The first year of club usually raises a good question: what about when the child finishes the Friend class and still has energy to spare? The answer is not to move up to the following year's class — you don't do Companion at 10. The answer is the advanced class of the same age: Friend of Nature.
It is the deeper sister of the Friend class. The same age range, 10 years old, but with its own card and a handful of extra requirements — more campfire, more outdoors, more service, more Bible. It is how the official program of the South American Division (SAD) offers a path for those who want to do more without leaving their own age.
This guide explains what Friend of Nature is, what its card asks area by area, how it runs in parallel with the Friend class, and how the investiture works. Data verified on 07/22/2026 from the official sources listed at the end. Where the rule is silent and the decision belongs to the club leadership or the Regional, this text says so.
What is the Friend of Nature class?
Each of the six regular classes of Pathfinders has a corresponding advanced class, at the same age. Friend of Nature is the advanced version of the Friend class, the first of them, earned at age 10.
Notice the pairing: Friend is the regular class; Friend of Nature is the advanced version of the same stage. It is not the following year's class, it is not a class "above." It is the same step, made deeper. While Friend introduces the child to the world of the club — pledge, law, knots, nature, first aid — Friend of Nature takes that a step further, with a greater focus on outdoor life and witness.
The SAD's official program lists the six advanced classes on equal footing with the six regular ones: Friend of Nature, Companion of Hiking, Field and Forest Researcher, Pioneer of New Frontiers, Woodland Explorer, and Exploration Guide. Friend of Nature opens that line — it is where most Pathfinders reach the first advanced class of their lives.
Something that confuses a lot of people: the advanced class does not replace the regular one nor block the next class. At age 11 the Pathfinder does Companion even if they did not do Friend of Nature at 10. It is the path for those who want to go further within their own age — not a mandatory toll to advance.
What is the age and why does it run together with the Friend class?
The age is the same as the Friend class: 10 years old. In the official program, Friend is the class for 10-year-olds (blue insignia); Friend of Nature follows that range.
Why together? Because the advanced class was designed as a deepening of the same stage, not as the next stage. The Administrative Manual of the Pathfinder Club (2020 edition, SAD) is direct in saying that "it is the Club's responsibility to teach all the requirements of the regular and advanced Classes during the year." In other words: offering the advanced class is not a club luxury — it is part of the year's program.
In practice, the 10-year-old who joins the club works on the Friend card and, together or shortly after, on the Friend of Nature card. Since both cards cover the same age, many field activities serve both classes at the same time — the hike, the campout, the campfire. That is why doing both in the same year is not an exception: it is the design of the program.
If the question is when the child does Friend instead of starting with another class, that depends on the age and the birthday month — the subject of the guide on which class to do at each age. Here the focus is only the advanced class of the age of 10.
What does the Friend of Nature card ask for?
Friend of Nature has its own card, distinct from the Friend class card, with its list of requirements. It follows the same formation areas as the regular class — spiritual life, fellowship, health, nature, camping craft — but with more demanding tasks. Below are the main requirements published in the class's official material. It is not an answer key: it is what the Pathfinder needs to complete, not the ready answer.
| Area | What Friend of Nature asks (main requirements) |
|---|---|
| Spiritual discovery | Memorize, sing, or play the Pathfinder Anthem and know its history; choose a character from the Old Testament (Joseph, Jonah, Esther, or Ruth) and discuss with the group God's love, care, and deliverance in that person's life |
| Witness and service | Bring at least two non-Adventist friends to Sabbath School or to the Pathfinder Club |
| Fellowship and good manners | Know principles of hygiene, good table manners, and how to behave with people of different ages, showing why this helps at meetings and campouts |
| Nature study | Know and identify 10 wildflowers and 10 insects from your region |
| Camping craft | Light a campfire with natural material and keep it burning; correctly use a knife, machete, or hatchet, knowing ten safety rules; complete the specialty from the camping area |
| Enrichment | Complete a specialty from the area of missionary activities or agricultural activities |
Two honest notes about this table. First: the area titles follow the logic of the class card (spiritual discovery, nature, camping craft, and the like), but the exact organization of the sections may appear with slightly different names in the printed version your club uses. Always check against the official card, not third-party lists.
