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.

Elvis Mogoi West Wilmington Church

“It seems as if one morning, we all woke up, and everything was different,” says David Klinedinst, Evangelism and Church Growth director for the Chesapeake Conference. “While we were unable to hold in-person seminar meetings here in the Chesapeake Conference region under coronavirus-related mandated restrictions, we still felt a commitment to advancing our evangelistic mission.” 

Rebecca Malin

In mid-March, teachers and students across the conference were unable to meet in their respective school buildings due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. To adapt to this new reality, educators in all 11 Chesapeake Conference schools began offering comprehensive distance learning experiences for their students.