Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

Presidents Collaborate On Bible Reading Challenge

Story by Kasper Haughton, Jr.

Constituents of the Allegheny West and Ohio conferences joined hands in January as they accepted the challenge to read their entire Bibles in just 31 days!

This collaborative project began months earlier when Ohio Conference President Bob Cundiff (pictured, right) and Allegheny West Conference President Marvin Brown (left) began to dream of ways to strengthen the ties between the two conferences.

Bob Cundiff comments, “Marvin and I get along really well, and we know that our constituents can too.

This project is an opportunity for us to do something meaningful together that signals the beginning of a new and closer relationship. This is the first of what we hope will be many collaborative projects in which we will work together to build God’s kingdom in our overlapping territories.”

The two presidents first met at a luncheon shortly after the killing of George Floyd, where they came together for worship, prayer and a dialogue about race. Cundiff states, “At a time when so many were contributing negatively to this dialogue about racism in America, we wanted to add something positive to the conversation.”

Since that day, the relationship between the two administrations has steadily grown. Both presidents envision a future that may include other collaborative projects such as joint pastors’ meetings, teachers’ meetings, evangelistic efforts and perhaps even weekend convocations or camp meetings.

More than 500 people signed up for the Presidents' January Bible Reading Challenge. Participants received a daily e-mail from one of the presidents with a note of encouragement and the reading assignment for the day.

Brown says, “The reading challenge was a fantastic way to launch the Columbia Union’s Year of the Bible theme in each of our territories.”

Join the Journey 

To help you dig deeper into God’s Holy Word this year, the Columbia Union is offering:

  • Every Month—This calendar, themed “Words of Life,” coincides with the devotional book and videos. It features a biblical topic and verse each month, with additional passages for further exploration, study and ideas on how to apply the concepts in your daily life.

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