Christian Citizenship Honor

The Christian Citizenship Honor has 16 requirements that mix flags, anthems, the Constitution, the Bible and even an interview with a public official. The official list is in the complete requirements for the Christian Citizenship Honor (AM-006), in the Desbravai catalog. This guide explains the subject behind each requirement, with Brazil's Federal Constitution, Brazilian law and the Bible in hand, so you can answer in your own words. Facts checked on October 6, 2026, one day after the 1988 Constitution turned 38.

🏅What is the Christian Citizenship Honor?

The Christian Citizenship Honor belongs to the Missionary and Community Activities area. In our catalog it appears under code AM-006, level 1, with its origin in 1938.

According to the official requirements page of the South American Division (SAD), the first item of the advanced class New Frontiers Ranger (Pioneiro de Novas Fronteiras in Portuguese) is to complete the Christian Citizenship Honor, if it was not done before. The Ranger class requires a minimum age of 13.

The name brings together two kinds of belonging. Brazil's Federal Constitution lists citizenship among the five foundations of the Republic (Art. 1, item II), and the apostle Paul points to the other one: "For our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20, NKJV). For requirement 1, look the word up in a good dictionary, read Art. 1 and write your own definition, short and clear.

📋What are the Christian Citizenship Honor requirements?

There are 16 requirements. The table sums up each one, without the answers.

Anyone searching for "Christian Citizenship Honor answers" runs into a problem: several requirements depend on where you live, such as your state and municipal flags, the official you interview and the famous person you choose. An answer written in another city does not meet the requirement.

Summary of the requirements for honor AM-006 in the Desbravai catalog. The card in use at your club takes precedence.

🏛️What is Brazil's system of government?

Article 1 of the Federal Constitution defines Brazil as a Federative Republic, formed by the union of the States, the Municipalities and the Federal District. Federation means power shared across levels, all of them autonomous (Art. 18). The split by function comes in Art. 2: the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches are independent and in harmony with one another.

The system of government is presidential, and it was the voters who confirmed it, in the plebiscite of April 21, 1993; according to Agência Senado, the Senate's news agency, the republic won 66% of the vote, and presidentialism also won, with more than half. The President of the Republic governs with the Ministers of State (Art. 76), for a four-year term (Art. 82). In Congress, each State and the Federal District elect three senators, for eight-year terms (Art. 46).

Source: Federal Constitution of 1988, Arts. 2, 27 to 29, 44, 76 and 92 (Planalto, accessed on October 6, 2026).

📜What rights and duties does Brazil's 1988 Constitution guarantee?

For the ten rights in requirement 9, read the Constitution on the Planalto website, run by the Presidency of the Republic, which includes every new amendment. Art. 5 now has 79 items; the latest, added in 2022, protects personal data, including in digital media. Art. 227 guarantees children and adolescents their rights with absolute priority, and the Child and Adolescent Statute (Law No. 8.069/1990) includes belief and religious worship within freedom (Art. 16).

The duties are scattered throughout. Voting is mandatory for people aged 18 and over and optional at 16 and 17, over 70 and for people who cannot read and write (Art. 14). Military service is mandatory under the terms of the law (Art. 143), preserving the environment is a duty of the community (Art. 225) and adult children must support their parents in old age (Art. 229).

For requirement 16, read Art. 12 of the Constitution and the Migration Law (Law No. 13.445/2017), which provides for four types of naturalization: ordinary, extraordinary, special and provisional (Art. 64).

Source: Federal Constitution of 1988 (Planalto). The examples are starting points; the list of ten is your job.

✝️What does "render unto Caesar" mean?

The phrase is in Matthew 22:21. Pharisees and Herodians tried to trap Jesus with a question about whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus asked for the tax coin, was handed a denarius, asked whose image and inscription were on it and answered, in the New King James Version: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." For requirement 7, one question goes a long way: if the coin bears Caesar's image, what bears the image of God? Genesis 1:27 gives the clue.

