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

In 1952 a real estate agent was tasked with finding the right property for the future Blue Mountain Academy (BMA). When he found it, he immediately called the president of what was then the East Pennsylvania Conference to share the news; however, he left out one vital piece of information: the land wasn’t for sale. Two conference employees toured the 683-acre grounds in Hamburg, Pa., that held six farms, a dairy, 169 head of cattle, nine buildings, seven barns and machinery to operate the entire plant. It also included a summer camp with five buildings, a swimming pool and summer vacation cottage.

Story by Caron Oswald

After a lengthy search for a new assistant treasurer, the Ohio Conference hired Roy Simpson. Simpson, son of a pastor, lived in five different countries while growing up in Central America.

Story by Heidi Shoemaker

He opted to study accounting because he “wanted to work for the church, and numbers have always been my strongest area in school," he shares. Simpson has a bachelor’s in business administration, and expects to complete an MBA in finance in about a year.

The Seventh-day Adventist mission team enjoys visiting Cuba (Noah Simpson is not pictured.)

Although Seventh-day Adventists were unable to worship openly in Cuba until recently, members from Potomac Conference’s Seabrook church in Lanham, Md., have ministered there for more than three years. And this summer, Seabrook church members Gavin Simpson, Noah Simpson and Audrey Clarke traveled with Margaret Cancelliere, a member from Pennsylvania Conference’s Pottstown church, and Kenton Rawlins, a member from Connecticut, for a third mission trip to Gibara, a small seaside town where they have worked for the past two years.

Story by Dawna-gene Milton and V. Michelle Bernard

This summer the Mountain View Conference (MVC) kicked off a mission project that connected Seventh-day Adventists on two continents.

Story by Mountain View Conference Staff

The project was born in early 2015, when the staff and student body of the Peruvian Union University (PUU) in Lima, Peru, challenged students to serve as missionaries around the world. Many members of the student body accepted and committed to serve. School leaders say their motivation was founded on the blessings that came from the missionaries who brought the Three Angels’ Messages to their homeland. In turn, they wanted to bless others across the globe through what they deemed the “I Will Go” call.

A small group of members interested in reaching the more than 15,000 Liberians living in the Philadelphia area reached out to Pastor Matthew Kamara who was completing a doctorate of ministry at Andrews University (Mich.). Kamara previously served as the treasurer of the Liberian Conference in Africa and planted several churches there and in South Bend, Ind.

Story by Pennsylvania Conference Staff

Kamara agreed to help and started the journey to opening the Pilgrim church. In 2013 Kamara started commuting to Philadelphia on weekends. In 2014 he moved there and started working more intensely in the area. Now, after only two years, about 60 people attend each Sabbath.