You've been invited to the club's staff. Associate director, secretary, counselor, chaplain — the role matters less than the question that follows right away: do I need to take any course for this? And the answer is yes.
The official name is Staff Training Course, and it has two levels: basic and advanced. It is the training of the adult staff — the team that runs the club —, offered by the Pathfinder Ministry of your Conference or Mission. Don't confuse it with the classes that Pathfinders complete by age, nor with the Leader class. They are different things, even though they intersect — and it is precisely that intersection that generates most of the confusion.
This article separates it all: what each level covers, who is required to take it, how long it lasts and how the course fits into the leadership requirements. Data verified on 07/22/2026 from the official sources of the South American Division (DSA) listed at the end.
So what exactly is the Staff Training Course?
Start with the definition, because it resolves half the doubts. The Staff Training Course is the training of the club's adult staff — the people who administer, instruct and lead the Pathfinders. It is offered by the Pathfinder Ministry of the Conference or Mission (the "Field"), often through the Region.
Notice what it is not. It is not one of the six regular classes that the child completes by age, from Friend to Guide. It is not the Leader class, which is the member's personal journey from age 16. It is a practical course to train the staff: how the unit system works, how to plan the year, chaplaincy, drill and marching, child and youth development, safety, club administration.
There are two levels, and the logic is that of a staircase:
- Basic level — the entry door. An overview of how the club works, designed for those who are just joining the staff.
- Advanced level — the deepening, for those who have already gone through the basic and want to grow in adult leadership.
You may find the course cited by old acronyms — TBD, CTBD (basic) and CTAD (advanced) —, a legacy of naming from older materials. The name that applies today, in the official DSA guidelines, is Staff Training, basic level and advanced level. If your Field's poster uses another acronym, it is the same thing.
Who needs to take the staff training?
The short answer: anyone who is going to be part of the club's adult staff. And the Administrative Manual of the Pathfinder Club (2020 edition, DSA) is direct about the most visible role of all.
Regarding the director, the Manual sets out the profile: they must be a mature person, a regular member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, have completed the basic staff training course and, preferably, be invested as a leader. In other words: being an invested leader is desirable, but what the Manual sets as a training requirement is the basic level of staff training. Without it, a piece is missing to run the club.
In practice, the basic is the common floor for all the staff who arrive — associate director, secretary, treasurer, counselors, instructors, chaplain. Not because each role has an isolated rule requiring the course, but because the Field organizes staff training as a block: whoever joins the staff goes through the basic training to understand how the whole club works, and not just their own corner.
There is also a second, less obvious, reason to take the course even when no one is demanding it: it counts as a requirement of the Leader class. Anyone who intends to be invested as a leader will need the basic certificate anyway. Doing it early avoids the last-minute rush.
Basic level: what it covers and how long it lasts
The basic level is the starting point, and the rule sets a course-hours floor that is worth keeping in mind: the required certificate is for a Staff Training course, basic level, lasting a minimum of six hours, run by the Pathfinder Ministry of the Conference, Mission or Region. That is the official number that appears in the requirements published by the DSA.
"Minimum" is the key word. Six hours is the floor, not the ceiling. Many Fields run the basic in a much longer format — a whole weekend of training, with a morning and an afternoon block —, precisely so that everything the staff needs to know fits in. Support materials known among the clubs go as far as suggesting around twenty hours of content for the basic. This does not contradict the rule: it is the Field delivering more than the minimum. What you need to take home is the certificate issued by the Conference/Mission, with the actual hours of the course.
The content is generalist on purpose. The idea is to give the new staff member an overall view of the club — not to train a specialist in a single area. It covers topics such as the unit system, the class program, drill and marching, child and adolescent development, chaplaincy and the club's administrative routine. It is the map before the territory.
An honest note about where the rule is silent: the DSA sets the six-hour floor and says who offers the course, but the format (weekend, scattered days, in person or partly at a distance), the schedule and the detailed syllabus are left to each Field. That is why the same "basic" looks different from Conference to Conference. If the doubt is about dates and format, the right question is for your Region, not for the Manual.
Advanced level: who is the next step for?
The advanced level is the deepening of the basic, and it has a clear address in the leadership journey: the Staff Training certificate, advanced level, is a requirement of the Master Leader class. Anyone who is already an invested Leader and wants to move up to Master Leader passes, among other requirements, through the advanced staff course.
