Adventurer Club History

The Adventurer programme was created to assist parents in their important responsibilities as a child's primary teacher and evangelisers. The programme aims to strengthen the parent/child relationship and further the child's development in spiritual, physical, mental, and social areas. In this way, the church and school can work together with the parent to develop a mature, happy child.

In order to help children learn more about the Bible, health, and nature, and to help them develop their people skills, the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference, in 1939, endorsed the idea of the Adventurer classes of Busy Bee, Sunbeam, Builder, and Helping Hand. In the intervening years, these classes were primarily taught as part of the Seventh-day Adventist School system curricula, often as part of spiritual activities/worships.

In 1972, the Washington Conference sponsored a club for children called "Beavers," the forerunner of Adventurers. The North-eastern Conference is reported to have had a children's club concept programme by 1975. By 1980 many conferences were sponsoring a club for children, though having various titles, including "pre-Pathfinders," "Adventurers," or "Beavers."

In 1988, the North American Division Church Ministries Department invited interested conferences and child specialists to study and evaluate the Adventurer Club concept. A committee met in 1989 to update the Adventurer curriculum, develop Adventurer awards, and write guidelines for the Adventurer Club organisation.

The committee involved children's Sabbath School leaders, educational personnel, conference and union Children' Ministries coordinators, and child and family specialists. The Adventurer curriculum is designed as a vehicle for sharing and discovery in preparation for life here and in heaven. The Adventurer programme piloting process began in 1990 in the North American Division and became a full-fledged programme in by 1992.