Who We Are, How We Serve

The Columbia Union Conference coordinates the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s work in the Mid-Atlantic United States, where 150,000 members worship in 860 congregations. We provide administrative support to eight conferences; two healthcare networks; 81 early childhood, elementary and secondary schools; a liberal arts university; a health sciences college; a 49 community services centers; 8 camps; 5 book and health food stores and a radio station.

Mission Values Priorities

We Believe

God is love, power, and splendor—and God is a mystery. His ways are far beyond us, but He still reaches out to us. God is infinite yet intimate, three yet one,
all-knowing yet all-forgiving.

Learn More

The Family of Christ

Photo by Παῦλος from Pixabay
By Robert Becay
 
Robert Becay, a newly baptized member from Ohio Conference's Medina church, shares what being part of Christ's family means to him.   
 
Being part of the family of Christ means more than sharing a name or a creed. It is an invitation into a new kind of kinship built not on bloodlines or social status, but on grace, trust and a common journey toward wholeness. In this family, belonging is rooted in the radical idea that every person is seen, cherished and invited to participate in the divine promise of love transforming the ordinary into something holy.
 

Couples Declare Marriage Is ‘Better With You’

Couples Declare Marriage Is ‘Better With You’ , New Jersey Conference, Abdiel del Toro, Esther Cruz, Orlando Cruz, Chesapeake Conference Hispanic Ministries,

Story by Carlos Torres, Family Ministries Director

Themed “Better With You,” the Family Ministries Department held the 2025 Couples’ Retreat this summer, in partnership with Chesapeake Conference’s Hispanic Ministries Department. The gathering brought together 86 couples who were richly blessed by devotionals from Pastor Abdiel del Toro and inspiring seminars led by Esther and Orlando Cruz. Together, they offered spiritual and practical insights for strengthening marriages.

Office of Education Reports on 2025-26 Enrollment

Image by EB Pilgrim from Pixabay

This week at the Columbia Union Conference Board of Education and Executive Committee meetings, the Office of Education staff reported on Columbia Union’s 2025–26 enrollment numbers. The numbers are as follows:

  • 505 students in eight Early Childhood Education stand-alone centers 

  • 2,757 students in 52 schools offering grades PK–8 or K–8 

  • 697 students in six junior academies 

  • 541 students in four boarding academies 

  • 2,177 students in nine senior academies 

Total numbers include: