Potomac Conference

Image by Wonkandpix

Story by Gerry Lopez, pastor of Children and Family Ministry at Sligo Church

A parent told me recently that their child didn’t want to come to church because they got bullied by the other children at church. This wasn’t at school or online; this was happening at church! 

These are statements that as a children’s pastor I don’t want to hear, but I need to be aware of them! I thought to myself, no not here in church; not in this place where we all should feel safe and loved! It blew my mind and made me ask, am I doing enough to make sure this stops? Sadly, I realized that I am not. But why not?  I’ve known that bullying behavior has been around for a while but I have put the matter on the back burner.

Ted N. C. Wilson speaks to John Nevins Andrews School graduates, staff and graduation guests.

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

The John Nevins Andrews School (JNA) in Takoma Park, Md., recently hosted its last graduation ceremony. JNA, a school in Potomac Conference, has been educating young people for the last 110 years. For many of those years, the school was located less than a mile from the former world headquarters of the General Conference and Review and Herald Publishing Association.

Takoma Academy Preparatory School logo

Story by Oksana Wetmore

With long and distinguished histories of their own, two Takoma Park, Md., Seventh-day Adventist elementary schools are merging to become one. John Nevins Andrews School (JNA), established in 1907, and Sligo Adventist School, established in 1917, will merge to become the newly named Takoma Academy Preparatory School. The merger will take two exceptionally diverse entities and form an institution that upholds the vision to prepare graduates to be scholars, thinkers, achievers and servant leaders. 

Story by Tiffany Doss

One year we spent $40,000 on evangelism and community outreach—and zero relationships were built,” recalls Jennifer Deans, pastor of the Living Faith church in Dulles, Va. After attending a church planting conference, Deans realized the church didn’t need a better discipleship program; it needed a paradigm shift. “It’s God’s job to grow the church, and it’s ours to make disciples,” she says. “I came across Generate One, a discipleship program that teaches these biblical principles.”