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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I Found True Relief at the Red Building

Story by Agustina Francisco

For more than 10 years, I drove by the “red building,” not knowing it was the New Brunswick (N.J.) church. I knew it was a Christian church because on Saturdays I saw many happy people, well-dressed and with Bibles under their arms. Nevertheless, it wasn’t relevant to me.

After some time, I noticed that on Sunday mornings, another group of people, the majority of them from foreign countries, stood by the church for hours to receive food. Earlier this year, I decided to go on a Sunday, and I was blessed with the items they gladly shared.

What Does it Mean to Be “Warned” By an Annual Council Vote?

Photo of Walter Carson by Ricardo Bacchus

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

“To be warned is better than to be publicly reprimanded,” said Walter Carson, vice president and general counsel for the Columbia Union Conference, at the November Executive Committee meeting, talking about the Annual Council’s recent actions.

Carson explained to the group that a 2018 Annual Council action in Battle Creek, Mich., adopted a compliance document (link to it) that imposed sanctions or discipline on entities found to be in violation of various church documents or actions taken by a General Conference session.

The four disciplinary steps in the document were outlined:

Women Pastors and Chaplains Gather for Fellowship

Story by Visitor Staff / Photo by LaTasha Hewitt

Earlier this month, women pastors and chaplains from across the Columbia Union Conference gathered with union and conference administrators for the second time in two years. Before supper at the Sheraton Hotel in Columbia, Md., the attendees took part in a debriefing about Annual Council 2019 where Columbia Union President Dave Weigley shared what the newly issued “warning status” means, and what it does not mean.