News | Seventh-day Adventist Church

10-Year-Old Maryland Boy Competes in Spelling Bee Finals

Story by V. Michelle Bernard / Photos courtesy Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee

JJ Chen, a 10-year-old boy who attends Chesapeake Conference’s Spencerville church in Silver Spring, Md., recently advanced to the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals in Oxon Hill, Md. He tied for 22nd place at the event.

Chen was the only student from the Washington, D.C., area to make it to the finals, and received a lot of local media attention for his accomplishment. He says he had fun and was “exited about talking with media. They are nice.”

500 Bikers Attend Revival Event in South Africa

Story by Heidi Shoemaker

This May more than 500 people in South Africa learned about Jesus at a Rev It Up! Revival evangelistic meeting led by Tom Hughes, a pastor in the Ohio Conference.

Washington Adventist University Student and Professor Receive National Recognition in Social Work

Story by Washington Adventist University Staff

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), DC Chapter recently presented awards to a professor and student from Washington Adventist University (WAU) in Takoma Park, Md. The NASW is the largest professional association of social workers in the world, and the only organization dedicated to advocating for the entire profession of social work and the populations they serve.

Student Cindy Ascencio (pictured left) received the "Social Work Student of the Year" award for her leadership in the field of social work. She is president of WAU's social work club, is a member of the Pi Alpha National Honor Society for Social Work, and is active with the WAU Student Association.

Academies Around Columbia Union Celebrate Graduation

Shenandoah Valley Graduates celebrate their graduation weekend

A Pine Forge graduate celebrates with Nicole Hughes, principal. Photo by Lincoln Tyler Fields Stoy by V. Michelle Bernard / Photos courtesy Shenandoah Valley Academy & Lincoln Tyler Fields

Last weekend six academies from around the Columbia Union Conference celebrated graduations: Blue Mountain, Highland View, Pine Forge (pictured left), Shenandoah Valley, Spencerville and Spring Valley. Richmond and Takoma academies will hold graduations next weekend.

Academy leaders report the following graduation totals:

WGTS 91.9 Watches God Impact Hundreds at Night of Hope

Story by Lisa Krueger and Jerry Woods / Photos by Vanessa Marie Studios

A record 2,000-plus people attended WGTS 91.9 FM’s sixth annual Night of Hope, one of the station’s key evangelistic pushes. Immanuel’s Church in Silver Spring, Md., hosted. This year the event started on Friday with a special broadcast dubbed the Day of Hope.

WGTS Prayer team member Gladys Guerrero prays with a listener “Day of Hope was created specifically to allow listeners (not able to attend Night of Hope) the opportunity to be part of the celebration,” says Brennan Wimbish, WGTS program director. “We pre-recorded and took listener stories of how they'd seen hope in their lives.”

WGTS 91.9 Videographer Wins Television Award

Story by Jerry Woods / Photod by Colin Young-Wolff/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images

Eugene Simonov, director of video and creative marketing for WGTS 91.9 and 2016 graduate of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md., was awarded second place in the 37th College Television Awards, presented by the Television Academy Foundation – Emmy, for Best TV Series – Unscripted. Simonov won as producer of the WGTS 91.9 video series, Words of Hope. The awards ceremony took place Wednesday, May 25, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Potomac Conference Names Vice President for Pastoral Ministries

The following is a statement released by the Potomac Conference.

Potomac Conference Team:

We are pleased to announce that Rick Jordan, pastor of Woodbridge (Va.) Seventh-day Adventist Church, has accepted the offer to be Potomac’s Vice President for Pastoral Ministries, starting July 1. “We are delighted to be welcoming Rick to the team,” says President Bill Miller. “He brings strong administrative skills to the table and has a passion for the local church that is very much in alignment with Potomac’s mission and vision.”

ADRA LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF REFUGEES

Story by Jessica Duffy

ADRA is launching a month-long campaign in support of refugees, beginning on May 30. Through this campaign, ADRA will join other non-profit organizations around the world in showing support for refugees in the lead up to World Refugee Day June 20. The campaign will also complement World Refugee Day Sabbath on June 18.

In addition to showing ADRA’s support for refugees, the campaign aims to engage the public in an open dialogue, providing a better understanding of refugees, and challenging some of the prejudices and misinformation which surrounds the topic.

Since refugees began arriving in Europe in unprecedented numbers in 2015, ADRA has been active in seven Eastern European countries, helping over 120,000 refugees. Their dedicated staff and volunteers provided essential items including food, winter clothing, and hygiene kits, as well as services such as transport, information and translation services, psychosocial support, and charging stations.

The closure of European borders in March 2016 has left around 50,000 refugees stranded in Greece. ADRA has established a presence in Greece and is responding to some of the immediate needs of the camps in the country’s north. The overall project goal is the improved living conditions fo vulnerable refugees and migrants.

Watch the Columbia Union Conference Treasury Video

Seth Bardu, Columbia Union Conference treasurer, shares the 27th Constituency Treasurer’s Report about the work of his team during the last five years.

“Treasury is about more than managing the tithes and offerings, more than creating budgets, processing payroll and furnishing reports,” he says. “It’s about doing our part to help people gain a greater understanding of the mission and preparing them for greater service in God’s church."

View Columbia Union Constituency Meeting quotes, videos and photos on the Visitor Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram.

What is the Columbia Union?

This two-minute video provides a visual overview at the Columbia Union Conference. “We hope it will help members know who we are, where we are located, and how we serve,” says Celeste Ryan Blyden, vice president for Strategic Communication and Public Relations. “It also answers questions people have about membership, mission and the role our union plays in advancing the mission of Christ.”