The Boys' Brigade is the first of all uniformed youth movements to reach its l00th birthday.Thousands of Boys and Officers in its Glasgow birthplace and throughout the United Kingdom and all round the world celebrate the day they are a century young.

1983 is the year to look back and to look forward.For the B.B. it begins on the other side of the world with an International Camp for more than two thousand Boys at Mystery Creek, Waikato, New Zealand, where Christmas and New Year are high summer and the outdoor activities will include horse-ndmg, fishing, canoeing, sailing and sports of every kind.Will they remember that William Smith of faraway Scotland was the first to think of camping for Boys?

Birmingham Boys with a trophy they won at camp. 

The Centenary Camp is at Scone Palace, the ancient royal capital in the heart of Scotland. Two thousand Boys and Officers are there to start the main celebration in the sunshine days of August. Seniors, NCOs, Warrant Officers and Young Leaders have their own Campus '83 during the same summer month in the setting of the Cathedral and University of Durham.They come together to enjoy themselves and to celebrate the centenary, but they also look to tomorrow. Many of the young people who attend Campus '83 will be the future leaders of the Brigade and its kindred organizations in the United Kingdom and Europe.

London has its own Royal Gala night at the Barbican Centre as well as the biggest and best-ever Albert Hall Display. In Glasgow a new British Rail main-line locomotive is named 'The Boys' Brigade' to blazon the Movement up and down the land. B.B. visitors in their individual uniforms from every corner of the earth parade the city streets for the centenary meetings of Brigade Council and an open-air Display to rival and outshine the panoply of the still-remembered Jubilee. An open-air service at Ibrox Stadium attracts a memorable mass gathering, and the opening of the Casket sealed in 1933 is its most solemn moment. What message did the Boys of the Jubilee Year hand on to the Boys of the Centenary? What have the Boys of the century to say to their young brothers of tomorrow?

Public parks everywhere vie with one another to show the centenary logo in full floral display. Television, radio, and the national and local press take full account of the occasion with news of Boys celebrating their very special birthday. There are relay runs, projects to help others, the planting of trees in commemoration, bonfires, balloons, concerts, and messages sent flying round the globe to tell of The Boys' Brigade and its work for the youth of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Philatelists everywhere have their first-day cover with the B.B. stamp issued on October 4th, thart day of days when the very first company formed up for the first time in the North Woodside Mission Also in October thanksgiving services are held in Edinburgh, Cardiiff, Belfast and Dublin, culminating in a national service of thanksgiving on the Founder's birthday in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, to bring the official centenary events in the United Kingdom to a close.The end of one century is the beginning of another. What of the future for The Boys' Brigade? The Boys who take part in the centenary celebrations inherit not only the ominous year 1984, but look forward to 2000 A.D. and the dawn of a new millennium.

1983 is a good time to take stock. The Old Boys of yesterday remember the good old days of cap, belt and haversack, of drill and Bible class and summer Camp. The Boys of tomorrow may look for something different. They can take heart rom the example of the Founder, William A.Smith, who was the most forward-looking man the B.B. has ever known.The Boys' Brigade has not been in a hurry to change in its first hundred years. But the world about them has changed more in half that time than in all previous recorded centuries. It will go on , changing with bewildering speed. The first B.B. Boys of 1883 knew nothing of motor cars or aeroplanes, electric light, pop music, films, radio or TV. They wore 'tackety' boots and loads of stuffy clothing, with wool next to the skin and a celluloid collar for Sunday church parade. What will tomorrow's B.B.Boys plan and do in a microchip and video age?

One may venture a few guesses. Will there be less emphasis on military rank and drill and discipline? In 1893; when the B.B. was only ten years old, someone asked 'What is the Object of The Boys' Brigade?' The reply from a man in the street was 'Being good and playing at soldiers.' It was a ready answer in those imperial days. The first Officers were almost all Volunteers and it was natural to model the Movement on the military forces which proudly policed and garrisoned the Empire. The B.B. uniform, drill, activities and awards have symbolized the military traditions and style.The virtues of the Object, too, 'Obedience, Reverence, Discipline and Self Respect',belong to that heritage. They speak of an age of control rather than of growth and freedom.

Pull for Tomorrow.

The B.B. of tomorrow, surely, must take account of a new style and quality for young life in a new era. Changes are already proposed. Ranks and terms such as 'Private' and 'Colour Sergeant' will disappear.The B.B. stages of tomorrow from age 6 to 17 are to be Anchor Boys, Juniors, Seniors and Cadets. There will be a new badge structure with terms such as leadership, community, physical activity, interests and adventure. It would be an interesting centenary task to invite thoughtful B.B. Boys and their Leaders to write a new Aim and Object in keeping with 1983 and onwards. What ideals for tomorrow in the words of today would they set before their successors in place of the worthy standards of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline and Self Respect which have served The Boys' Brigade so well throughout their first hundred years?

The most daring idea for the future has been the proposal to admit girls to the membership of The Boys' Brigade. Already The Girls' Brigade has a similar membership, sharing the same headquarters and joining the Boys in such activities as displays, marching-bands, community service, local camps and church parades. But the B.B. was founded to be a Movement for Boys, leading to Christian Manliness. A lot of words and ideas would have to change to bring about an entirely new and different organization, and other movements would have to come in to the discussion. evertheless, there is bound to be a growing together. Healthy boy-girl relationships are a positive part of any youth work today.

Tomorrow's problems are already here. Family life is not as strong as it was when good Queen Victoria was on the throne. There are ethical challenges to boys and girls undreamed of by their grandparents.There will be fewer Boys in the 11-17 age range in the next decade. One-sixth of the youth population will be coloured. The 12-year-old B.B. Boy of the very first Company in 1883 already had a job and a life's work lay ahead of him. Today, the teenager may face unemployment for many uncertain years.It is hard to help Boys to live by Christian values in a mixed and troubled society.

One thing The Boys' Brigade must always remember if it is to be true to itself. It was founded as a Christian organization, and that has been its declared Object through a hundred years. The B.B. belongs to the family of the Church. It is 'Sure and Stedfast' only when Boys and Leaders learn together to honour their motto in personal Christian commitment and service.

The words of the Brigade President are a challenge to the Boys of today and tomorrow:

Think of the past, be thankful for the present, be immensely in hope for the future.