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Pathfinder History Summary

Pathfinder History

 

Pathfinders have a rich and long history.  Reaching back to the MV societies at the turn of the 20th century, to the beginning of formal Pathfinder ministry in 1949, Pathfinders reaches back across the generations.

 

History

  • 1907
    • Missionary Volunteer Society was founded
  • 1908
    • Junior Reading Course
    • First MV Day, March 7 1909 Junior MV Societies were formed
  • 1911
    • MV Leaflet Series began
  • 1922
    • JMV (now AJY) Progressive Classes introduced particularly Friend and Companion classes
    • A. W. Spalding and Harriet Hold advocate basic idea of Pathfinder Clubs
  • 1926
    • The first junior camp was held in USA (Town Line Lake, Michigan)
  • 1927
    • Master Comrade (now Master Guide) was officially approved
  • 1928
    • Southern California's first youth camp, San Gabriel Canyon
    • Vocational honors introduced
  • 1929
    • "Pathfinder" name first used at a summer camp in Southeastern California
  • 1930
    • Pre-JMV/AJY classes developed
  • 1931
    • First Master Comrade Investiture
  • 1932
    • First JMV Pathfinder Camp, Idyllwild, purchased
  • 1938
    • Master Comrade Manual published
  • 1946
    • The first conference-sponsored Pathfinder Club in Riverside, California
    • Pathfinder Club emblem designed by John H. Hancock
  • 1947
    • The first North American Division Youth Congress was held in San Francisco
  • 1948
    • Helen Hobbs made the Pathfinder flag
    • First area Pathfinder coordinators appointed (Central California Conference)
  • 1949
    • Henry Bergh composed the Pathfinder song
  • 1950
    • General Conference authorized the JMV Pathfinder clubs for world field
    • Pathfinder Staff Training Course and How to Start a Pathfinder Club booklet was published
    • Explorer class added
  • 1951
    • The first Pathfinder Fair was held on September 23 in Dinuba, California
    • Master Comrade was changed to Master Guide
    • Pathfinder Staff Manual published
  • 1952
    • Pathfinder song copyrighted
  • 1954
    • The first Pathfinder Camporee was held on May 7-9 in Idyllwild, California
  • 1957
    • JMV Pathfinder Day was added to the church calendar
  • 1960
    • The first Union Camporee was held on April 11-14, Lone Pine, California
  • 1962
    • MV Pathfinder Field Guide published
    • Pathfinder Drill Manual published
  • 1963
    • John Hancock elected as World Pathfinder Director
  • 1965
    • JMV Handbook was combined with Master Guide Manual as MV Handbook
  • 1966
    • Pioneer Class was added
    • The first North American MV Camp Directory was published
  • 1970
    • Pioneer Class name was changed to Ranger Class (8th Grade)
  • 1974
    • The Pathfinder Staff Manual was revised and expanded
  • 1979
    • Missionary Volunteer (MV) was changed to Adventist Youth (AY)
    • Junior Missionary Volunteer (JMV) was changed to Adventist Junior Youth (AJY)
    • The Pre-AJY class was changed to Adventurers Club(4 yrs. - 4th grade)
  • 1980
    • Les Pitton was elected as North American Division (NAD) Youth Director
    • MV Camp Directory was changed to World Adventist Youth Camp Directory
  • 1981
    • Pathfinders Sing Songbook was published
  • 1982
    • The New Pathfinder World replaced the MV World
    • Voyager Class added
    • NAD Pathfinder uniform revised
  • 1985
    • Norm Middag appointed as NAD Pathfinder Director
    • The first NAD Pathfinder Camporee was held in Camp Hale, Colorado, USA
  • 1987
    • The current NAD Pathfinder emblem was designed by Norm Middag
  • 1989
    • NAD Pathfinder Honors Manual revised, new were honors added
    • Friendship Camporee in Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Columbia Union
    • New AY Classwork Curriculum integrated in Pathfinder curriculum
    • Adventurer Program became an independent program from Pathfinders
  • 1993
    • Restructuring resulted in Office of Pathfinder Ministries
  • 1994
    • "Dare to Care" International Pathfinder Camporee, August 2-6, Denver, Colorado
  • 1995
    • Teen Leadership Training (TLT) Program established for training High school students (grades 9-12)
    • First Pathfinder Web Site established
    • First Pathfinder Club web page, Fort Worth Eagles, Fort Worth, Texas
  • 1996
    • Basic Staff Training, Pathfinder Leadership Award (PLA), & Pathfinder Instructor Award (PIA) curriculum developed
  • 1997
    • Willie Oliver became a NAD Director of Pathfinder & Camp Ministries
    • NAD Pathfinder Honors Manual revised, new honors added
    • NAD Pathfinder Staff Manual updated
  • 1999 NAD Pathfinder Web Site established
    • Discover the Power International Camporee held in Osh kosh WI (USA)
  • 2000
    • Elder James Black appointed to be NAD Youth Ministries director, overseeing Youth, Pathfinder, Adventurer, and Camp Ministries
    • Pathfinder Uniform changed to Black & Tan
  • 2001
    • AY Honor Handbook added 17 new Honors as well as several International Honors.
  • 2003
    • NAD Youth Ministries developed a Website Community ministering to Youth, Pathfinders, Adventurers, and Camping Ministries (YPAC).
  • 2004
    • NAD Pathfinder Ministries (under the leadership of James Black and Ron Whitehead) hosted the "Faith on Fire" International NAD Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, WI (USA) on August 9 - 14, 2004.
  • 2009
    • NAD to host the "Courage to Stand" International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, WI (USA) on August 11-15, 2009.
  • 2009 - "Newport SDA Church Pathfinder Club First Meeting", NP (wales UK)
  • 2010 - "Newport SDA Church Pathfinder Investiture, NP (Wales UK)
  • 2014 - "Forever Faithful" International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, WI (USA).

