This week at the Columbia Union Conference Board of Education and Executive Committee meetings, the Office of Education staff reported on Columbia Union’s 2025–26 enrollment numbers. The numbers are as follows:
505 students in eight Early Childhood Education stand-alone centers
2,757 students in 52 schools offering grades PK–8 or K–8
697 students in six junior academies
541 students in four boarding academies
2,177 students in nine senior academies
Total numbers include:
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
At today’s Columbia Union Conference Executive Committee meeting, delegates voted Jose Vazquez to be the new vice president for Ministries Development.
Vazquez served as the vice president of Administration for the Potomac Conference for the last six years.
Story by Evan Knott
The “Revelation Today: Hope for Humanity” evangelistic series concluded on Nov. 1 at Goucher College in Baltimore with a special evening baptism service celebrating 14 new members joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The baptisms are part of the year-long Reach Baltimore 2025 evangelistic initiative, with additional baptisms taking place in local churches and more scheduled before year’s end.
After a short concert and homily, attendees made their way to the Goucher College pool, where 14 people were baptized by Chesapeake and Allegheny East conference pastors. The pool area was crowded with church members from the Baltimore area who sang as candidates made their way to the pool.
In a world that can often feel lonely or uncertain, many long for the assurance that we are never alone. Here, we share stories of those who found a welcoming spiritual home.
Story by Amanda Blake
Romita Mandal had known Mr. Matthie for more than a decade. He’d been her elementary and middle school strings director, and, when she reached high school, her private violin instructor.
“Sometimes, we wouldn’t unpack the violin,” she shares. “Sometimes, I would just have a breakdown on the couch, and he would help me and be a mentor.”
Finding Home
Mandal grew up with a Hindu mom and an atheist dad. She aligned more with her dad, whom she describes as scientifically minded with no space for spirituality—yet, unlike him, Mandal believed that God existed.
Mandal independently studied parts of the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, and found it puzzling that churches didn’t worship on the seventh day.
One day, after speaking with Mandal about God, Matthie offered to spend time with her to answer any “God questions” she might have. She accepted, and they eventually began studying the Bible together once a week.
Columbia Union Conference’s Office of Multilingual Ministries recently helped facilitate the distribution of 152,849 books to conferences in the Columbia Union.
The 15,520 small Bibles, 86,400 Steps to Christ in Spanish, 50,600 Steps to Christ in English and 329 family Bibles books were distributed to pastors, who then shared them with church and community members.