Approximately 900 Pathfinders, leaders, parents, and guests fill the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Oregon, for the 2022 North American Division Pathfinder Bible Experience final. [Photo: Screenshot from North American Division Pathfinders Facebook page]
Nine Pathfinder clubs from the Atlantic Union traveled to Eugene, Oregon, to participate in the first in-person division Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) since the coronavirus pandemic caused planners to cancel it in 2020. The 2022 North American Division (NAD) PBE finals, held April 22-23, was a hybrid event with 63 teams participating in person at the Lane Events Center and 30 teams joining remotely.
Hundreds of youth from across North America and other parts of the world spent countless hours and hard work pouring over the Old Testament books of 1 Kings and Ruth in anticipation of reaching this milestone. Teams answered 90 questions based on the Bible books they studied, and testing was available in English, Spanish, and French. The option to participate remotely provided an opportunity for more teams to take part in the finals. Teams from all nine unions of the North American Division plus 17 teams from the British Union, including the North England and South England conferences and the Irish and Welsh missions, represented their territories both in-person and online.
Of the nine Pathfinder clubs representing the Atlantic Union, five teams were from the Southern New England Conference: Braintree Flames, Brooklawn Eagles, Connecticut Cougars, Merrimack Valley King’s Kids, and the Meriden Missionaries; and four were from the Greater New York Conference: Gye Nyame Day Dawn, Gye Nyame Morning Stars, Maranatha Lightbearers, and Middletown SWAT. Placement is determined by the percent correct of the top-scoring team’s score: first place—90 percent correct; second place—80 percent correct; and third place—70 percent correct. To reach the NAD PBE finals, each team—comprised of up to six Pathfinders chosen by their clubs—first competed in their local districts. Those who scored 90 percent of the highest score moved on to the conference level PBE. Following the same scoring format, those who made it to first place moved on to participate in the Atlantic Union PBE on March 26 in Lancaster, Massachusetts. These nine teams placed first at that event before moving on to the NAD PBE finals in Oregon.
The three clubs from the Atlantic Union Conference that reached first place in the NAD division-level PBE finals and the church they represent are:
• Gye Nyame Day Dawn (First Ghana; Bronx, New York)
• Gye Nyame Morning Stars (First Ghana; Bronx, New York)
• Meridan Missionaries (Meridian; Meriden, Connecticut)
Next year’s division-level PBE will be announced at a future date. The study book for the 2023 PBE is the New Testament book of John.
Congratulations to all the participating clubs in this year’s PBE. Special appreciation goes to the directors, parents, and volunteers who worked with each team to reach this goal.
