For the first time in Christian Service Brigade’s 80-year history, Battalion has released two parallel versions of Adventure Trails. Both will be a great resource for men to disciple young men, with slight differences in learning style. This download can assist you in selecting which version to use. If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact your Regional Director.
Long Journey of Brigade Trails 1940s – 2020s
Brigade Trails manuals have come through many editions in the history of Christian Service Brigade. Our National CSB Office has archived books from the 1940s and 1950s.
I was on a team of Brigade regional staff men which rewrote the Adventure Trails in the early 1990’s. It was that version which was revised in 2017 as Adventure Trails, Quest for Manhood. This method of achievement was distinctly tied to mentoring, and each Brigadier is to have a Battalion leader or a dedicated Christian man identified as his mentor for progressing and advancing through any of the ranks.
There have been some who have preferred the way Achievement was done prior to the 1990’s mentoring oriented discipleship material. That would have been by a variety of goal oriented steps and a choice of projects. So that is what is now referred to by some of us as the classic format.
In 2017, the CSB Offices (United States and Canada), realizing there was interest in two formats, produced a draft form of each of these in renewed editions, Adventure Trails: Quest for Manhood, and the Christ Centered Guide for the Active Young Man. These were sent in draft form to all active battalion units at the time. Each was mailed in printed draft, through the captains, to determine by asking if there was a clear preference. Interestingly the responses were split fairly evenly. So the decision was made to publish both in finished form, and give the choice of which path to use by the individual units. Both formats are considered equally valid for moving through the achievement ranks of Explorer, Trailblazer and Guide.
So, the way Achievement is accomplished is up to the unit, although both paths depend on relationship based discipleship. The Quest Series (Quest for Manhood and Leadership Trails) relies solidly on the mentoring method of discipleship at every step along the way. The Christ Centered Guide relies on achievement by the young man who checks in periodically with a battalion leader, a leader/mentor who talks with him about how he is meeting his self appointed goals.
They are different, and it would take some study and some discussion on the Battalion unit’s leadership team to determine which of the two paths they choose to take on Achievement. Although the original plan was to have a follow up manual to the Christ Centered Guide, called Frontier Trails, that has not been finished or published (as of June 2022) by those who took on the writing project. Therefore the Leadership Trails of the Quest Series is used for One Star, Two Star and Three Star across the board. It’s good for both paths and there is no reason that a young man having finished the Christ Centered Guide could not or should not move on with Leadership Trails. Doing so will lead him on the path to Herald of Christ.