Pathfinder Club

Pathfindering

For those who are familiar with it, “Pathfindering” conjures up images of marching, camping, curious hobbies, bugs and bats. Enlarging their windows on the world and building a relationship with God are the dual objectives of this club, which is designed for children ages 10-15. With nearly 2 million members around the world, this Seventh-day Adventist Church-sponsored club accepts any youth who promises to abide by the Pathfinder Pledge and Law regardless of their church affiliation.

Leadership

The volunteer leadership, skilled in a myriad of unusual abilities and interests are, first and foremost, strong believers in Jesus Christ and are sure of the road they are taking towards eternal life. They consider the Pathfinder club an experimental laboratory where growth and learning are synonymous with fun. Failure is not expected, but rather all activity becomes a tool for learning.  

Activities

The imagination of its leadership and members are the primary limiting factors of a club's abilities. Activities encourage a range from community/civic service projects in their community and across the globe to nature and environmental conservation studies to camping and high adventure trips. Pathfindering challenges the unique talents of each member. Pathfindering is built on an age-specific curriculum of six levels along with approximately 350 specialized skill development topics covering arts and crafts, aquatics, nature, household arts, recreation, spiritual development, health, and vocational training. These often serve as a launching point for lifetime careers or hobbies.

How to Organize a Pathfinder Club

  1. Counsel with the Conference Youth Ministries personnel.
  2. Meet with the Pastor and Conference Youth Ministries personnel.
  3. Present your plans to the Church Board. Church Board autorizes the organization of the Pathfinder Club. Familiarize Board members with the Pathfinder philosophy, aims, and objectives.
  4. Second meeting of the Church Board (or Nominating Committee) with Conference Youth Ministries personnel or Pathfinder area coordinator present, to elect Pathfinder director and deputies.
  5. Inform congragation during Divine Service about Pathfinder Club, its objectives and program.
  6. Pathfinder officers elect remaining Executive Committee members.
  7. First meeting of Pathfinder Executive Committee to elect remaining Pathfinder staff as needed.
  8. Pathfinder officers and staff attend Conference Pathfinder Basic Staff Training Course.
  9. Call Pathfinder Executive Committee meeting to plan yearly program.
  10. Present all plans at a Pathfinder Staff Meeting.
  11. Advertise the program at least six weeks before opening night.
  12. Write letters or personally contact the potential Pathfinder families.
  13. Enrollment night - completion of Pathfinder Passport applications.
  14. Home visitation by Pathfinder counselors.
  15. Induction Ceremony - Pathfinder Passports given out.
  16. Establishing church and community interest.
  17. Evaluation.

Club Membership Requirements

  1. To be considered for Pathfinder Club membership the applicant must be at least 10 years of age and no more than 15 years of age. Where two clubs exist; children aged l0 to 12 will join the junior club and those aged l3 to l5 will join the teen club. (In some areas school level is used as the guidelines).
  2. Application forms for membership available from the club director/secretary must be completed and returned to the club staff committee for consideration and induction as a club member.
  3. A Pathfinder Passport is available upon application to the club director/secretary. (Optional)
  4. All members must pay membership and insurance fees as required by the club executive committee.
  5. Each Pathfinder should have and regularly wear the complete Pathfinder dress uniform and a club field uniform where applicable. Pathfinders must come to meetings and club-sponsored events in the uniform as indicated by the club director.
  6. Members must be faithful in attendance. Many clubs establish limits on absences and tardinesses, and Pathfinders who do not comply with these regulations may be placed on probation or be asked to withdraw from club membership.
  7. Pathfinders must learn and keep the Pledge and Law.
  8. Club activities include crafts, outings, regular club meetings and Classwork, fund raising, campouts, outreach activities, Honors, and other activities. The Pathfinder must agree before joining the club to participate and cooperate in these activities.
  9. The Pathfinder’s parents must be willing to cooperate with the regulations and activities of the club. At times they will be asked to supply money and time to support their child’s membership.
  10. All elected directors and regular staff are members of the club by virtue of their office.

AIM

The Advent Message to all the world in my generation.

MOTTO

The love of Christ compels us.

PLEDGE

By the grace of God,

I will be pure and kind and true.

I will keep the Pathfinder Law.

I will be a servant of God

and a friend to man.

LAW

The Pathfinder Law is for me to:

  1. Keep the morning watch.
  2. Do my honest part.
  3. Care for my body.
  4. Keep a level eye.
  5. Be courteous and obedient.
  6. Walk softly in the sanctuary.
  7. Keep a song in my heart.
  8. Go on God's errands.

Philosophy

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is committed to understanding young people and training its youth for leadership and service to humanity.

The Pathfinder Club is a church-centered spiritual-recreational-activity program designed for young people 10 to 15 years of age. Pathfindering appeals to this age group because its program features activities that meet their needs and interests. Much of the Pathfinder Club program is built around physical action. This is because youth from 10 to 15 years of age are in a fast-growing physical stage of development. It is filled with action, adventure, challenge, group activities, and provides opportunities for the development of new attitudes and skills that produce personal growth, team or community spirit and a sense of loyalty and respect for God, His Creation, and His church.

