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

Story by Michele Joseph

The North American Division (NAD) Administrative Committee recently voted to adopt and endorse the Adventist Women Leaders initiative.

What started with a lunch for 15 women gathered in a conference room at the NAD Year-end Meeting in October 2017, has grown to more than 180 subscribers to an email newsletter published twice a month.

The goal is to create and foster a nurturing and supportive community for women who serve in leadership capacities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, says Debra Brill, NAD vice president, who chairs the committee.

Image by geralt on pixabay

How Diverse is the Columbia Union?

Did you know that there are 41,317 multilingual members among the Columbia Union Conference’s 148,068 members? (See how demographic shifts are impacting our churches here.)

Of this number:

31,140 speak Spanish
2,699 speak French
1,870 speak Korean
1,247 are Indian
1,052 are Haitian
1,340 members are Ghanian
928 are Brazilian
461 Are Filipino
247 are Indonesian
135 are Chinese
57 are Ethiopian
24 are Hungarian
22 are Romanian

Interview by Alexis A. Goring

Edwina Neely, a member of Potomac Conference’s Rockville (Md.) church, recently wrote Children Are Gifts, a book for parents. It includes illustrations about younger children, as well as principles that apply to parents with children of all ages.

During her 30 years of working in education, Edwina was employed as a teacher, childcare center owner and in the Potomac Conference Elementary Education Department—all of which provided the experience she needed for her book. She credits God for helping her finish the book, published by WestBow Press.

In the interview below, read more about this book and its relevant message to parents:

Image by ulleo on Pixabay

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

2018 proved to be an interesting year in Seventh-day Adventist Church news, with a strong interest in the General Conference Administrative Committee’s proposed new system of compliance and uniformity in the world church.

This year, when news happened, the Columbia Union Visitor provided the local angle. See which stories our readers visited the most in 2018.