Ohio Pathfinders

The Ohio Pathfinders Leadership Weekend is scheduled for November 4 – 6 with the speaker being NAD youth director, James Black. This will provide a special opportunity for Pathfinders in Ohio to hear Pastor Black and receive some training from him. The training is open to all Pathfinder leaders in Ohio, including club staff and CITs, those working on Master Guide, etc. The training sessions will include tracks for Master Guide and PLA/PIA, as well as help for new club leaders and staff. Also, the Adventurers leaders will be invited, especially if working on Master Guide. Registration information will be coming soon.

Pastor James L. Black, Sr. is a native of Savannah, Georgia. He is a graduate of Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) with a Major in Theology and a Minor in Biblical Languages. He also attended the Andrews University Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, MI.

Pastor Black began his ministry in the Southwest Region Conference where he served as youth pastor and senior pastor. He served as conference youth ministries director from 1991-2000. His responsibilities included teens, young adults, pathfinders, adventurers, singles, camp ministries, and National Servicemen Organization. During this same period he served as a member of the North American Division Youth Executive Committee and Secretary for the North American Division Pathfinder Committee. He also served 4 years as president of the Black Adventist Youth Directors Association (BAYDA). This group is responsible for planning a United Youth Congress every four years. He is the author and publisher of two books Hey Youth! Preach the WORD!!! and God’s Got a Plan and I’m In It!

Currently, he is serving as Youth & Young Adult Ministries Director for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Many youth initiatives have been launched and training resources developed under his leadership.

Pastor Black lives to show young people that JESUS truly is the WAY. His favorite quote: “The quality of your preparation will determine the quality of your performance.”

We have a new Ohio Conference Pathfinder leader. Pastor Carlson is the new Director of Youth Ministry for the Ohio Conference. Besides Pathfinders his reponsabilities include: conference director for Adventurers, leading the summer program at Camp Mohaven, and being a resource person for all youth ministry in the Ohio Conference.

He and his wife Daisy join us from  California, where Steve was a pastor for teens and young adults at The Place, a church in the Southern California Conference. He was raised in Lodi, California and loves to golf, surf, travel, and be bald.  He and Daisy have two boys – Ian and Gavin.

Steve is part of an Adventist ministry family: his father is Pastor Ron Carlson, now president of the Kansas-Nebraska conference. Steve grew up in North Dakota, Missouri, and California. He’s a graduate of Union College in Lincoln, NE. Daisy, also a Union College graduate, is from Kansas City. Prior to The Place Steve ministered at Campion Academy (home of the Campion Cougars!) in Loveland, Colorado.

Pathfinder Bible Achievement (PBA) is a program for Pathfinders in grades 5 through 10, where groups of up to six or seven work together as a team to answer specific questions from a designated book or portions of the Bible. It is a fun way to encourage Pathfinders to study the Bible, while they also learn team work and excellent study skills.

Please go to the website, pathfinderbibleachievement.org for more information. You can download the PBA Manual at this site also.

If you are interested please contact Mike Stevenson or Jean Craig at 740-397-4665 x122