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.

New Hope Member Valerie Butler has made 130 masks to share in the community.

For Gael Murray, helping during the crisis meant putting her own plans on hold, including postponing seminary studies temporarily. After much prayer, seeking divine guidance, she got to work on sewing, already having the skills and abundant supplies needed to get started.

As the COVID-19 outbreak quickly emerged, the Chesapeake Adventist Community Services (ACS) Department mobilized trained volunteers and partnered with the American Red Cross, state organizations and local churches to provide crisis care to communities across the Chesapeake territory.