New to the Order of the Arrow
What is the Order of the Arrow?
For over 100 years, the Order of the Arrow (OA) has recognized Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives. This recognition provides encouragement for others to live these ideals as well. Arrowmen are known for maintaining camping traditions and spirit, promoting year-round and long term resident camping, and providing cheerful service to others. OA service, activities, adventures, and training for youth and adults are models of quality leadership development and programming that enrich and help to extend Scouting to America’s youth. For more information about the OA as an organization, visit the national website here.
Ordeal Candidate Information
What to Expect
Every OA member has participated in an Ordeal Inductions Weekend. The Ordeal is a vital part of the induction process of the Order of the Arrow. It provides a time for a Scout to reflect upon their experiences within Scouting. These reflections will enrich their Scouting experience. During the Ordeal experience, a candidate is challenged to:
- Maintain silence
- Receive small amounts of food
- Perform cheerful service
- Sleep alone and apart from other campers
All Ordeal activities are safe and conducted in accordance with Scouting policies. Note that nothing in the Ordeal is considered hazing; the Ordeal activities are intended to promote self-discovery and inspiration while providing service to our Scout camps. The experience of the Ordeal is to challenge the candidate to understand an obligation of life-long cheerful service.
2026 Ordeals
Ordeal 1
Ordeal 2
Ordeal 3
Ordeal 4
April 24th-26th
May 1st-3rd
August 21st-23rd
September 18th-20th
Ordeal Documents
New Ordeal Members
If you’ve completed your Ordeal and are now a brother in the OA and Nentico Lodge, welcome! Lodge leadership encourages you to get involved in any of these ways:
- Check out the OA JumpStart site here.
- Attend a local Chapter meeting.
- Come to a Lodge event as indicated on the Lodge calendar (Fellowship, Picnic, Banquet, etc.) You can find the calendar here.
- Convert to Brotherhood after 6 months after fulfilling certain requirements.
- Staff an ordeal or a chapter election.
- Attend a high adventure base as part of an OA Trail Crew. You can find more information here.
- Research OA history and information on the following websites:
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Eastern Region: oa-scouting.org/eastern
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National OA: oa-scouting.org
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Frequently Asked Questions
For some frequently asked questions about completing your Ordeal and Order of the Arrow functions, see below. If your question isn’t answered below and you can’t find the answer, feel free to reach out to the Lodge Chief at Chief@nentico.org.
If you are a new Arrowman, many of your OA-related questions can be answered by the JumpStart Inductions Portal.
Congratulations, you or your Scout have been elected to be a candidate for membership in the Order of the Arrow. Next, you should look to register for an Ordeal. Scroll up on this page for information on Nentico Lodge’s upcoming Ordeals or email Inductions@nentico.org with questions.
Ordeals are held at Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation, located at 1929 Susquehanna Hall Road, Whiteford, MD 21160. Candidates report to RHQ at Camp Saffran by 7pm. For more infomation, click here for the Ordeal Information Sheet.
Contact the Membership Committee (Membership@nentico.org) and the Vice Chief of Finance (Finance@nentico.org). Depending on the circumstances of an absence a refund may be offered. There is no need to contact us alerting of a late arrival unless it is for an Ordeal.
Contact the Vice Chief of Inductions (Inductions@nentico.org). Depending on the arrival time, accommodations may be made to allow for the completion of a full Ordeal, but this will be determined at the time of the request.
Depending on the circumstances, you may receive an extension. To apply, fill out the form here and send it to Inductions@nentico.org. If an extension is not granted, you must be re-elected by your unit.
Contact your respective Chapter Chief and Adviser. Their contact information can be found here!
A Chapter is a smaller component of a Lodge. There are six chapters in Nentico Lodge that correspond to the districts of the Baltimore Area Council.
A Lodge is the most important unit of the Order of the Arrow; it helps run the program of the Scouting America. Nentico is chartered within Baltimore Area Council.
A Section is a smaller component of the Region and assists in executing a Conclave. Nentico is in Section E10, with the “E” referring to our region.
Two Regions are partitioned in the United States: the Eastern Region and the Gateway Region.
A Chapter is led by a Chief and several Vice Chiefs depending upon the Chapter.
A Lodge is run by the Lodge Officers and Lodge Executive Committee (LEC). In Nentico, there are six officers: Lodge Chief and five Vice Chiefs (Communications, Finance, Inductions, Program, and Service).
A Section is run by a Chief, Vice Chief and a Secretary.
The Region is run by a Chief who reports to the National Order of the Arrow Chief and Vice Chief.
Click here for a list of all lodge contacts, including lodge officers, chapter leadership, and committee chairs, or visit the “Lodge Leadership” page on our website.
The Chapter may have this information posted on its district’s webpage. If not, you can reach out to your Chapter Chief or the Lodge Chief. Their contact information can be found here!
A Lodge Executive Committee Meeting is a monthly meeting where Lodge business is discussed amongst the chapters, committees, and lodge officers. The meeting is run by the Lodge Chief.
All are welcome to attend but only youth may speak without referral and non-position holding members cannot vote. Check the lodge calendar to see when these meetings are held. For minutes from past LECs, click here!
Dues are the annual fees required to be considered a member of Nentico Lodge. A member who does not pay their dues cannot wear the Lodge flap. All money collected from paying dues is used to run our program. The more members that pay dues, the better program the Lodge can put on. Our purchases go towards food, sashes, patches, scholarships, merchandise, ceremony regalia, chapter funds and training.
Contact the Membership Committee at Membership@nentico.org.
All but a small portion of the registration fee goes towards food and camp reservation costs. These fees are unavoidable and function on a by-weekend basis. The small portion goes towards the program budget to provide quality program to all of our members.