Read more about the history of Pathfinders in The Pathfinder Story by John Hancock. Available from AdventSource Catalog #000900.

History of Pathfinder Song

 

In the spring of 1949, Henry T. Bergh, John H. Handcock, Clark Smith and Miller Brocket met for the MV Director’s Council. Among other items that were worked on, John Hancock suggested to Henry Bergh that he write a Pathfinder song. Henry replied, “I’m no song writer. I’ve never written a song and I am not a musician.”

In a letter written to the World Pathfi nder Director, Michael Stevenson in 1984, Elder Bergh wrote, “I dispatched that idea very quickly. But along in May 1949, I was driving to a Sabbath appointment at Monterey Peninsula from San Jose (70-80 miles). I was riding along thinking about Pathfinders and about our need for the song and started thinking about a tune. What would be a good tune for a Pathfi nder song? Then I thought, well, I could write the words. So I tried to compose a poem.… I started thinking of what things would I want to put in the poem for a Pathfinder song. I thought about the JMV pledge—pure and kind and true, with a message to go to the world, and things started to fall into place. I pulled over to the side of the road, took a piece of paper out of my Bible, and began to write:

Oh, we are the Pathfinders strong, 
The servants of God are we
Faithful as we march along
In kindness, truth, and purity.
A message to tell to the world,
A truth that will set us free
King Jesus the Savior's coming back
For you and me.

Well, I thought, that’s not bad.… I took off again for my Sabbath appointment and got down the road a ways and started to hum a tune. Then I started singing the words with that tune. I have said repeatedly that God gave me the tune because I am not a musician and I have never written a song before or since. The Lord just gave it to me.  I pulled off the side of the road, turned the sheet of paper over, and put down five lines for a staff.

I knew enough about music to be able to read it, so I started humming the tune that was going through my mind and putting dots on the staff.…

That evening when I got home, I asked my wife Miriam to play this thing for me from the dots on the page. We corrected where I had misplaced the dots and got the tune just as it is today. I still wasn’t confident that it was good enough for a Pathfinder Song, so I sent it to Wayne Hooper, who is a personal friend of ours and was the musical director for the radio program Voice of Prophecy. I asked Wayne to edit it and to harmonize it.  He sent it back and said, ‘It’s a good song—go ahead and publish it!’

So we mimeographed it for use among our Pathfinder clubs (in the Central California Conference).  I think that the first time it was really introduced on a conference-wide scale was at the Pathfinder Officer’s Convention in Ascilimar, near Monterey, California, January of 1950.”

 

 

~taken from the Pathfinder Staff Manual, 2007 edition, page 13