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.
Story by Tamyra Horst
The Pennsylvania Conference is excited to welcome Pastor Todd Casey and his wife, December. Casey accepted an invitation to serve as youth director, joining the team April 1. Connecting young people to Christ, equipping them for service and providing opportunities for them to serve, fellowship and grow in their relationship with God are priorities in the conference. “Chosen and Called,” one of the eight strategic mission initiatives, focuses on discipling young people in Pennsylvania. Casey shares this vision for Youth Ministries.
Interview by Salena Fitzgerald
Story by Benia Jennings
Ekele Nwankwo is a woman on a mission to sustainable well-being. As an active member in the Health Ministries Department at Allegheny West Conference's Columbus All Nations (Ohio) church, she uses her wealth of experience as a doctor of naturopathy in original medicine to encourage church members—primarily women ages 30 and above—to live a healthy life.
Story by Tiffany Doss
At the age of nine, Guadalupe “Lupita” Nieto Arroyo felt lost in a sea of deep loneliness and depression. She had long been the target of school bullying, and her home life felt unstable, as her parents considered divorce.
Psychologists and therapists who counseled Arroyo advised her to leave her circle of friends—many of whom used drugs and listened to music with dark messages. However, she didn’t know where else to find refuge.