Story by Tiffany Doss
Who We Are, How We Serve
The Columbia Union Conference coordinates the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s work in the Mid-Atlantic United States, where 150,000 members worship in 860 congregations. We provide administrative support to eight conferences; two healthcare networks; 81 early childhood, elementary and secondary schools; a liberal arts university; a health sciences college; a 49 community services centers; 8 camps; 5 book and health food stores and a radio station.
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.
Story by Alicia Tucker
Representatives from the Montgomery County Council of Maryland honored Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW) last week for their 35 years ofministry to the community.
Editorial by Jorge Aguero
In a previous issue, we featured a group identified as chaplains. This raised questions about the role and function of members and chaplains, and I want to clarify.
In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, chaplains are ministers with conference-issued credentials who are granted ecclesiastical endorsement to serve in specialized ministries on school campuses, in corrections and healthcare facilities, the military, the workplace and community. Whether salaried or volunteer, before using the title chaplain, a person must complete required training and fieldwork.
Did you know that Asia has replaced Latin America (including Mexico) as the biggest source of new immigrants to the U.S.? This and nine other trends highlighted by the Pew Research Center below are shaping the demographics of the U.S. Read more here.
1. “Americans are more racially and ethnically diverse than in the past, and the U.S. is projected to be even more diverse in the coming decades.” Studies find that by 2055, the U.S. will not have a single racial or ethnic majority.
Nearly 400 delegates at the recent Ohio Conference constituency voted to make the $3.2 million office building in Dayton the principle headquarters for conference business. In September 2017, local business owners gifted the building to the conference.
The conference spends $80,000 annually to operate the office in Mount Vernon, which increases each year due to the aging of the building. Funds generated by leasing a portion of the new building to Kettering Adventist HealthCare could save the conference up to $1 million in overhead. “These funds could help Ohio churches and schools fulfill their mission, vision, and ministry,” says Michael D. Gilkey, newly elected treasurer and CFO.