Columbia Union Executive Secretary Announces Retirement Plans

Story by the Visitor Staff

Rob Vandeman, an administrator and pastor who has ministered for the Seventh-day Adventist Church for almost 50 years, has announced his plans to step down from his role as Columbia Union Conference’s executive secretary at the end of the year.

Vandeman, who served in his current position since 2011, plans to continue working at the Columbia Union in some capacity until the union’s constituency session in July 2021.

“Rob has always been a champion for the grace of Christ and the mission of the Adventist Church in so many ways as pastor and administrator,” says Dave Weigley, Columbia Union president.

In September the Columbia Union Presidents’ Council and Executive Committee will create an Executive Secretary Search Committee that could make a recommendation for Vandeman’s successor at November’s executive committee meeting.

Vandeman (pictured with his wife, Judy) began his pastoral ministry at a church in Denver in 1971. He joined the Columbia Union in 1984 as the senior pastor of Chesapeake Conference’s Spencerville church in Silver Spring, Md. He has also served as the executive secretary and president of the Chesapeake Conference.

“I will miss working with local conference leadership and their executive committees, chairing the board of WGTS for the past nine years, and being engaged with our health care institutions and university and the North American Division," says Vandeman. "There are a lot of very capable individuals within our various entities, and they have been a pleasure to work alongside.”

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Columbia Union Executive Secretary Announces Retirement Plans

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