Essentials for Starting a Pathfinder Ministry
Congratulations!
You have just embarked on one of life’s greatest adventures with God. Through continued prayer and personal Bible study, the Holy Spirit will guide and equip you as you establish Pathfinder ministry in your church. You and your church will never be the same again!
How to begin a Pathfinder Club:
Included are links to forms that will assist you in this exciting new adventure.
- Acquire Pathfinder Ministry resources from the Conference Youth Ministries office, AdventSource, or other leaders.
- Contact your Pastor and Area Coordinator to plan and meet with them regularly for guidance and direction.
- Read the booklet Seven Steps for Successful Pathfinder Leadership and follow the steps outlined with your Area Coordinator’s guidance.
- Purchase a Pathfinder Staff Manual (from adventsource.org) and become familiar with the Philosophy & Objectives and the concepts and structure of Pathfinder ministry.
- Get church board approval to start a Pathfinder ministry.
- Because a Pathfinder Club is an outreach ministry of your local church, it is required that your church board approve it, with the approval recorded in the board minutes. Items you should include for the church board to approve are the Curriculum, Calendar, Special Guests, Field Trips, and Club Finances.
- Review the following “New Club Worksheet” with your Pastor to put together a proposal to present to your church board.
- Print the New Club Charter Application and get signatures from church board members as specified, and mail or fax the completed form to:
Mail or Fax the form to (REQUIRED):
Kansas-Nebraska Conference
Youth Ministries
3440 SW Urish Rd,
Topeka, KS 66614Fax Number:
Attn: Youth Ministries
(785) 478-1000Please note that it can take up to 10 business days from the time we receive it until your club is added to YMMS.
- Gather Your Leadership Team
- With the support of your Pastor and the church board, recruit members to become active as Staff. Share the need, vision, and enthusiasm of what Pathfinder ministry can do for your youth and the community around your church.
- Invite your Area Coordinator to join you for Staff organizational meetings to teach the fundamentals of Pathfindering and to build your Staff’s ministry vision. Use the “New Club Worksheet” you started working on with your Pastor.
- Have all your staff (including yourself) complete the Adventist Screening Verification. This is required for ALL staff.
- All Staff will need to know the most recent “Eligible” date for their background check. Your staff can log in to Sterling Volunteers to retrieve the most recent “Eligible” date of their background check (see an example).
If they have never done the background check, they need to do it now using this link (https://www.ncsrisk.org/adventist/registration/reg_0.cfm?theme=0).
- All Staff will need to know the most recent “Eligible” date for their background check. Your staff can log in to Sterling Volunteers to retrieve the most recent “Eligible” date of their background check (see an example).
- Complete the YMMS Yearly Registration.