Second: the list above brings the requirements specific to the advanced class. It adds to what the Friend class already asks — pledge and law memorized, the year's reading course, knots and lashings, basic first aid, the regular class specialties. Whoever does Friend of Nature is doing both things: the Friend foundation plus these additions.
Read alsoPioneer of New FrontiersDo specialties count?
They do, and they are a central part of the advanced class. Two of the Friend of Nature requirements are specialties — small themed courses with their own insignia: one from the camping area and one from the area of missionary or agricultural activities (the Pathfinder chooses between the two).
Here it is worth separating what is a rule from what is a choice. The rule is: the card asks for these specialties for the class to close. The choice is: which specialty within each area. The Pathfinder decides that with the instructor, looking at what the club can teach and what the child wants to learn. Two children can be invested in the same class having done different specialties.
A tip from those who organize classes: the advanced class specialties tend to pair with the activities the club already does at the campout. The campfire with natural material, the safe handling of the knife, and the camping specialty are all taught on the same weekend outdoors. Planning this together saves months of rush — instead of treating each requirement as a loose task.
How to earn it in parallel with the Friend class?
The normal path is to do the Friend class and Friend of Nature in the same year, at 10. What changes from club to club are two things: the schedule and the pace.
Some clubs run the Friend class in the first half of the year and the advanced class in the second. Some clubs run both in parallel all year, using each campout for both cards. Neither format is wrong — the club leadership together with the instructor decides the schedule, within the calendar of the Conference or Mission (the "Field"). It is not an SAD rule; it is internal organization.
About the order, an honest caveat: the official guidelines place the advanced class at the same age as the regular one, but they do not publish text requiring the Friend class to be 100% complete before starting Friend of Nature. In practice, most clubs only release the advanced class with the regular one closed or well underway — so the child does not get lost in two cards at the same time. If your club does it differently, that is a leadership decision, not a rule violation.
Three things help earn Friend of Nature without a scramble at year's end:
- Combine the field activities. Campfire, knife/machete, and the camping specialty all fit in the same campout. Don't make three trips for what one solves.
- Start the witness requirement early. Bringing two non-Adventist friends to the club takes time and depends on the invitation, the visit, and staying. Leaving it for November is a recipe for a pending item.
- Record each signed requirement. The instructor signs item by item on the card as the child completes it. A card kept up to date means a smooth investiture.
What is the investiture like and who approves it?
Once the requirements are finished, the investiture comes — the ceremony in which the Pathfinder receives the class insignia. And here is the point many people get wrong: it is not the club that approves the investiture.
In the regular and advanced classes, the instructor signs requirement by requirement on the card throughout the year. But the final evaluation and the approval of the investiture are the responsibility of the Regional — or the District leader, when authorized by them. The Administrative Manual (2020 ed.) calls this an "exclusive function of the regionals." The club prepares; the Regional checks and signs the final part of the card. This applies to Friend of Nature as it does to any class.
Two practical dates to keep in mind. The Regional's evaluation must take place at least three weeks in advance of the ceremony, precisely to allow time to correct pending items. And the investiture happens at most twice a year: the main one at the closing ceremony, and another at mid-year or on Pathfinder Day, for those who were left with a missing item.
Since Friend of Nature runs together with the Friend class, it is common for the Pathfinder to be invested in both at the same ceremony — receiving the insignia of the regular class and that of the advanced one. But that depends on both being completed and approved. If only Friend closed, the Pathfinder is invested in it and leaves the advanced class for the next window. Nothing is lost: the Manual gives a two-year validity to the requirements already completed and signed.
Why do the advanced class instead of rushing the next one?
It is the question every excited parent asks: if the child is capable, why not start Companion already? Because the program was designed by age, and moving up doesn't move you forward — it sets you back.
What is asked of a 10-year-old in knots, nature, Bible study, and teamwork has the depth of 10 years. Pushing them into the class for 11-year-olds does not make them grow faster: it makes them fulfill, on the outside, requirements they don't yet absorb on the inside — and miss the ones designed for their age, which don't come back. Friend of Nature is exactly the space to do more without leaving the range: more outdoors, more service, more specialty, within age 10.
There is also a long-term argument. Whoever dreams of reaching Guide and, later, the leadership classes will need the advanced classes along the way — the Manual ties the top of the program to the full completion of the classes. Starting early, with Friend of Nature, is building that foundation without gaps. And in the end, no one has ever regretted doing well the class of their own age.