Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

Adventist Church

Everyone knows the economy is at best limping along, so why would someone with his career on the rise, walk away from a job, to honor a church doctrine he abandoned several years ago? That’s the choice that Adrian Mundle, a used car sales manager with more than 18 years of experience, faced in September when he became a baptized member of the Allegheny East Conference Metropolitan church in Hyattsville, Md. Mundle was one of 113 people who took a stand for Christ after attending the church’s two-week “Lifted” evangelism series.

“Last year we baptized 42,000 Hispanics, which represents about a third of the entire baptisms done in all of the North American Division,” shares Ricardo Norton, DMin, director of the Institute of Hispanic Ministries at Andrews University (Mich.). Norton is sitting in front of a class at the Columbia Union Conference’s headquarters in Columbia, Md., which just finished covering the ins and outs of developing and implementing small group ministries. In front of him are 29 Spanish-speaking students, most pastors of churches throughout the union, who have just completed one class toward their Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry. 

The pastors at Allegheny East Conference’s Metropolitan church in Hyattsville, Md., weren’t planning on performing a baptism on Sabbath, September 17. Members were in the midst of “Lifted,” a two-week long evangelism campaign that attracted some 300 people each night and the only baptism scheduled was for the second Sabbath. But the Holy Spirit had been working on Christopher Robinson those first few days and he couldn’t wait another week to publicly commit his life to Christ.

“These ministry leaders are working tirelessly in their local churches to reach out and engage their youth and young adults,” said Frank Bondurant, Columbia Union vice president for Ministries Development. “To retain and enlist these youth and young adults in our local church ministries is one of the greatest challenges we as a church are facing, and I am grateful that [we] could support and assist these leaders in this important ministry.”

Seventh-day Adventist volunteers from churches throughout the Allegheny East and Pennsylvania conferences worked at five sites throughout Pennsylvania on Sunday to offer aid to their neighbors still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Just two weeks ago, the Adventist church in Paterson, N.J., partnered with Lowe’s Home Improvement stores to distribute items to a community reeling from flood damage As the home improvement store looked to aid flood victims in eastern Pennsylvania, they again worked with Adventist church members who, with little notice, were quick to volunteer their time, hugs and prayers.