 

While the Pathfinder Club exists primarily for youth, one of its basic purposes is to also bring together parents and church members through active involvement with the club and its members. Here the so-called generation gap disappears as young and old worship, work, and play together in a bond of common experience. Meaningful relationships are forged as leaders and counselors join with Pathfinders in sharing, building confidence, and working together.

 

The whole philosophy of Pathfindering is built on the premise that "children learn best by example, rather than precept." As they see leaders and parents model spiritual and social values, they too will aspire to develop high moral principles, loving and caring attitudes, and determination to excel in all their various pursuits.

 

Young people learn most effectively in a positive, happy, and secure atmosphere. The attitude of the club leaders is therefore a vital ingredient in guaranteeing the success and effectiveness of this ministry to youth. A failure to listen to and understand the needs of the young people will only erect barriers to real spiritual growth and development and may prove to be a contributing factor in making the church and its mission unattractive to the youth.

 

Objectives

 

This philosophy is an integral part of the club. The Pathfinder Club curriculum of six classes and nearly 350 Honors lies at the heart of the program. The following objectives can be achieved as the club leaders seek to fulfill these.

  1. Help the young people to understand that God and His church love them, care for them, and appreciate them. As Pathfinders are accepted and affirmed they will begin to appreciate the love of God revealed through the church and its ministry, and feel a need to be more committed to and involved with its program.
  2. Encourage Pathfinders to discover their own God-given potential and to use their gifts and abilities to fulfill God's expectations for them and the part they can play in the great plan of salvation.
  3. Inspire young people to give personal expression of their love for God by uniting them together in various outreach activities.
  4. Make the number one priority of your club program the personal salvation of every Pathfinder. The Pathfinder age is a time when many decisions are being made that will affect the youth's future relationships and his or her own personal development. The peak time for discovering and making a relationship with God seems to be around 12 years of age.
  5. Build into a Pathfinder's life a healthy appreciation and love for God's creation by enjoying outdoor activity (campouts, nature walks, nature honors, etc.). Pathfinders will experience a sense of wonder and worship as they observe and explore the beauty, the majesty, and the creative power in nature. Fellowship with God will become more meaningful.
  6. Teach Pathfinders specific skills and hobbies that will make their lives more meaningful and will occupy their time with profitable accomplishments. Young people experience satisfaction and delight as they use their hands to fashion useful articles from wood, plastic, steel, clay, felt and yarn and as they discover how things work and operate.
  7. Encourage the Pathfinder to keep physically fit. This is one important way to safeguard against idleness and boredom. Teach children to care for their body and establish habits that will provide for their future happiness and usefulness (cf. 2T 536, 537; Educ. 195).
  8. Give opportunity for the development of leadership by encouraging club members to work together and share in leadership responsibility. This will teach them to learn the lessons of obedience, discipline, resourcefulness, patriotism and the processes of group dynamics.
  9. Seek to foster the harmonious development of the physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual life of the Pathfinder. The invigoration of mind and body, the fostering of an unselfish spirit, the attention to recreational and cultural activities, will provide stimulus for personal growth and act as an outlet for that restless energy, which is so often a destructive source of danger to the young person

PATHFINDER CLUB STRUCTURE & ORGANIZATION

 
The Pathfinder Club is a worldwide program organized and directed by the Youth Department of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It offers a wide range of learning experiences for young people 10 to 15 years of age and is operated by the local Seventh-day Adventist church under the direction an control of the local conference youth director.
Each Pathfinder Club is administered by a club director, deputy directors, counselors, instructors, chaplain, secretary, and treasurer. The club is divided into separate units, each unit averaging between six to eight Pathfinders, including a captain and scribe.
 

Pathfinder Chart Organization

  • Pathfinder Club Members
  • Counselors & Instructors
  • Deputy Directors & other support staff
  • Club Director
  • Local Church Board
  • Area Coordinators
  • Local Conference Pathfinder Director
  • Union Pathfinder Director
  • Division Pathfinder Director
  • General Conference Pathfinder Director
 The Pathfinder Club has a flag, bearing the Pathfinder’s Club Emblem. The flag is flown at local and conference Pathfinder programs and activities. There is a specially designed full-dress uniform and also a field uniform.
 
The Pathfinder Club has a Pledge and Law, highlighting the spiritual basis on which the club is built.
The club operates on a 9, 10, 11, or12 month calendar year, with a weekly or biweekly program of at least 1½, 2, or 3 hours' duration. Within this 1½, 2, or 3 hour period the Pathfinders perform drill and marching, crafts and/or hobbies and games, as well as taking part in devotional activities and class work.
There are six classes, with given names, which begin at 10 years of age and conclude at 15 years. Each class is represented by a chosen color as listed.
  • Friend - 10 years - Blue
  • Companion - 11 years - Red
  • Explorer - 12 years - Green
  • Ranger - 13 years - Silver
  • Voyager - 14 years - Burgundy
  • Guide - 15 years - Gold
 At the completion of the classwork requirements, the Pathfinder receives insignia
as an award consisting of a pin, Pathfinder Class pocket strip and chevron at a

special Investiture service

 

Why Achievement Classes?

