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.

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Story by Heidi Shoemaker

Earlier this summer, the Ohio Conference closed on the sale of their former office and two adjoining houses.

“We are praising the Lord,” says Ron Halvorsen Jr., Ohio Conference president. “This has been an answer to prayer,” he says.

Constituents voted an action at the 42nd Regular Constituency Meeting on May 6, 2018, which authorized conference officers, working in concert with both the finance and executive committees, to discontinue use of the Mount Vernon office and to list and sell the property. In June 2019, both the conference finance and executive committees discussed, prayed over and voted in favor of the purchase agreement.

Origami Hearts by Josey from Flickr

Editorial by Rick Remmers

He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6, NKJV). While we often reference this passage in the context of financial giving, it speaks to a larger principle in our lives—we reap what we sow.

Editorial by Darren Wilkins

Just when I thought we had completed the 2018–19 hiring process, an opportunity knocked that was too good to pass up. Our new full-time guidance counselor, Katrina Bennie (pictured with her girls Nora, left, and Violet), has worked 10 years at Redlands Adventist Academy (Calif.) as a teacher, guidance counselor and vice principal. She has a master’s degree in school counselling, a doctorate in school administration and leadership and is a certified school psychologist, making her very qualified for this position. Bennie has a warm demeanor and exudes a passion for young people.

Story by Tracey S. Lewis

Pennsylvania Conference’s Harrisburg First church recently welcomed more than 300 members and guests to its special 125th year anniversary service, themed “Come Home to Jesus.”

The event featured a weekend of fellowship, testimonials and renewed commitment to reaching the lost through personal revival and recommitment to God’s love. Speakers included Pastor Chuck Holtry; Kenneth Stout, a professor at Andrews University (Mich.) and former pastor; and Gary Gibbs, Pennsylvania Conference president, who helped mark the church’s milestone and commended its legacy of service and steadfastness in Central Pennsylvania.