Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

Chesapeake Conference

The Chesapeake Conference has over 13,924 members in 74 congregations (64 churches, 10 companies) in Delaware, Maryland, and on the edges of Virginia and West Virginia. It has a pastoral workforce of 65, and its largest congregation, Spencerville (Silver Spring, Md.) has a membership in excess of 1,719. The Chesapeake Conference operates a strong Christian educational program that includes nearly 100 teachers and more than 1,050 students in 11 schools including one high school, a Pre-K - 12 grade academy, a Pre-K - 10 grade academy and eight elementary schools. It also operates an Adventist Book Center and four Adventist Community Services centers in Maryland and Delaware.

Mt. Aetna Camp and Retreat Center, outside Hagerstown, Md., is a fully-accredited camping and retreat center that hosts more than 700 youth during the conference's annual summer camp program. The site, which houses a nature center with a collection of stuffed animals, birds, insects, and reptiles from around the world, is used for field trips, outdoor learning programs, church retreats, spiritual seminars, and camping and hiking excursions.

Camp Meeting Returns in Person This June, Chesapeake Conference, The Gathering: Occupy Till He Comes, Highland View Academy, Derek Morris

Chesapeake Conference is gearing up for this year’s camp meeting, “The Gathering: Occupy Till He Comes,” which is set to take place June 13–17 on the campus of Highland View Academy in Hagerstown, Md. This year marks the return to an in-person event after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the conference to switch to a virtual format for the past three years.

Chesapeake Conference, West Wilmington, Jerry Lutz, Elvis Mogoi

The West Wilmington (Del.) church recently celebrated its 130th anniversary during a special worship service featuring stories, music, preaching and two fellowship meals. Members from the Life in Christ and Hope Community churches in Bear, Del., which constitute the rest of the church district, also attended and participated in the day’s festivities.