Friend
Companion
Explorer
Ranger
Voyager
Guide

Years ago, when your fathers and mothers were boys and girls, there came a c all through the Spirit of Prophecy to organize all the young people into an united group that should help finish the task of carrying the Adven t message to all the world in this generation. It was in response to these and other similar message s that the Adventist Youth Society came to be formed. And so the years have passed and the boys and girls of all lands have met and prayed and studied and gone out from their meetings to work. A great work has been accomplished, and the one-time small band has grown to number many thousands and to stretch round the world.

But how did there come to be Pathfinder classes? As our boys and girls met and worked and became interested in the AY/AJY activities, leaders felt the need of providing additional ways of helping them in their preparation for efficient service and the development of strong Christian character, that they might better know how to pioneer for God when He needs them. During the earnest study given to the question many pointed and helpful suggestions were found in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, and a few of these are quoted here for your inspiration and encouragement:

“The children are to be trained to become missionaries; they must be helped to understand distinctly what they must do to be saved.” {Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, page 168}. And the best preparation “is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.” {Education, page 13}.

“Children are to be instructed in the special truths for this time, and in practical missionary work. They are to enlist in the army of workers to help the sick and the suffering. Children can take part in the medical missionary work and by their jots and tittles can help to carry it forward. Their investments may be small, but every little helps, and by their efforts many souls will be won to the truth. By them God's message will be made known and His saving health to all nations.” {Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, page 176-177}.

“While the Bible should hold the first place in the education of children and youth, the book of nature is next in importance… In itself the beauty of nature leads the soul away from sin and worldly attractions, and toward purity, peace, and God. For this reason the cultivation of the soil is good work for children and youth. It brings them into direct contact with nature and nature's God.” {Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, page 185-186}.

“As a rule, the exercise most beneficial to the youth will be found in useful employment. The little child finds both diversion and development in play; and his sports should be such as to promote not only physical, but mental and spiritual growth. As he gains strength and intelligence, the best recreation will be found in some line of effort that is useful. That which trains the hand to helpfulness, and teaches the young to bear their share of life's burdens, is most effective in promoting the growth of mind and character…

“It is essential for every youth to have a thorough acquaintance with everyday duties. If need be, a young woman can dispense with a knowledge of French and algebra, or even of the piano; but it is indispensable that she learn to make good bread, to fashion neatly-fitting garments, and to perform efficiently the many duties that pertain to homemaking…

“Since both men and women have a part in home-making, boys as well as girls should gain a knowledge of household duties. To make a bed and put a room in order, to wash dishes, to prepare a meal, to wash and repair his own clothing, is a training that need not make any boy less manly; it will make him happier and more useful. And if girls, in turn, could learn to harness and drive a horse, and to use the saw and the hammer, as well as the rake and the hoe, they would be better fitted to meet the emergencies of life.” {Education 215-216}.

It was from the study of these and other similar messages that the AY/Pathfinder classes were developed and all requirements for these classes are based on this instruction. They include, therefore, Bible and nature study, the learning of useful and helpful things to do about the home, out-of-door activities, first aid, and personal and home hygiene. All of which are to help the boys and girls find true happiness in missionary service

Meaning of the Pathfinder Club Emblem

Red (Sacrifice)

  • Reminds us of Christ. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
  • "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God" (Rom. 12: 1).

Three sides

  • Completeness of the Trinity -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
  • Tripod of education: Mental Crafts and Honors Physical Campouts, work bee, health focus Spiritual Outreach and personal spiritual development.

Gold (Excellence)

  • "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich" (Rev. 3:18).
  • Standard of measurement. The Pathfinder Club has high standards to help build strong character for the kingdom of heaven.

Shield (Protection)

  • In the Scripture God is often called the shield of His people.(Protection) "Fear not ... I am thy shield" (Gen. 15:1)
  • "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." (Eph. 6:16)

White (Purity)

  • "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment" (Rev. 3:5).
  • We desire to have the purity and righteousness of Christ's life in our lives.

Blue (Loyalty)

  • It is the purpose of the Pathfinder Club to help teach us to be loyal to: Our God in heaven. Our parents. Our church
  • Loyalty is defined as a reflection of the character of our True Master Guide.

Sword (Bible)

  • The sword is used in warfare. A battle is always won by offense. We are in a battle against sin, and our weapon is the Word of God.
  • The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. (see Eph. 6:17)

Inverted Triangle

  • The inverted order of importance Jesus taught which is contrary to that taught by the world.
  • Sacrificing of one's self by placing the needs of others ahead of our own.

Pathfinder Club

The Pathfinder Club is one of the organizations of the world youth ministry of the Seventh-day AdventistChurch

 

 

 

Events

No upcoming events