The Pathfinder Bible Experience is the Official North American Division Pathfinder Bible study program. Some affectionately call the program Bible Bowl. Each year, teams of six club members study a book of the Bible (alternating Old Testament and New Testament), memorizing large portions of God's word.
There are four levels of competition - Area, Conference, Union, and Division.
In April, finalist teams from across the Division participate in the final level of testing. The finals take place either near NAD Headquarters (even years) and in various union locations during odd numbered years. In 2012 and 2014 the finals were at near the Division offices in Maryland, and in 2013 the finals were at Union College in Lincoln NE. In 2015, the Southwest Union is hosting the finals event.
The Pathfinders are tested over the assigned study books as well as the SDA Bible Commentary Introduction to each study book.
At each level, the teams scoring 90% or higher of the highest score at their testing site make 1st place and are invited to go on to the next level. The winning teams are extreme students of the Bible and in most cases memorize chapters and in some cases the entire book(s). Winning teams incorporate the Total Church Involvement approach. This means they have study coaches but also involve the church elders and other members of the local church to assist in making up sample tests, friendly competition against the elders to see who is the better student of the Bible, become involved in worships made up of talks from subject matter from the assigned study book(s). The students may also perform dramas depicting some of the Biblical stories from their assigned study book.
PURPOSE: The purpose of The Pathfinder Bible Experience is to promote and encourage in-depth Bible study and memorization by Pathfinders, so their understanding of scripture will increase and their relationship to Christ will grow.
The full PBE Manual is available from AdventSource or as a PDF download here.