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.

Learn More

Greener Gardening Tips

Photo by Dwight Sipler on Flickr
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
 
Aaron Weber, director of vocational education at Pennsylvania Conference’s Blue Mountain Academy (BMA) in Hamburg, has overseen the school’s organic garden for five years. Don’t want to add more chemicals to the soil? Weber recently shared these tips for creating a greener garden:
  • Grow native plants and choose plants that will attract beneficial insects, which will reduce the amount of harmful bugs in the garden
  • Keep your garden area clean. Not having a lot of junk and garden debris around will reduce the habitat for harmful bugs
  • If you want to avoid using pesticides, try Neem Oil instead

Lehigh Valley Teacher Retires After 52 Years

Story by Tamyra Horst

Born in Calcutta, India, Kalyani Prakasam received bachelor degrees in Education and Teaching from the University of Calcutta (India). She taught school for 10 years in India before moving to the U.S., and has been teaching children at the Lehigh Valley Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School in Whitehall, Pa., for the past 42 years. She earned a Master of Education in 1983 and received her reading specialist certification in 1985.

Living Word's EMBRACE Ministry Aids Homeless

Story by Samantha Young

Susan Newman, a member of the Living Word church in Glen Burnie, Md., sought a new way for her congregation to help the homeless population in the community, and, as a result, founded EMBRACE Street Smart Ministry. She spent a year volunteering with a group that takes hot soup to homeless populated areas in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Then, during the summer of 2016, she took her newfound knowledge and experience and applied it in Brooklyn, an area south of Baltimore, and Glen Burnie.