Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

Ohio Conference

Photo by Simon Tao

While Roy Simpson was growing up, his dad, Peter, always cut his hair, except for a few years when “I wanted to do things my way,” says Roy, who used to think he was very different from his dad. That changed after working with him as a volunteer at the conference office where they shared many conversations. Those talks “made me realize that we have so much in common, especially our passion for ministry,” says Roy, assistant treasurer for Ohio Conference. 

Photo from Pixabay

Mortified. That’s how my mom, Vicki (Curtiss) Bernard, recalls feeling as she sat in Chemistry class at Mount Vernon Academy where her dad, Leon Curtiss, was the teacher. “If we got what we deserve, we’d all be grease spots,” he’d say, trying to lighten the mood while navigating tough subjects like science and math. A fixture at Ohio Conference’s longtime school (now closed), my grandfather was known for his corny jokes and one-liners. 

At the end of this year, Seventh-day Adventists in the Pennsylvania and Ohio conferences will see two Adventist Book Centers (ABC) close—one in Mount Vernon, Ohio—the other in Hamburg, Pa. The closures come as a result of the Idaho-based Pacific Press Publishing Association’s (PPPA) decision early this fall to end a management agreement of some 17 ABCs across the North American Division.