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

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

All the villagers races to the airstrip, singing and dancing, when American pilot Gary Roberts landing at Suminka, a remote village in the Indonesian province of Papua.

It had taken 10 years to cut down the trees by hand to clear the way for an airstrip at their mountainous village, and Gary’s mission plane was the first to land. This was a big event.

As Gary stepped out of the plane, the crowd grew silent. The singing and dancing stopped.

“Is this a Seventh-day Adventist plane?” a man asked.

He saw the three angels’ logo on the airplane’s tail.

Story by Kimi-Roux James, Adventist Development and Relief Agency

Staring in the mirror, Marie* saw an ugly, bruised scar above her mouth that swelled over her entire cheek. The throbbing pain was unbearable. Tears slid down her face.

For the sake of her children, she couldn’t live with him anymore.

Her mind raced back to her own father who used to beat her for talking back to him. Staying with her parents was miserable and often violent. Then, at 17, Marie found solace and comfort in her boyfriend whom she ran away with, thinking life would be better.

Story by Vicki Swetnam

The LEGO® Robotics club at Spring Valley Academy (SVA), named the Aquatic Engineers, recently built and programmed an autonomous robot with the ability to solve simulated challenges.

The 10-member team won third place out of 24 teams at the Adventist LEGO Robotics League Southern Challenge for their robot’s innovative design and successful completion of real-world challenges relating to transporting, using and disposing of water. Southern Adventist University (Tenn.) hosted this regional competition, themed “Hydro Dynamics.”

The Aquatic Engineers were among the top six teams from the Southern Challenge invited to the national competition at Forest Lake Academy (Fla.).