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.
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.
Final Empire Series Kicks Off
Story by Ron Mills
In this election year, as millions of Americans consider the future of the United States, some are taking a step back to consider the nation’s origins. How did the idea of the United States germinate? What forces were at play at the beginning? What role did religion really have in the formation of the nation? And what can history teach us as we consider the decisions America faces today?
Story by Thomas Grant
Looking at the buildings and bustle around Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center today, it’s hard to believe that the hospital’s Rockville, Maryland, campus was acres of farmland before the 1970s. As Shady Grove turned 40 in December, it celebrated its growth and expansion plans under a new leader to serve more of its suburban Washington, D.C., community.
Story by Kimi-Roux James
Members of Potomac Conference's Sligo church's Adventurer’s Club in Takoma Park, Md., recently welcomed a special guest from Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).
Mario Oliveira, ADRA’s emergency response director, met with nearly two dozen 4 - 9 year olds to share his expertise about safe water.
“With children, you have to be creative so it’s easier for them to learn what ADRA does to bring clean water to people in need,” says Oliveira.
Club members colored life-like images of water wells and water pumps while they listened about different ways people use to get water.
Story by Gabrielle Geddis Griffin
Editorial by Gary Gibbs
This past fall, 2,237 Pennsylvania Conference members visited more than 10,000 homes to pray with people and offer free Bible studies. On that day, we united together to answer Jesus’ call to be “good Samaritans” to our neighbors (see Luke 10:29–37).
Today’s society separates us from the community around us. Visiting our neighbors is a ministry that bridges this isolation; it enables us to connect with people who need Jesus.
Shortly after one of our members left a Bible study card on the door of a home where there was no answer, we received the following message from that very home: