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.

Spencerville Adventist Academy,  Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington

Spencerville Adventist Academy (SAA) students and staff recently partnered with Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW) to organize and pack 50 boxes of food in preparation for distribution. There has been an increase of people in need, including a number of recent refugee families from Afghanistan.

Dover First Christian School tornado, Chesapeake Conference

It was the summer of 2020. The pandemic was raging in full force. Chelsea Calhoun, principal and head teacher of the Dover First Christian School (DFCS) in Delaware, worked with the school board to develop safety protocols for a planned return to in-person learning in the fall.