Who We Are, How We Serve

The Columbia Union Conference, established in 1907 to coordinate the Seventh-day Adventist Church's work in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, is part of the worldwide Protestant denomination of 23 million members in more than 212 countries. At the union level, we connect and provide administrative leadership, governance and support services to our conferences, schools, health care networks and ministries. Each year, our organizations sponsor programs and projects that address human needs, improve quality of life and introduce people to Jesus. Read our Mission, Values and 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

Story by New Jersey Conference Staff

Peggy Filossaint, the new associate pastor of New Jersey Conference's Maranatha French church in Newark, is a New Jersey native. A graduate of Garden State Academy and Bowie State University (Md.), she earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Accounting.

Filossaint worked as an accountant for 16 years before starting her own accounting business in Hagerstown, Md. Three years later, God called her into ministry.

In August 2019, she enrolled in the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University (Mich.), where she is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry. In November 2019, she was ordained as an elder at The Grace Place (Ind.).

Potomac Feeding Pandemic

Story by Tiffany Doss

In 2010, Gavin Simpson, now a member of the Harrisonburg (Va.) church, embarked on a life-changing journey of faith as a missionary. Over the last decade, through Eleventh-Hour Laborers, a nonprofit ministering to the less reached regions of the world, he has worked in India, Nepal, Myanmar, and, most recently, Cuba. “We work in-person with the local churches,” he explains. “We train Bible workers and members to do effective community evangelism and outreach. Our Bible workers in Cuba baptized more than 300 individuals last year.”

Allegheny East Metropolitan Church protest

Story by LaTasha Hewitt

The men of the Metropolitan church in Hyattsville, Md., recently led a march in Washington, D.C., to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man killed in May by the hands of police officers. Led by Pastor Trevor Kinlock, the initial group of 25 swelled to about 1,000, as hundreds of people joined them. The march became one of the largest in D.C., and garnered the attention of various news outlets such as CBS, CNN and FOX.