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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10 Ways to Make an Impact in Your Community

Minnie McNeil, who co-founded and advises a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing housing and supportive services in Coatesville, Pa., says every member everywhere has the opportunity to demonstrate God’s love in a variety of ways, regardless of if they live in the city or country, in an affluent or poor area. She offers 10 tips for starting a ministry and making an impact:

1. Pray for guidance.

2. Identify the vision, mission and goals of the church; available resources, including leadership; and capability and potential to sustain outreach ministry. 

3. Plan to have ongoing community involvement, not a one-time event.

4. Assess and research the strengths and needs of the community. Don’t assume.

Tangible Touches of God in Baltimore

Photo by Brian Tagalog

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

Sharpening The Focus

It’s been two years since the death of Freddie Gray sparked civil unrest in Baltimore. Maurice Taylor, senior pastor of Allegheny East Conference’s (AEC) Berea Temple, and director of its Baltimore Ministerium, says since Gray’s death, he’s noticed more of a desire to address the needs of the community. “Before we were focused more on internal events,” he says. “Now we’re focused more on external.”

Tangible Touches of God in Columbus

Story by Tamaria Kulemeka

Large Doses of Love

Natisha HughesNatisha Hughes (pictured) used to spend a lot of time on the corner of Sullivant and Burgess avenues outside the Hilltop Community Worship Center in Columbus. 

“I used to prostitute in front of the church because that’s the corner the girls stand at—either this corner or a block or two away,” she says.

Hughes knows all too well the struggles and effects of living on the street. The 31-year-old mother of five says she not only prostituted, but also used “a lot of drugs,” including heroine. 

Delmarva Pastor Shares Gospel on the Radio

Story by Samantha Young

Anibal Santeliz, pastor at the Cornerstone, Parksley Spanish and Pocomoke churches on the Delmarva Peninsula, is excited about a new one-hour weekly radio program he hosts in his community.

“When I came to work on the Eastern Shore, the wife of one of my members who works at a local radio station mentioned that we should have a [religious] program,” says Santeliz. Later another employee at the radio station suggested the same thing.