Chesapeake Conference

Addict. It’s a word we don’t like to use to describe ourselves. But at age 17, I was addicted to alcohol and cigarettes, and a user of marijuana, PCP (Phencyclidine) and other drugs.

Darcel Harris, a recovering alcoholic and cocaine addict says,  “The same neglect an alcoholic gives his or her children [is the same as] a workaholic, so we look at addictions, behaviors and choices, not just alcohol and drugs."

The opioid and heroin epidemic is crippling communities across the nation, leaving health officials and providers, coroners, law enforcement and churches scrambling to respond to and combat this widespread crisis. Read how Adventists are helping addicts recover

This fall marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. While Martin Luther was not the first reformer, his posting and printing of the 95 Theses, or complaints against the Catholic Church, are considered the launching point of the reformation.

Fourteen Columbia Union Conference members, including 11 sponsored by the union’s Adventist Community Services/Disaster Response (ACS/DR) Department, spent up to two weeks sorting supplies, distributing water and praying with residents impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

This summer marks the fifth anniversary of Park N’ Praise (PNP), an event run by Seventh-day Adventists from across the Washington, D.C. area, that aims to raise awareness of the need for affordable housing.

Visit a Seventh-day Adventist church these days, and it is no longer guaranteed that the service will start at 11 a.m. No one really knows the history of when or where the 11 o’clock Sabbath worship time began.

Ray Valenzuela, the associate pastor of Chesapeake Conference’s Hagerstown (Md.) church, was thinking about how the church could help families displaced by a fire in the nearby Woodbridge Apartments, when a representative from the Red Cross called to ask if they were willing to open up the church as a resource center.

Story by Samantha Young

The Chesapeake Conference Executive Committee recently named Janesta Walker (below) as superintendent of schools, and Michael Jakobsons (right) as associate superintendent.