Girl Guides: Latest Promise Drops God Line

Girl Guides will no longer pledge their devotion to God when they join the organisation, it has been announced.

The phrase "to love my God" has been dropped from the promise after a consultation suggested different words are needed to include the non-religious.

Instead, girls joining the organisation will now be asked to "be true to myself and develop my beliefs".

A mention of vowing to love or serve God has been included in the promise since the Guides began in 1910.

Originally, new members were asked to "do my duty to God", and this was changed to "love my God" in 1994.

The move has been welcomed by secular groups who said it was a "hugely positive" development.

The new promise also asks guides "to serve the Queen and my community" instead of "the Queen and my country".

Around 44,000 people responded to the consultation on changing the wording of the oath, Girlguiding said.

Chief guide Gill Slocombe said: "We hope that our new promise will allow all girls - of all faiths and none - to understand and feel proud of their commitment."

It is the 11th time in the organisation's history that the promise has been changed. The last time was in 1994.

The new promise reads: "I promise that I will do my best: to be true to myself and develop my beliefs, to serve the Queen and my community, to help other people and to keep the (Brownie) Guide law."

Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society , said: "By omitting any explicit mention of God or religion the Guide Association has grasped the opportunity to make itself truly inclusive and relevant to the reality of 21st century Britain."

Girlguiding is a leading UK charity for girls and young women with 546,406 members.

It runs the Rainbows which is for five to seven-year-olds, Brownies, for seven to 10-year-olds, Guides for 10 to 14-year-olds and the Senior Section for 14-25-year-olds.