Unlike the basic, whose minimum hours are published, the details of duration and syllabus of the advanced vary more from Field to Field and do not always appear with a fixed number in the general documents. What is firm is its function: to deepen the administrative and leadership training of someone who has already been running the club for some time. If you need the exact course hours of the advanced in your Field to close a requirement, ask the Region for it in writing — that is the information that counts.
It is worth noting a point that catches Master Leader candidates by surprise: the class has a deadline. The DSA guidelines determine that the Master Leader class be completed within a period of at most three years, and that activities carried out in previous classes cannot be reused. In other words: you cannot drag the class out indefinitely, nor count again what already counted in a previous class. Before drawing up your schedule, confirm deadlines and requirements with whoever evaluates your class.
Read alsoThe Pathfinder Leadership ClassesHow does staff training connect to the leadership classes?
Here is the intersection that confuses everyone — and, once understood, never confuses again. Staff Training and the leadership classes are distinct things, but the staff courses enter as requirements of those classes.
See how the rule ties the two together in the Leader class: in addition to the other requirements, the candidate needs to present the Staff Training certificate, basic level (minimum six hours) and take part in a 10-hour leadership course run by the Pathfinder and Adventurer Ministry of the Conference/Mission. They are two different courses: the staff one (basic) and the leadership one (10 hours). Don't confuse one with the other.
In the Master Leader class, the step goes up: the candidate presents the Staff Training certificate, advanced level, and takes part in a leadership course specific to master leader, also run by the Conference/Mission — all within the deadline of the class requirements.
Notice the pattern: each leadership step asks for the corresponding level of staff training. Basic for Leader, advanced for Master Leader. That is why taking staff training at the right time is not pointless bureaucracy — it is building the foundation that the leadership class will demand further down the road. And the Teen Leadership Training (TLT), when it exists in your Field, is yet another track, aimed at the adolescent who is starting to lead — it does not replace the training of the adult staff.
Who requires what? The reference table
So you don't mix up the courses when planning the year, keep this ruler. It separates the club role and the leadership class of each course.
| What you want | Required staff course | Other courses alongside | Who offers it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Be club director | Staff Training — basic level (min. 6h) | Preferably be an invested leader | Pathfinder Ministry of the Conference/Mission |
| Be part of the staff (associate, secretary, counselor, chaplain) | Basic level, in practice, as a common base | Depending on the Field | Conference/Mission or Region |
| Be invested as Leader | Basic level (min. 6h) | 10-hour leadership course | Pathfinder and Adventurer Ministry of the Field |
| Be invested as Master Leader | Advanced level | Leadership course for master leader | Conference/Mission |
Two quick readings of the table. First: the basic level appears three times — to run the club, for the staff and for the Leader class. It is, by far, the most strategic course to take early. Second: the staff course and the leadership course are separate things. The Leader class asks for both; you cannot present one in place of the other.
And when the date or the validity of a certificate is at stake, the practical ruler is the same as always in the program: whoever evaluates and approves your leadership class is the Region, and the investiture of Leader involves the Pathfinder Ministry of the Conference/Mission. The course belongs to the Field; approval of the class goes through the Region. Confirm with them, not with the neighbor at camp.
How to get organized (and the mistakes that hold people up the most)
You already have the rule part. What's missing is the practical part, which is where most people stumble. Some advice from someone who has already seen this get stuck in November.
Take the basic in your first year of staff. Don't wait to "need" it for an investiture. It is cheap to do early and expensive to chase down later — and without it your director role carries a training gap that someone, at some point, will call out.
Keep the certificate — really. The proof the Field issues is what counts in the leadership classes. Legible photo, saved file, physical copy kept. A lost certificate is a redone requirement. And note the date: it helps you close the paperwork on time, since the Master Leader class has a maximum window of three years and the investiture folder is usually submitted in advance.
Don't swap one course for the other in your head. The classic mistake is thinking the "10-hour leadership course" covers the staff training, or vice versa. They are two certificates. The Leader class wants both on the table.
Ask the Region for the calendar with plenty of margin. The Field is the one that sets the dates of the basic and the advanced, and they do not always repeat every year in your region. If your Leader investiture depends on a course that will only happen eight months from now, it is better to find that out now than three weeks before the ceremony.
Register it in the right place. The official record of courses, classes and club registration lives in the SGC, the DSA's Club Management System. Support tools like Desbravai help the staff track progress day to day, but the validation and the official record remain in the SGC. Check whether your certificate is entered where it needs to be.