A Christian Girl Guide troop in the UK who had been refusing to their traditional oath to God with a new secular 
pledge have now accepted the new wording.
The national body governing the Girl Guides, Girlguiding UK, had insisted that no exceptions could be made to plans to introduce the new oath due to come into force next month.
The move has proved controversial, with 839 complaints to the movement’s leadership and warnings of a damaging split, the Daily Mail reports.
Instead of a promise to God, youngsters will instead pledge to ‘be true to myself and develop my beliefs’ after it was decreed the old wording could discourage new members from joining.
Backed by a former bishop, the group from Harrogate, North Yorkshire had pledged to retain the old oath, saying the organisation had ‘God at its core’.
However yesterday its stand was at an end after leaders of the troop met senior figures from Girlguiding UK.
The change of heart came after pressure from local volunteer and self-professed atheist Jem Henderson as well as from the National Secular Society.
Hazel Mitford, leader of the Harrogate-based St Paul’s United Reform Church troop, had written to a local newspaper along with Brownie representatives pledging to stick to the old Christian oath.
‘Girlguiding has God at its core and anyone who has issue with this is free to start their own organisation,’ they wrote.
Their stand was last week backed by former Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali who insisted Girl Guiding was ‘rooted in the Christian faith’ and warned the new oath could split the movement.
It emerged yesterday that 839 complaints had been made by members to Girlguiding UK about its insistence that all troops should introduce the new oath.
Yesterday, however, it emerged that the St Paul’s group had agreed to fall into line and accept the new wording after meeting national leaders.
Girlguiding’s Chief Guide Gill Slocombe said: ‘We always want to support our leaders and we spent some time talking with the Harrogate volunteers about the new promise and supporting them to understand it is intended to embrace all girls, those with a faith belief and those without.
‘As a result they decided they would be able to start using it as planned from September 1.’
But Mrs Mitford added that she wouldn’t instruct members of the troop whether to follow the old or new oath, saying: ‘It’s for the girls to decide what they choose to do.
‘Girlguiding is saying, “Yes they will make the new promise”, but the way that the girls explore their own spiritual journey is up to them, it’s not dictated by anybody else really.’ She declined to comment yesterday.
The climbdown was welcomed by Jem Henderson, 28, an atheist volunteer leader who had accused the Harrogate group of excluding non-believers, saying ‘all I wanted out of it was for the troops to take the secular promise’.
‘I think it’s more important that all girls get included in Guides than just the ones that have religious affiliation,’ she said.
‘It’s a new oath, and more leaders that are younger and perhaps less stuck in their ways should make Guiding more exciting for people that want to join that don’t just want to go and sit in a church hall with women who are older than their mothers talking about whatever it is they’re talking about.’
She said she now hoped to volunteer with the St Paul’s troop and didn’t expect her public criticism of its leaders to cause problems.
‘I think it will be fine,’ she said. ‘I mean, they’re Christians, therefore they’re capable of turning the other cheek.’