTS

DAMIAN HUMPHREY      

AGEN HERRING                               

JULIUS SMALL III

DENNIS SCOTT, JR                       

SWITZON WIGFALL III                   

ROBERT MARKHAM

ANWAR OVEBY                   

FRAEGER SANDERS IV                 

PERCY CALDWELL III 

JOSHUA POOLE                    

LANCE SANDERS                     

MICHAEL SLOAN

FLOYD EATON II                           

JIMMY WOODS                       

JOHN STOKES, JR.

JAMAL BROWN                   

TERRELL BASS    

DAVID BULLOCK

AARON MASSEY                   

TREVON SPENCE                   

LEE COLE EATON

ERIK BROWN                   

MATTHEW FOSTER       

EVAN EATON

MYLES BRASWELL-SAMPLE     

BRENDEN HARRELSON       

JAYLIN THOMAS

JULIUS HARRELL III                  

MARK FOSTER            

MENEFESE KUDUMU-CLAVELL

DJELIMORY DIABATE      

JA’-QUEZ HARRELL                

CHRISTIAN RICH

BRANDON YARBOROUGH         

A'MIR NICHOLS            

DAMOUNTTA HASTY

St. Joseph’s Girls Scout Troop 711 is a multi-level troop with 21 girls. For the year 2020-2021, Troop 711 was awarded the Daisy Dozen Award for going above and beyond in their leadership and program participation. Troop 711 hosted a World Thinking Day, participated in Girl Scout Sunday, and hosted an annual Mother/Daughter Tea. In 2018, the girls ventured to Savannah, Georgia to visit the birthplace of Girl Scouts and to learn the history of the organization. The trip planned to New York in June 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. 

We have troops for all ages and levels! 

• DAISY: Kindergarten – 1st Grade 

• BROWNIE: 2nd – 3rd Grade

• JUNIOR: 4th – 5th Grade

• CADETTE: 6th -7th Grade

• SENIOR: 8th – 10th Grade

• AMBASSADOR: 11th – 12th Grade

Currently, during the pandemic, Troop 711 meets virtually every third or fourth Friday from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM. 

(Note: Troop 711’s normal meeting schedule is twice a month, every second and fourth Friday from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.)

Sis. Wilhelmenia Jordan is the Troop Leader 711.