This Month's Issue

Story by Celeste Ryan Blyden

Irene Morgan Kirkaldy (1917–2007), a Seventh-day Adventist from Baltimore and one of the lesser-known civil rights heroes, was recently recognized with a new highway marker in Glouchester, Va., honoring her story. In 1944, while traveling home from Virginia, she was arrested for refus-ing to give up her seat in the colored section of the bus to a white passenger. She took her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared interstate transport racial segregation unconstitutional.

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

Be one of the first 15 children to find Victor the Visitor mouse in this issue, get a parent or guardian to snap your photo with him and tag the Visitor on social media to receive a puzzle from LivingWell in Silver Spring, Md. Happy Hunting!

Photo by Crissy Musick

Feature by Edwin Manuel Garcia / Photos by Crissy Musick

Chris Trent truly understands church members who are struggling with issues, big and small.

“My childhood was rough. ... My sister was abused, so I guess she passed some of that abuse to me,” says the pastor of Mountain View Conference’s aptly named Grace Outreach church in Logan, W.Va., and the Grace Community church in Williamson, W.Va. “I was taken to church quite often when I was a kid, so I thought there was a God, but, at the time, I didn’t have a need for God.”

Trent is a former Marine who owned a tattoo business for 13 years. “And in between,” he adds, “I was married and had three kids by a woman who was kind of wild. We were into drugs a little bit.”

Adventist HealthCare workers pray during the Coronavirus pandemic

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

With all churches across the Columbia Union Conference physically closed due to the coronavirus, pastors and members changed—seemingly overnight— the way they minister. In addition to offering livestreamed or pre-recorded services, many churches and conferences moved planning meetings, Sabbath School classes and Bible studies to Zoom, Facebook Live or other digital video platforms.