AUSTIN – The Burleson Church of Christ once sponsored a Boy Scout troop, but that had gone by the wayside when Trail Life Troop 527 formed at the church in the southern suburb of Fort Worth.

Reacting to the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to allow openly gay boys, a father at the church advocated joining the Christian youth group that, like the Scouts, emphasizes hiking, camping and outdoor activities.

Others eagerly joined, said Toby Ford, 50, a civil engineer who helps lead the church’s Trail Life troop.

“Once I learned there was an organization for Christian boys that involved outdoor adventures, I wanted to be part of it,” said Ford, who brought along his son, a former Cub Scout.

Trail Life USA, the Christian program for K-12 boys, continues to grow as the Boy Scouts withstand controversy over a decision to expand membership to include gay boys and, as of this summer, gay adult leaders.

The change in longtime Boy Scout policy is straining relations between the Irving-based group and some conservative congregations that sponsor its troops.

Critics say Trail Life and similar groups can’t enjoy endless growth.

“It’s clear that there is a ceiling on any group like Trail Life that’s explicitly founded on the premise of discrimination,” said Zach Wahls, co-founder of the Iowa-based Scouts of Equality, a Boy Scouts of America alumni associate dedicated to ending the BSA’s ban on gay members and leaders. “The polling data are really, really clear.”

The Boy Scouts may shed members because of decisions to lift policies banning homosexual members, but Wahls, an Eagle Scout, said long-term trends in public opinion favor LGBT rights.

That perception will work in the Boy Scouts’ favor, he said, even among young conservatives.

For now, Trail Life is proving popular among the faithful. Since last year, the group has added about 20,000 members in 48 states, including Texas, which has close to 80 troops.

Trail Life members still pledge to do their duty to God. Boys of any faith – or none – can join, although individual charter organizations may have more specific, stringent requirements, such as church membership.

But Trail Life’s explicitly Christian agenda is a selling point, said Ron Orr, who is now Southwest Regional Vice Chairman for Leadership for the organization.

Men and women who want to lead must sign statements of faith.

“We have a strong statement of faith,” said Orr. “Our troops are a ministry.”

Orr, part of a four-generation family of Eagle Scouts who lives in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills, expressed admiration for the Scouts.

But as his group’s network is growing, the Boy Scouts saw a 4 percent decline in membership from 2011 to 2012, according to published reports. And that was before the group’s national leadership voted last year not to deny membership to boys on the basis of sexual orientation.

The Boy Scouts followed this July, under the threat of a lawsuit, by lifting the ban on gay adult members.

Ford said he heard from moms and dads  within days of that announcement. They “specifically mentioned” the decision when inquiring about the program, he said.

But Ford, whose troop now comprises 35 boys and 18 adults, said interest in Trail Life is not just growing in reaction to the Boy Scout’s controversy.

“There were many like-minded people in our community. It’s not just families that left Boy Scouts that came to us,” he said.

The Boy Scouts of America declined to comment on how the organization is faring in the wake of the changes in its policies. Last year, the organization reported 2.4 million youth members.

But the group’s national president, Robert Gates, said in a May speech that the movement had to change.

“Our oath calls upon us to do our duty to God and our country,” he said. “The country is changing, and we are increasingly at odds with the legal landscape at both the state and federal levels.”

The shift has raised questions about how some of the Boy Scouts’ most loyal supporters – namely the Mormon Church – will react. Recent polls suggest growing sentiment within the church to break its long-standing ties with the youth group.

The church’s members reportedly represent more than 1 in 6 of all registered Scouts.

But the Boy Scouts’ policy changes had the opposite effect among other religious organizations.

After the ban was lifted, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Unitarian Universalist Association, both of which left the Boy Scouts over its restrictions on gay members, said they would return.

Wahls said the future of the Boy Scouts isn’t as defined by a religious organization so much as it is a demographic – specifically parents who will decide whether to enroll their children in programs geared toward younger members.

“The most important group of people right now is young moms,” he said. ““Their decision whether to include their sons in Cub Scouts is hugely important to Boy Scout membership.”

John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Contact him at jaustin@CNHI.com