Have you noticed that, in a well-run club, almost nothing important is decided by a single person? The campout, the community project budget, who receives the Excellence Badge, who joins as an instructor — all of it goes through a meeting table. That table has a name: most clubs call it the leadership committee.
A word of warning right up front, so you don't get lost on council day: the Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual, in the 2020 edition of the South American Division (SAD), does not use the phrase "leadership committee" to name the club's committees. That is the traditional name, still widely spoken in the clubs. The current Manual works with two bodies, under two names: the Executive Committee (also called the Directorate) and the Regular Committee (also called the Direction). They are two layers of the same body that runs the club — and this article shows what each one does.
The difference is no mere matter of vocabulary. It decides who approves what, who sits in which meeting, and where a project has to pass before it becomes reality. Data verified on 07/22/2026 in the official sources listed at the end.
What is the leadership committee (and why does the Manual call it something else)?
Start with the idea, before the name. The leadership committee is the club's collective decision-making body: the group of leaders that meets to deliberate on everything the club does. It is not a position, not a person — it is the table. It differs from the list of positions, which describes what each role does on its own, and differs from the org chart, which shows the layout of the structure. Here the subject is the moment when these people sit down together and decide.
Now the name. The Administrative Manual (2020 edition, SAD), in chapter 3.3.6, calls this body two ways, because in practice they are two levels of meeting. The official text uses Executive Committee — which it itself nicknames the Directorate — and Regular Committee — which it nicknames the Direction. The phrase "leadership committee," which you probably learned, comes from tradition and from the older regulations. It is not wrong in everyday conversation; it simply is not the term of the Manual in force. If someone in your club corrects you, this is what it's about.
Why two levels? Because not every decision needs the full table. A smaller, nimbler block handles administration; a larger block, with all the leaders in direct contact with the Pathfinders, assesses the club from the inside. The Manual itself explains the logic by citing Jethro's advice to Moses, so that he would not carry the people alone: "choose able men from all the people... they will always be available to the people to judge the matters" (Exodus 18). Translated to the club: dividing the decision does not weaken the director — it holds him up.
Who takes part in the club's leadership committee?
It depends on which of the two committees you're looking at — and that's why so many people get confused. The Manual describes the makeup of each one precisely.
The Executive Committee (Directorate) is the administrative core. The Manual says it is "made up of the director, the Associate directors, Secretary, and district Pastor or elder". It is a lean group, designed to handle operations without having to summon the whole club.
The Regular Committee (Direction) is the full table. According to the Manual, it is "made up of the members of the Executive Committee and all the other members of the direction: Counselors, Instructors, Chaplain, and Treasurer". In other words: everything that was in the Executive, plus the people who deal directly with the Pathfinders in the units and in the classes.
| Who | Executive Committee (Directorate) | Regular Committee (Direction) |
|---|---|---|
| Director (leads the meeting) | Yes | Yes |
| Associate directors | Yes | Yes |
| Secretary | Yes | Yes |
| District pastor or elder | Yes | Yes |
| Treasurer | — | Yes |
| Chaplain | — | Yes |
| Counselors | — | Yes |
| Instructors | — | Yes |
Two practical points. First, the one who presides is the director: he is the one who leads the meeting and, at the end, signs the minutes together with the secretary. Second, the table does not come into being on its own — the Manual explains that "only the director and the Associates are appointed by the Church. All the other Club officers are appointed by the Executive Committee". And the counselors have a gender rule: a man for each boys' unit, a woman for each girls' unit, all of legal age.
Here is what varies by club: who else is invited to the table. Some clubs bring in the unit captains or the Youth Ministry leader to take part in certain meetings. That is a decision of the leadership, not a Manual rule. The core is what's in the table; the guests are a local choice.
Executive or Regular: which committee decides what?
This is the question that avoids a wasted meeting. The two committees are not the same thing in different sizes — they have distinct roles, and the Manual separates them clearly.
The Executive Committee is the administrative engine. The Manual is blunt: "all the Club's administrative processes must pass through this Committee and will only have value if approved by it". It is the one that coordinates the activities, appoints counselors, instructors, treasurer, and chaplain, looks after the club's finances and legal responsibilities, and institutes the units. The goals plan and the annual planning are born here — before going to the full table.
The Regular Committee is the assessment forum. The Manual describes it as "a discussion forum, that is, everyone must present their points of view so that its decisions are by common agreement to all". It is where it is assessed whether the club's program is being carried out, where each Pathfinder's development is discussed, and where the names for the Excellence Badge are put forward — because, as the Manual says, it is "the only moment in the Club where the Instructors and Counselors are together".
| Decision | Where it happens |
|---|---|
| Approve administrative processes and matters | Executive Committee |
| Appoint counselors, instructors, treasurer, and chaplain | Executive Committee |
| Propose the goals plan and the annual planning | Executive Committee |
| Institute the club's units | Executive Committee |
| Discuss and approve the proposed annual planning | Regular Committee |
| Assess the fulfillment of the program and the growth of the Pathfinders | Regular Committee |
| Nominate who receives the Excellence Badge | Regular Committee (final selection in the Executive) |
Notice the flow of the planning, which sums it all up: the Executive proposes, the Regular discusses and approves. In one the idea is born; the other legitimizes it before all the leaders. It is this back-and-forth that keeps the club from becoming a behind-the-scenes decision.
