A new group of Boy Scouts may be the first in the nation to be sponsored by a Christian homeschooling organization.

“We’re getting calls from all over,” said Scoutmaster Don Rettberg Jr., 47, of Freshour Road, Hopewell. “We can show them this is really easy to start, really easy to get involved with.”

Cub Scout Pack 413 and Boy Scout Troop 413 meet in Farmington and draws members from several communities across the Finger Lakes. It is chartered through homeschooling organization Loving Education At Home’s extracurricular activity branch, Home Instructed Students.

Troop leaders say that makes these 12 Christian youngsters HIS Scouts, and they chose the number 413 because of Philippians 4:13, which states, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”

And these Scouts have done just about all the things other Scouts do. They’ve camped, sold popcorn — the five Boy Scouts raising $1,800 — and collected bottles and cans as a fund-raiser. They’re also getting ready for their first Pinewood Derby and are making sleds they’ll pull themselves at the upcoming Polar Panic winter gathering.

“The boys like it a lot. They’re learning life skills and leadership skills, but we’re doing it from a Christian perspective to raise Christian leaders,” Rettberg said. “It’s just been a true blessing. When you’re serving the Lord, you don’t do it for profit and gain, but you do profit and gain — spiritually.”

To join the group, boys must be homeschooled Christians and their parents must be members of LEAH.

LEAH, formed in 1983, is a non-denominational statewide support group for Christians who believe several Bible passages instruct parents to educate their own children. LEAH’s support efforts include supporting the creation and growth of Christian home education support groups, providing information about home education laws, monitoring and advising the state Department of Education and other officials, monitoring legal cases relating home education, and promoting high-quality home education programs.

Bob Dorn, Scout Executive of the Finger Lakes Boy Scout Council, said, “These units (the pack and troop) are a wonderful blend of Scouting’s objectives and the LEAH organization, and it makes it possible to achieve both of our mutual objectives. These particular units focus on the 12th point of the Scout Law, which is, ‘A Scout is reverent.’”

“I’m excited about the development of these two units, which has taken almost a year, because it represents a whole new opportunity for us to partner with one of the many homeschool associations around the country, and we wouldn’t otherwise have access to these kids, because they don’t attend public schools,” he added.

Dorn said he was impressed by the group and its leaders when he visited their meetings, and he is confident the group will be successful. He said he has been approached by other Scout councils about duplicating the group elsewhere.

“We’re excited because we think this could be replicated very easily .... You know, when you do something for the first time, you want to see that it’s actually working before you begin promoting it,” he said.

Richard Pearl, 44, of Wilson Road, Macedon, is the Scout group’s institutional head and the charter organization representative. He and his wife, Linda, are the parents of three children, ages 4 to 16.

“As Christian homeschoolers, we are very concerned about how our children interact with other people, and we’re very attuned to what they’re taught and what they’re doing,” Pearl said.

Pearl said he wanted his children to have the same benefits from Scouting that he enjoyed as a youth, but was concerned some Scout leaders were straying from the organization’s original purpose of teaching children Christian morals and lifelong skills.

“I felt that the Lord was leading me to do this,” Pearl said. “We wanted to provide a Scouting experience that dovetailed with the homeschool experience.”

So did Rettberg and his wife, Sharleen, who takes care of their 11-year-old son, Don III. Rettberg said that many of the Scouts in secular troops are good kids but that some others could have been bad influences, citing vulgar language and questionable songs.

Don Rettberg III said those things bothered him at his old troop, and he’s glad he’s been able to exchange them for prayer and Christian fellowship. He said he feels much closer to and has much more in common with his fellow Scouts now than before.

“Everything we do is about knowing the Lord and putting him first,” his father said, adding that the boys will someday have to make their own decisions about faith and religion.

Rettberg and Pearl both said their Scouts’ declared Christianity allows them to share their faith and beliefs respectfully with other Scouts.

“Because of what we are, they ask us,” Rettberg said.

It also makes Rettberg’s Scouts highly motivated to excel and to be good examples to Scouts around them.

“Christ told us to lead by example, but when he washed the disciples’ feet, he also told us that if you want to be a leader, you have to serve. They’re living that, and it’s awesome to see,” Rettberg said. “The boys are really excited about being part of the Boy Scouts of America, but they’re more excited about being Christians. Their desire is to glorify the Lord in all they do.”

Anyone interested in joining the unit should call Scoutmaster Don Rettberg Jr. at (585)393-1391 or Richard Pearl at 986-4644.