From: Darin McGrew Subject: INTRO: Christian Service Brigade Date: 11 Jan 1994 01:51:19 GMT In 1937, Joseph Coughlin, a sophomore at Wheaton College, started a weekly club program for the boys in the Sunday School class he taught in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He called the club the Christian Service Squad, and later renamed it to Christian Service Brigade when he formed two squads of boys. A second "Battalion" was formed the next year, five more the year after that, and the organization was officially established in 1940. The five stated objectives of Christian Service Brigade (CSB) are 1) To provide men a context in which they can make friends of boys and disciple them for Christ. 2) To help boys develop a positive concept of Christian masculinity. 3) To provide the church with a dynamic means of outreach and evangelism to boys and their families. 4) To strengthen boys' relationship to their church. 5) To offer boys the opportunity for leadership training experience. The three main branches of the CSB program are Tree Climbers, Stockade, and Battalion. Tree Climbers is a father/son program for boys in 1st and 2nd grade. Boys whose fathers cannot participate are usually matched up with a "sponsor", although sometimes other arrangements are made instead. A program coordinator (usually one of the fathers) directs the group, but all the men share the leadership of the games, projects, and stories. Stockade is a man/boy program for boys in 3rd through 6th grade. Each adult Ranger is responsible for a Post of half a dozen or so boys. Within the Stockade program, there is a division between the "Builders" (3rd and 4th grade boys) and "Sentinels" (5th and 6th grade boys). Stockade begins to introduce some leadership roles for the boys, primarily in providing assistance under the direction of the men. Additional structure is also introduced in the Stockade program, including awards ("Blockhouses" for Builders, "Stations" for Sentinels) and the Stockade Sign, Prayer, Song, and Motto. Battalion is a discipleship program for boys in 6th through 12th grades. Battalion involves boys in critical leadership roles. Through discipling relationships with the adult leaders, teenage leaders learn effective leadership. Each teen leader is responsible for a small group of boys, and can then disciple the other boys in his group. The achievement program for Battalion is structured around Activity Patches that are completed by the Battalion as a group, as well as individual Skill Patches and ranks (Observer, Explorer, Trailblazer, Guide, One Star, Two Star, and Three Star), and the Herald of Christ achievement award. The senior adult leader is the Captain, and he may be assisted by a teenage Sergeant if the group is large. Each Squad of boys is led by a teenage Corporal. More recently, CSB has introduced two additional programs. Tadpoles is a father/son, father/daughter program for pre-school and kindergarten aged children and their fathers (or sponsors). The program's structure is similar to that of the Treeclimbers program, although the groups tend to meet biweekly, rather than weekly. Man to Man is a small-group discipleship program designed to build supportive, encouraging relationships among men in which they are accountable to each other. Twelve weeks worth of meeting plans are provided to help members get to know each other while exploring various issues together. Each group is free to continue meeting (or not) in whatever format the members prefer at the end of the twelve weeks.