The Columbia Union Conference coordinates the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s work in the Mid-Atlantic United States, where 145,000 members worship in 863 congregations. We provide administrative support to eight conferences; two healthcare networks; 101 early childhood, elementary and secondary schools; a liberal arts university; a health sciences college; a dozen 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.
As we transition from 2022 to 2023, what will be our support as we go into the future?
All of us have areas in life we would like to improve, and as we reflect on 2022, maybe we have some regrets, in a relationship with God, or with others, or maybe there’s something else in your life you want to address.
Why not think of the Bible as a bridge to transition from the past to the new--from what was to what could be?
Story by Kimberly Luste Maran
Want to make your church a comfort care center to help community members in extreme weather conditions?
Required Criteria
• Heating and cooling systems maintaining minimum temperature of 68°F during fall and winter and 72°F during spring and summer months
• NOT enrolled in the "voluntary black out" program offered by electric utility providers
• Accessible to people with disabilities/ADA-compliant
• Ample seating appropriate to your community
Borges has many years of experience as an educator and administrator. He transferred from California, where he has been serving as principal at Armona Union Academy since 2007. He has also interacted with students in the classroom and through athletics programs.
Story by Tim Allston
According to “American Congregations at the Beginning of the 21st Century,” a Duke University 2006-2007 National Congregations Study, the percent of regular adult participants younger than age 35 in the average congregation dropped from 25 to to 20 percent.
In his July 2008 Ministry magazine article, “Reaching Out: Making a Difference With Young Adults," A. Allan Martin, the teaching pastor of a young adult ministry at the Arlington church in Texas, cites Paul Richardson of the Center for Creative Ministry, with headquarters in College Place, Wash. Richardson reported that the median age for the Seventh-day Adventist community in North America, "including the un-baptized children in church families, is 58 … Among native-born white and black members, the median age is even higher."
The frightening implications of this figure are seen when that median age, 58, is compared to the median ages of the United States and Canada, respectively, which are 36 and 37!