General Conference halts talks between Pathfinders and Scouts

They have already been stripped of their honor badges...
Some of our fearless Pathfinder leaders…
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Amid fears of budding ecumenism within their ranks, Adventist world leaders have begun cracking down on various General Conference departments that have engaged in conversations outside of the church. To the surprise of many, the World Pathfinder Department has been singled out for punishment.

“The Bible clearly states that we are to be separate from the world,” said GC Isolationism Director Miles Thompson in a recent interview. “We are worried that our Pathfinder leaders are jeopardizing our unique remnant status by engaging with sinners: the unevangelized and various large scouting organizations.”

Many Adventists are unused to the church taking this strong of a stand against conversations outside of the church and, Thompson admits, the stance has taken on a new dimension. “We were cautious but accepting of talks with evangelical Christians since they hold similar beliefs to ours,” he said. “But now that evangelical Christianity has started cozying up to the papacy, we do not want to be associated with the beast and will therefore cease conversation with the other side.”

The Pathfinder leadership interactions at the heart of the current dust-up involve an ongoing series of monthly scouting leadership conferences in which Pathfinder, Boy and Girl Scout leaders discussed knot tying and survival camping best practices as well as sharing program idea

All funding to scouting conference attendance has now been cut and per diem privileges for the Pathfinder officials have been suspended for the rest of the year. “We’re keeping these Master Guides on a short leash,” said Thompson, adding that the leaders had each been stripped of all their honor badges as an added, outward display of the seriousness of their offense.

Special thanks to Charles Snitch for the story


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12 Comments

  1. That’s funny: a GC “Isolationism Director” who says we should not engage with sinners or the unevangelized. That’s good satire and parody, but we really are like that all too often.

    We forget: “When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, ‘Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?’ And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:16-17)

    1. Ray Kraft

      The King James says that Jesus was accused of hanging out with “publicans” and sinners . . . my Adventist preaches and teachers always explained that “publicans” were tax collectors . . . but, not so, when the King James was translated, “publican” was the keeper of a public house, a pub, a barkeep, an inkeeper.

  2. Abraham

    There’s a thin line between purposeful evangelism to win soul s to Christ and show the way to eternal life as in the example sited above of Christ and Zaccheous , and association with other groups so you can be like them or share ideas or do as them or association because we doing the same thing so let’s just mix and mingle…..that will not be tolerated and as in this case the church is justified to take such a stand.

  3. Too bad you used a pic of ADVENTURER leaders (NAD Adventurer Volunteer Coordinators) and the NAD Pathfinder Director….the pic was taken in 2011 at the NAD First annual Pathfinder Bible Experience event at NAD/GC headquarters. Yes, I was there, Yes, I took the picture.

  4. Jim E. Carter

    Where is poor Richard Mills? I hope Dorothy doesn’t still have him in the doghouse. (Dorothy, if you’re reading this, please have mercy and let poor Richard out. We need him to weigh in with his woeful words of wisdom.)

  5. Eli Flynn

    This story is fake. You’re all so gullible. The Pathfinder leaders were actually caught consorting with Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign, not with the Boy Scouts. Mr. Cruz was trying to hire the Pathfinders as bodyguards. (He doesn’t trust the Secret Service after the recent security breaches at the White House and the prostitution scandal in Columbia.) Get your facts straight next time!

  6. Dawn Fleitas

    The Isolationism Director is in charge of making sure the following things happen:

    – Adventist babies are born in Adventist hospitals.
    – Adventist children are sent to Adventist schools to learn with other Adventist children.
    – If they get sick, they are taken to Adventist doctors or Adventist health-care institutions.
    – They go to summer camp at Adventist summer camps.
    – They do not join Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. Instead, they join the Adventist Pathfinder club.
    – They find Adventist spouses at an Adventist church or Adventist college.
    – After graduating from Adventist schools they go to work for Adventist institutions where their co-workers are Adventist.
    – Eventually they retire and go to live in Adventist retirement centers or nursing homes.
    – Finally, they die and are buried in Adventist cemeteries so they can be resurrected with other Adventists.
    – In the New Jerusalem, they will have a special neighborhood reserved only for Adventists.

    Meanwhile, Jesus will be going around congratulating all the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. in heaven, who had followed His command while on earth: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

  7. Ray Kraft

    Dawn Fleitas says something all too true . . . way too many Adventists retreat into the private club of the Church and close the doors behind them.

    Jesus didn’t say anything about doing that, at least not in the Gospels.

    What he really said was, Feed the hungry, care for the sick, visit the prisoners, clothe the naked and cold, shelter the strangers and the homeless . . . whatever you have done for even the least of these, you have done it for me.

    I think there’s gonna be a lot of surprised Adventists someday, when the King looks at them and says, I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was naked and you did not clothe me, sick and you did not care for me, in prison and you did not comfort me, a stranger, homeless, and you did not shelter me . . . whatever you have not done for even the least of these, you have not done for me.

    Bye!

  8. Laurence

    Again the Pathfinders vs Boy Scouts dilemma.
    Pathfinders: how to march good (para-military in a pacifist organization), learn hundreds of memory verses and a bunch of worthless honors to get Master Guide.
    Boy Scouts: Learn real leadership. Hundreds of community service hours required. Useful and well learned Honor Badges. Community service project. All necessary to get Eagle Scout.
    Boy Scouts much superior to Pathfinders.
    My kids did Pathfinders, and my grand-kids did Boy Scouts. Boy was my brainwashed Adventist brain surprised.

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