Read alsoClub secretaryHow often does the committee meet, and how does it vote?
The official frequency rule is the same for both: the Manual determines that the meetings happen "at least, once a month". That "at least" is the key phrase. It is the floor, not the ceiling.
What varies by club is the actual pace. A large club, with many units and many events, tends to meet the Executive more often — every two weeks, sometimes weekly during camporee season. Who defines that is the club's leadership, within the Field's calendar. The Manual does not require a fixed schedule; it sets the minimum and entrusts the rest to each club's reality.
On how it decides: the deliberations become votes, and each vote is numbered and recorded. The Manual's minutes template shows this in practice — "Vote 12/001", "Vote 12/002", where the first number indicates the year. In the Regular Committee, the Manual asks that decisions be "by common agreement to all": the idea is to build consensus in the forum, not to win by shouting. And there is a clear limit on validity: no administrative matter counts if it did not pass through the committee.
An honest note on quorum — the minimum number of people present for the meeting to count. The Administrative Manual (2020 edition) does not publish a fixed quorum number for the club committee; what it establishes is that decisions be deliberated jointly and recorded as a vote. So if someone in your club states from memory "you need half plus one," ask for the source: as good-management guidance it makes perfect sense to gather the majority of the core, but that is principle and practice, not a number the Manual sets down. Do not invent a rule the norm does not carry.
What are the minutes and why can't they be altered?
Here is the part that separates the organized club from the club that "thinks it decided." Every committee meeting has to become minutes, and the Manual devotes a whole item to it: chapter 3.4.3, "Minutes Book."
The Manual's definition is short and strong: the minutes book is "the record of the points of discussion and results of all the meetings of the Executive and Regular Committees". It can be handwritten or typed — both have the same validity. What it cannot be is lost, and it cannot be altered. The book begins with an Opening Statement, with numbered pages, and the entries "must begin on the first line, with no indentation and without skipping lines". Why? So that no one can insert content afterward. It is the guarantee that the minutes record what was decided, and not what someone would have liked to have been decided.
Once the meeting is closed, the Manual orders that "the Club secretary must, together with the director, date, sign, and keep it on file". Two signatures, always: the one who wrote and the one who presided. Without that, the minutes are a draft.
What varies is the format. The Manual presents two valid models, and the club chooses:
- Handwritten minutes (narrated): tell the meeting like a story — who was present, the start time, the devotional, the items proposed, the closing.
- Typed minutes (objective): go straight to the point, listing the numbered votes, opening and closing prayer, members present, and the signatures.
A record-keeping reminder that many people forget: the minutes are the club's internal memory, but the official registry of members, classes, and insurance stays in the SGC, the SAD's Club Management System. Tools that support day-to-day work — including Desbravai — help organize the committee and keep track of the club, but they do not replace the minutes book or the official registry in the SGC.
What can the committee decide — and what must go through it?
A good committee is not a chat club. It has specific duties, and the Manual lists them. It's worth knowing them so as not to fill the meeting with what isn't its business — and so as not to leave out what has to pass through it.
On the Executive Committee side, the Manual assigns, among other functions: coordinating and directing all the club's activities; appointing counselors, instructors, treasurer, and chaplain; taking on the club's responsibilities in activities and events, including the legal care of the Pathfinders; deliberating on the forms of award; instituting the units; and making the administrative decisions. The sentence that sums up its weight has appeared before and bears repeating: no administrative process counts without the approval of this committee.
On the Regular Committee side, the functions revolve around assessing: the correct fulfillment of the club's program, the development of each Pathfinder, and the nomination of the names for the Excellence Badge. It is the table where the experience of the instructors and the counselors meets to say, honestly, how the club is doing.
The principle behind all of this is the same as at the start: to decentralize. The Manual says that "the establishment of the committees decentralizes power and unites the skills and efforts of its members toward a common good: the salvation of their Pathfinders". The committee exists so that the decision belongs to many, and is not the weight of one alone.
Why decide in committee instead of leaving everything to the director?
It could be faster to concentrate everything in the director. Almost always it is — and almost always it goes wrong. The Adventist Church's choice to decide in committee is not bureaucratic slowness; it is protection, of the club and of the director himself.
Think of the director who decides alone: he gets a lot right, tires himself out even more, and on the day he errs there is no one who discussed the decision with him beforehand. Add to that the natural turnover — directorates change. When the decision lives in a committee and is recorded in the minutes, the club has memory: whoever takes over later reads the book and understands why things are the way they are. The club does not start from scratch at every changeover.
There is also the human side. The Regular Committee brings together precisely the people who look closely at each Pathfinder. No leader, alone, assesses a child or a teenager well — the angle is missing. By putting counselors and instructors at the same table, the club manages to see the boy or the girl as a whole, and to help them grow in a personalized way. That is what Jethro meant to tell Moses: the divided load is the only one carried all the way to the end. A club that decides in committee is not a club with less leadership. It is a club with leadership that lasts.