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.
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.
Interview by V. Michelle Bernard
José Cortés, New Jersey Conference president, was a young pastor when he was thrown into jail in Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Cortés shares this story in one of the North American Division’s sharing books, Never Lose Hope. Read more about the book and our interview with Cortés below.
"Some of the tension that exists, exists because the peacemakers aren't providing the platforms for the conversations," said John T. Boston, II, lead pastor at Allegheny West Conference's Central church in Columbus, Ohio.
Watch Boston's entire talk on racism and religion at Ohio Conference's Kettering church in Dayton.
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.
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.”
Story by Tamaria Kulemeka
Large Doses of Love
Natisha 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.