Who We Are, How We Serve

The Columbia Union Conference, established in 1907 to coordinate the Seventh-day Adventist Church's work in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, is part of the worldwide Protestant denomination of 23 million members in more than 212 countries. At the union level, we connect and provide administrative leadership, governance and support services to our conferences, schools, health care networks and ministries. Each year, our organizations sponsor programs and projects that address human needs, improve quality of life and introduce people to Jesus. Read our Mission, Values and 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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Story by V. Michelle Bernard

Hao Ya Jie never imagined she would grow up to help establish a strong Adventist presence in her native mainland China, much less lead a 7,000-member church district.

Hao Ya Jie thought her mother was ridiculous because, whenever she met someone new, she would start preaching and sharing the gospel with them. But after reading several of Ellen White’s books herself, she became convinced her mother was doing the right thing. 

Columbia Union Conference president Dave Weigley speaks during the Fall 2017 Annual Council meeting

Story and photo by Adventist Review Staff/Adventist News Network

Following nearly six hours of discussion and debate, a majority of members of the Executive Committee of the General Conference (GC) of Seventh-day Adventists voted during their Annual Council meeting to send a document entitled Procedures for Reconciliation and Adherence in Church Governance: Phase II, back to the Unity in Mission Oversight Committee for further review. 

Photo by thierry ehrmann on Flickr

Washington Adventist University’s 39th G. Arthur Keough Lectureship recently commemorated the fifth centennial of the Reformation (1517 – 2017). Aleksandar S. Santrac, professor of Religion and Chair of the Washington Adventist University Department of Religion, was the featured speaker.

The first lecture (below), The Legacy of Martin Luther’s Sola Scriptura,” re-examines the ecumenical and postmodern dimensions of the legacy of Luther’s Sola Scriptura principle, the reformer’s revolutionary teaching that the Scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith and practice.