Pathfinders (Seventh-day Adventist)

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This article is about the Seventh-day Adventist youth organization. For other uses, see Pathfinder.

Pathfinders is a community service oriented youth organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, open to all children from ten to sixteen years and upwards. It was founded in 1907. The first camp was held in Town Line Lake, Michigan USA in 1926. Activities include community service, camping, crafts, classwork, marching, Bible study, Seventh-day Adventist Church history, and leadership training. Staff to student ratio is said to be about 1:5, which the organization stresses as an important learning benefit for participants.

Pathfinder clubs are sponsored by a local Seventh-day Adventist Church and will usually meet either once a week or bi-weekly.

Annually, each conference will hold a large event known as a camporee where pathfinders from throughout the conference will come together to participate in events and competitions as well as religious meetings.

Every so often a camporee is held which is a whole area such as North America Division or South Pacific come together and enjoy fellowship and do activities together.

The first Division camporee was the Far East Division Camporee in 1984 in Phuket, Thailand; This was followed by the North American Division's (NAD) camporee at Camp Hale Colorado in 1985.^{[citation needed]} This was followed by the "Friendship Camporee" in Pennsylvania in 1989. In 1994, the NAD hosted the first International Camporee outside of Denver, Colorado. Other international camporees have been "Discover the Power" in 1999 and "Faith on Fire" in 2004, both located on the grounds of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin. The next international camporee is scheduled for 2009, also at Osh Kosh.

[edit] Pathfinder Class Levels

There are 6 standard ranks (known as "Class Levels") a Pathfinder can hold, each of which is awarded upon the completion of specific classwork requirements. The ranks are Friend, Companion, Explorer, Ranger, Voyager, and Guide. These levels are designed to be completed in one year each, but need not be awarded sequentially. Also there are advanced requirements Ex. Trail friend & Frontier Voyager

After the student has finished the Guide level, they can decide whether or not they wish to continue on to the Master Guide program. The Master Guide program is more independent, requires more effort and self interest than the other levels, and its requirements focus on witnessing and leadership more than individual skills. This class was designed to train youth leaders in the basic skills of youth ministry and leadership.