Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

North American Division

Debra Clements Brill, former vice president for ministries for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, passed to her rest on August 27, 2023, at her home in Jamaica, Va., after an extended illness. She was 71.

Potomac Conference Teacher Laurie Hartman Kelly talks with an exhibitor at the NAD Educators' Convention. | Photo by Columbia Union Visitor

At the "Something Better" Educators' Convention kickoff event, students, educators and administrators flooded the Phoenix Convention Center for a chance to browse the 150 exhibits offering endless tools, ministries, organizations and resources, each designed to support the needs of Seventh-day Adventist education.

North American Division Building

On March 14, 2021, the Potomac Conference Corporation will be the first conference in the Columbia Union Conference to virtually host a full constituency meeting. Like many organizations that have had to adjust their official meeting protocols, after much prayer and deliberation, Potomac made the decision to proceed with the virtual option. The conference’s executive committee later approved the request from the conference administration.

Photograph by Erica Haller

At age 15, Jose Cortes Jr., the North American Division’s associate ministerial director for evangelism, wanted to be a doctor—not a pastor. Being a wise father, José H. Cortés, Sr., who serves as president of the New Jersey Conference, encouraged his son to pursue his dream. But early one morning in Madrid, Spain, Cortes Jr. heard his heavenly Father’s call to become a pastor. “I believe that [my father’s] wonderful and exemplary ministry during his early years influenced and silently encouraged my call,” says Cortes Jr.