Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

Pennsylvania Conference

Pennsylvania Conference’s Adventist WholeHealth Network (AWHN) leaders served an integral role in the yearlong planning and preparation for the recent Central Pennsylvania Parish Nursing Conference held in Landisville. More than 150 interfaith parish nurses and sponsors from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey attended. “Parish Nursing and Health Ministries: Looking to the Future” was the conference’s theme. It featured keynote speaker Verna B. Carson, PhD, and four breakout workshops. The Pennsylvania Conference and AWHN were two of the event sponsors, and the conference’s book and health food store and AWHN set up booths.

Seventh-day Adventist volunteers from churches throughout the Allegheny East and Pennsylvania conferences worked at five sites throughout Pennsylvania on Sunday to offer aid to their neighbors still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Just two weeks ago, the Adventist church in Paterson, N.J., partnered with Lowe’s Home Improvement stores to distribute items to a community reeling from flood damage As the home improvement store looked to aid flood victims in eastern Pennsylvania, they again worked with Adventist church members who, with little notice, were quick to volunteer their time, hugs and prayers.

Grace Outlet began with prayer. Jeanne Hartwell, Pennsylvania Conference Family Ministries director, and Pastor Kris Eckenroth began praying in June 2008, for a way to reach the more than 300 young adults living in the Berks County area who had at one time been connected to a Seventh-day Adventist church or school and were no longer regularly attending church.