Romans 13:1 calls for submission to the authorities, Jeremiah 29:7 says to seek the peace of the city, and Daniel, a high official in a pagan empire, was so upright that his enemies found no error or fault in him (Daniel 6:4). For requirement 8, compare the country's laws, which organize life together, with the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, which deal with our relationship with God and with our neighbor.

This is also the official position of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The statement Church-State Relations, adopted in March 2002 by a General Conference council, recognizes the legitimate role of government and supports obeying civil laws; when the law of the land conflicts with biblical commands, Acts 5:29 applies. The document asks Adventists to take civic responsibilities seriously and to vote when they can do so in good conscience, without using the pulpit or church publications to promote political theories.

We ought to obey God rather than men.Acts 5:29, New King James Version (NKJV)

⚖️What should you do when a civic duty clashes with your faith?

Requirement 10 holds the hardest question in the honor. Brazil's Constitution guarantees freedom of belief (Art. 5, VI) and states that no one will be deprived of rights for religious reasons, unless they invoke those reasons to escape an obligation imposed on everyone and refuse the alternative service set by law (Art. 5, VIII). This is conscientious objection (escusa de consciência in Brazilian law): the duty remains, fulfilled in another way.

There are concrete examples. Art. 143 provides alternative service, in peacetime, for those who claim reasons of conscience. And Law No. 13.796/2019 guarantees students, upon a prior and justified request, the right to miss a test or class scheduled on their religion's day of rest, with a make-up session or an assignment at no cost (except in military schools).

Adventist history teaches the same lesson. Desmond Doss served in World War II as a US Army medic without carrying a weapon and, according to the Army itself, rescued 75 wounded soldiers on a Sabbath in May 1945, on Okinawa. Closer to the club, in Brazil, the same principle applies when the September 7 parade falls on a Sabbath.

🚩What does Brazilian law say about the flag and the National Anthem?

The Constitution names four national symbols: the flag, the anthem, the coat of arms and the seal (Art. 13). The same article allows States, the Federal District and Municipalities to have their own symbols; to describe your state and municipal flags, the reliable source is the Legislative Assembly or the Municipal Chamber.

The rules for the National Flag are in Law No. 5.700/1971. The flag was adopted by Decree No. 4 of November 19, 1889, and its stars show the sky over Rio de Janeiro at 8:30 a.m. on November 15, 1889 (Art. 3). The flag may be used at any patriotic event, official or private (Art. 10), including in places of worship (Art. 11), and must be raised on days of national celebration or mourning at public offices, schools and unions (Art. 14). When not in use, it is kept in a dignified place (Art. 20). Times and folding are covered in the guide to flag etiquette for Pathfinders.

The National Anthem has music by Francisco Manoel da Silva and a poem by Joaquim Osório Duque Estrada (Art. 6). It is sung in unison, from beginning to end, without repetition (Art. 24), and the law requires schools to teach the meaning of the lyrics (Art. 39), the same exercise as requirement 6.

At the club, study the Pathfinder flag, the Adventist Youth flag, the Pathfinder Song, the Maranatha position and the Pathfinder ideals, always looking for the meaning beyond the words. Watch out for ready-made answers: the Pathfinder flag is blue and white, with the emblem in the center, and the official Motto, according to the SAD, is "O amor de Cristo me motiva" ("The love of Christ motivates me").

🎤How do you prepare for the interview with a public official?

Requirement 12 depends on someone else's schedule, so start with it. It can be a judge, a prosecutor, a police chief, a public defender, a municipal secretary or the president of the Municipal Chamber. Ask in writing through the official's office, on behalf of the club, and bring eight to ten questions about the role, the daily routine and the training it requires. In an election year, like 2026, choose someone who is not running for office and keep the conversation on the public role, with no party, candidate or electoral opinion.

Requirements 13 and 14 make good Unit activities, such as a timeline of historical events or a visit to a local museum. Common mistakes: copying another state's flag, memorizing the anthem without understanding the words, listing rights without citing the article and turning the interview into a political debate.

At the end, go back to the complete requirements for the Christian Citizenship Honor in the Desbravai catalog and check each completed item with your instructor.