Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

July/August 2017 Feature

Photo by Steven Mastoianni

The idea for the Allegheny West Conference (AWC) Young Adult Retreat was birthed in the backseat of Jerome and Carolyn Hurst’s car. During a two-and-a-half-hour ride home from the conference constituency meeting, Charde (Hurst) Hollins, a recent college graduate, and her parents bounced ideas back and forth, as she wrote them down on a stray piece of paper and pen from the bottom of her mother’s purse.

Photo by Frank Mitman

Serving others is an inherent way of life for brothers Franklin and Lee Stahl (pictured). “Our parents created a Christian home that was active in service from the get-go,” says Franklin. As early as age 6, Lee and Franklin started Ingathering with the family and often spent Sabbath afternoons visiting nursing homes in Pennsylvania, where they were raised and still serve today.