Chesapeake Camporee 2026 invests 32 Master Guides, a record class

The Chesapeake Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in the eastern United States, marked the Chesapeake Pathfinder Camporee 2026 with a record investiture: 32 Master Guides at once, more than in any earlier class, according to the conference itself. The camporee filled Mt. Aetna Retreat Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, from September 24 to 27, 2026. In the South American Division (SAD), the class that corresponds to Master Guide is called Líder (Leader), the first of three leadership classes.

Going by the official wrap-up, some 650 people, drawn from 23 clubs, spent the weekend at the retreat center under the theme “Speak Lord, We Are Listening.” The rain broke up the program in the final stretch, and clubs made do with whatever activities could still go ahead.

📰What happened at the Chesapeake Pathfinder Camporee 2026?

The Chesapeake Conference released its wrap-up of the camporee on September 30, 2026, three days after it ended. The event ran Thursday through Sunday at Mt. Aetna Retreat Center, a retreat site owned by the Adventist Church in western Maryland, about an hour's drive northwest of Washington, D.C.

The weather did not cooperate. “Although the rain did force us to pivot for the later half of the weekend, it did not stop our Pathfinders from enjoying what they could,” said Kenia Reyes-de Leon, the conference's director of youth and young adult ministries. As she saw it, what the weekend left behind was a long list of awards and activities, plus the moments when Pathfinders learned something and built memories alongside their friends.

🎖️Why is this Master Guide investiture a record?

It was the Chesapeake Conference itself that singled out the 32 new Master Guides as the biggest class it has ever invested. The record applies to that conference alone: the official report does not compare the figure with other U.S. conferences or with other countries, and it gives no totals for earlier years.

At an investiture, the church publicly recognizes those who have completed the requirements of a class. In North American Division materials, the Master Guide curriculum centers on leadership, discipleship, Christian service and evangelism, and it backs up Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs as well as other church ministries. The roots of the class are covered in our guide to the history of the Master Guide.

The milestone comes a year after another big moment for the church in the U.S. and its leaders: in August 2025, the North American Division brought together, in West Virginia, the first Master Guide Camporee in its history.

🔤What is a Master Guide called in Spanish and Portuguese?

In the South American Division (SAD), the official Portuguese name that corresponds to Master Guide is Líder (Leader), the first of three leadership classes. Two official sources make the link. In the North American Division's Spanish-language materials, the Master Guide goes by Guía Mayor. And the SAD's pages on the classes, published in Portuguese and Spanish with the same text, give the first leadership class the name Líder in one version and Guía Mayor in the other.

From there, each division goes its own way. The SAD splits the training into three progressive steps (Líder, Líder Máster and Líder Máster Avançado in Portuguese), open to baptized Adventists over 16, and issues its own cards. The names line up, but the requirements are not identical to those on the North American card. Guia Maior is simply a Portuguese adaptation of the Spanish Guía Mayor: the SAD's Portuguese pages do not use that name.

The same class in four versions. Sources: North American Division (Carpeta de Guía Mayor) and the SAD's official pages in Portuguese and Spanish (adventistas.org).

🏆Who took home the Camporee Cup in 2026?

In the overall standings, the 2026 Camporee Cup went to the Capital Brazilian Falcons. Laurel-Columbia Haniel finished second and Triadelphia Sparks third, according to the conference.

The prizes did not stop at the cup. Top finishers in each event were recognized, and the Eagle Awards singled out clubs for what they did, how they took part and how they reported over the 2025-2026 year. The conference also chose a Pathfinder of the Year and a standout of the year in TLT (Teen Leadership Training), the American leadership program for teens, but it did not publish their names.

The champion's name, with the word Brazilian in it, catches the eye of anyone reading in Portuguese. The official report, however, does not say which church the club belongs to or where its members come from.

Chesapeake Conference 2026 Camporee Cup. Source: Chesapeake Conference, September 30, 2026.

🚩Which skill events did the clubs compete in?

The skill events blended technique, first aid and stage presence. The conference's list includes semaphore signaling, first-aid relay races, drill and a course walked with eyes covered, alongside speaking events such as skits and five-minute sermons. Clubs also raced at land rowing. The list is partial: the conference names these events only as examples.

Away from the competition, clubs rolled up their sleeves at two schools. Highland View Academy, an Adventist school in Hagerstown connected to the conference, and Mt. Aetna Elementary School got work days to clean up and tend the gardens.

🙏How does the camporee theme connect to World Pathfinder Day 2026?

The theme comes from the story of Samuel, the boy who heard God call him by name as he lay in the tabernacle. In the New King James Version (NKJV), his reply in 1 Samuel 3:10 takes just a few words: “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

The conference's report does not mention World Pathfinder Day, but the camporee theme is almost the same as the 2026 worldwide theme, “Speak, Lord!”, as our World Pathfinder Day 2026 guide shows. The worldwide date fell on September 19, the third Sabbath of the month, and the Maryland camporee began five days later.

To remind our Pathfinders that God is still speaking and it is on us if we are choosing to listen to His voice or the noise around us.Kenia Reyes-de Leon, youth and young adult ministries director, Chesapeake Conference, on the goal of the theme, 2026

🗺️How are Pathfinders organized in the United States?

In the United States, the Pathfinder Club meets in local churches and is coordinated by conferences, which in turn answer to unions of the North American Division. The Chesapeake Conference belongs to the Columbia Union and, according to the union, counts more than 16,580 members spread across 97 congregations (70 churches, 16 groups and 11 companies), plus 10 schools across Delaware, Maryland and border areas of Virginia and West Virginia.

The setup looks a lot like Brazil's, where clubs answer to Conferences and Missions, which report to the unions of the SAD.