A girl guide group faces being thrown out of the national association after refusing to force members to drop God from the oath. Troop leaders have rejected new rules saying that the inclusion of God should not be compulsory but a matter of personal choice. But they have now been sent an ‘aggressive’ letter ordering them to back down or leave GirlGuiding UK at the end of the month. Critics branded the approach a ‘move for exclusion’. Glynis Mackie (centre) leader of the 37th Newcastle Guide Unit at Jesmond Parish Church said the new pledge 'sidelined' Christianity. She is pictured with guides  Hibah Ali, 14, (left) and Becky McClintock, 12 (right) The Guiding Promise was altered earlier this year so that members now swear ‘to be true to myself and develop my beliefs’ rather than the original ‘to love my God’. But Glynis Mackie, 55, who has been leading the 37th Newcastle Guide Unit in Jesmond for more than 25 years, said the new pledge ‘sidelined’ Christianity. Mrs Mackie, added: ‘This is an example of people not realising the importance of faith, of all faiths, in our community. 'I would go as far as saying that it is an example of faith being sidelined in society.’ ‘I imagine changing the pledge was intended to include more people, but what it is actually doing is excluding those who have faith. ‘I understand why an atheist might not want to make a promise to God, and that is fine by me, but it has to be up to the individual.’ Mrs Mackie and the other leaders of the group slammed the new pledge as a ‘fridge magnet promise that doesn’t really mean anything’. The Girl Guide promise had been changed after over 100 years of tradition . But Chief Guide Gill Slocombe insisted the move ‘opened our arms to . welcome even more girls and adults, of all faiths –  and none’. The words ‘to be true to myself and develop my beliefs’ have replaced ‘to love my God’, and the words ‘to serve the Queen and my community’ will replace ‘to serve the Queen and my country’. Girl Guiding’s chief commissioner in the North East has told the group their membership of the organisation will be ended on December 31. It means that the unit, which includes more than 100 girls in Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers from a variety of different faiths, will now have to meet as an independent group. She added: ‘This letter, which is surprisingly aggressive, says that we "will not use" the new Promise and that simply isn’t true. ‘We would use this new form of words but we do want the children to have the choice to say the old Promise if they want to.’ Mrs Mackie wants Girl Guiding to take the same stance as the Scouts’ pledge, which says a member will ‘uphold our Scout values’ and can be taken by those who do not choose to vow to ‘do my duty to God’. She added: ‘They are trying to force us out of Girl Guiding with no process and with only three weeks’ notice. The girls are really incredibly angry and they just want their voices to be heard.’ Chief Guide Gill Slocombe said: ‘Girl guiding is extremely sorry to hear of any Guide group leaving our organisation. ‘By changing the wording of our promise, after an extensive consultation with over 44,000 people, we have opened our arms to welcome even more girls and adults - of all faiths and none - who will benefit from all the fantastic things we do in girl guiding. ‘We hope the new wording will help us reach out to girls and women who might not have considered guiding before, so that even more girls can benefit from everything guiding can offer.’ David Holloway, the vicar of Jesmond Parish Church, wrote in the church’s monthly newsletter: ‘The hard reality is that this new promise is, whether intentionally or not, a move for exclusion.’ The changing of the Guide promise earlier this year sparked 839 official complaints from members amid fears of a split in the movement. In August, one troop in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, vowed to resist the change but was forced to back down by national leaders.
Newcastle branch received 'aggressive' letter ordering them to comply .
Guide leader, Glynis Mackie, said new pledge 'sidelines' Christianity .
'To love my god' has been replaced with 'to develop my beliefs'
A girl guide group faces being thrown out of the national association after refusing to force members to drop God from the oath. Troop leaders have rejected new rules saying that the inclusion of God should not be compulsory but a matter of personal choice. But they have now been sent an ‘aggressive’ letter ordering them to back down or leave GirlGuiding UK at the end of the month. Critics branded the approach a ‘move for exclusion’. Glynis Mackie (centre) leader of the 37th Newcastle Guide Unit at Jesmond Parish Church said the new pledge 'sidelined' Christianity. She is pictured with guides  Hibah Ali, 14, (left) and Becky McClintock, 12 (right) The Guiding Promise was altered earlier this year so that members now swear ‘to be true to myself and develop my beliefs’ rather than the original ‘to love my God’. But Glynis Mackie, 55, who has been leading the 37th Newcastle Guide Unit in Jesmond for more than 25 years, said the new pledge ‘sidelined’ Christianity. Mrs Mackie, added: ‘This is an example of people not realising the importance of faith, of all faiths, in our community. 'I would go as far as saying that it is an example of faith being sidelined in society.’ ‘I imagine changing the pledge was intended to include more people, but what it is actually doing is excluding those who have faith. ‘I understand why an atheist might not want to make a promise to God, and that is fine by me, but it has to be up to the individual.’ Mrs Mackie and the other leaders of the group slammed the new pledge as a ‘fridge magnet promise that doesn’t really mean anything’. The Girl Guide promise had been changed after over 100 years of tradition . But Chief Guide Gill Slocombe insisted the move ‘opened our arms to . welcome even more girls and adults, of all faiths –  and none’. The words ‘to be true to myself and develop my beliefs’ have replaced ‘to love my God’, and the words ‘to serve the Queen and my community’ will replace ‘to serve the Queen and my country’. Girl Guiding’s chief commissioner in the North East has told the group their membership of the organisation will be ended on December 31. It means that the unit, which includes more than 100 girls in Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers from a variety of different faiths, will now have to meet as an independent group. She added: ‘This letter, which is surprisingly aggressive, says that we "will not use" the new Promise and that simply isn’t true. ‘We would use this new form of words but we do want the children to have the choice to say the old Promise if they want to.’ Mrs Mackie wants Girl Guiding to take the same stance as the Scouts’ pledge, which says a member will ‘uphold our Scout values’ and can be taken by those who do not choose to vow to ‘do my duty to God’. She added: ‘They are trying to force us out of Girl Guiding with no process and with only three weeks’ notice. The girls are really incredibly angry and they just want their voices to be heard.’ Chief Guide Gill Slocombe said: ‘Girl guiding is extremely sorry to hear of any Guide group leaving our organisation. ‘By changing the wording of our promise, after an extensive consultation with over 44,000 people, we have opened our arms to welcome even more girls and adults - of all faiths and none - who will benefit from all the fantastic things we do in girl guiding. ‘We hope the new wording will help us reach out to girls and women who might not have considered guiding before, so that even more girls can benefit from everything guiding can offer.’ David Holloway, the vicar of Jesmond Parish Church, wrote in the church’s monthly newsletter: ‘The hard reality is that this new promise is, whether intentionally or not, a move for exclusion.’ The changing of the Guide promise earlier this year sparked 839 official complaints from members amid fears of a split in the movement. In August, one troop in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, vowed to resist the change but was forced to back down by national leaders.
‘aggressive’ letter ordering them to back down or exclusion’. Glynis Mackie (centre) leader of the Church said the new pledge 'sidelined' develop my beliefs’ have replaced ‘to love my