News

Volunteers at the Potomac Conference Hispanic Camp meeting. Photo courtesy Potomac Conference

Camp meeting season is right around the corner. Use the online Visitor guide to find your favorite speaker or more information about online or in-person meetings around the Columbia Union. 

Support ADRA during world Refugee Day 2023. Image courtesy ADRA International.

Story by Iris Argueta

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) joins global communities in marking World Refugee Day on June 20 and observing World Refugee Sabbath on June 17, to honor millions of families, women, children, and individual people forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, other forms of violence, and climate change.  

After the tassel ceremony, the Class of 2023 graduates celebrate with selfies.

Story by Shaun Robinson

The Class of 2023 at Potomac Conference's Takoma Academy (TA)  celebrated its graduation last weekend with its consecration and baccalaureate services at Sligo church in Takoma Park, Md. This year’s graduation ceremonies honored 58 students who persevered and completed the requirements necessary to now be called alumni of one of the conference's largest high schools.

Image by Terri Cnudde from Pixabay

Story by Rockefeller Twyman

Newlyweds Vondel and Gary Resendo, members of Allegheny East Conference’s New Life church in Gaithersburg, Md., held their wedding reception May 22, at the same time the United States Congress was working to resolve the debt-ceiling crisis that could have resulted in the first-ever default on federal debt. The couple knew that such an event would greatly impact their lives.

Ohio Conference of Seventh-day Adventists celebrates mass baptisms in May 2023. Image by Carolina Simpson.

Story by Francis Tuffour

Last weekend, the Ohio Conference hosted a mass baptism of 82 people at Delaware State Park. The event was a culmination of the 2023 initiative, a conference-wide evangelistic drive started in 2021, with the goal of baptizing 2,023 members by this year. 

Two students share God’s love in Pennsylvania by canvassing a neighborhood.

Story by Johnathan Ryan

Last summer, 12 students in the Pennsylvania Conference spent eight weeks knocking on more than 80,000 doors connecting with more than 30,000 people. As a result of their ministry, 6,800-plus books are now in the hands of people in those local communities. These students also raised significant funds toward their Seventh-day Adventist education. Young adults interested in learning more and serving God this summer can learn more at impact-pa.com.

Beltsville Adventist School Beltsville Robocats win FIRST LEGO award.

Story by Debra Anderson

The FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is a competition for students grades 4–8 where they learn the principles of STEM as well as how to work together.

Recently, the Beltsville Adventist School’s (BAS) Robocats club in Beltsville, Md., seized victory by earning the FIRST LEGO League Champion’s Award at the Adventist Robotics Mid-Atlantic Region Qualifying Tournament.

photo by crusty da klown/flickr

Editorial by Bob Cundiff

A few months ago, I sat through an excellent Sabbath School discussion where we tackled the tricky question of “the conference as the storehouse.” You can imagine how my role as conference president and guest speaker for the day adds spice to any discussion in which the conference can be seen as the beneficiary.

The study presented the usual questions: “Where is the storehouse? Why is it there?
Is that biblical?” As I listened to the discussion, a question arose in my mind that seemed to inform the discussion in a way that I found helpful. Rather than being a question of geography (Where is it?), our position on this question is informed by our identity (Who are we?).