News

  1. Home
  2. News

Art With Heart

Photo by Ethan Garcia

By Elizabeth Anderson 

Who knew art classes could warm hearts? Megan Garcia, who attends Mountain View Conference’s Charleston Boulevard church in West Virginia, is learning that sharing her gift of creativity comes with a lot of prayer, personal investment and waiting.

During her art classes held at the church, Garcia leads several types of projects—including a geode class. It doesn’t hurt that a four-course meal is part of the package, she says.

“There’s tons of people who come for the first time who would never set foot in a church, but it’s like a safe place,” Garcia says, noting that she is intentional about creating a positive family-style environment that is informal, yet Christ-centered.

Evangelism—With a Pickle on the Side

Feature by Elizabeth Anderson / Photos by Jay Alignay and Brad Barnwell

The words “evangelism” and “witnessing” might resurrect memories of knocking on strangers’ doors, clanking ingathering cans and distributing tent revival or Revelation Seminar invitations. Those traditional methods of sharing the Seventh-day Adventist message still have their place, however, some members from the Columbia Union Conference are learning that being the “salt and light” can show up in different flavors—like pickleball. These members are allowing Christ’s love to breathe through this hobby and passion to bring about organic, yet intentional friendships.

Pickleball Flavor

Colleagues Team up to Play Pickleball

Coach Jay Alignay (left) and his wife, Becky, have become good friends with Jay's colleague, Dawn Stem (right), and her daughter, Jordan Delong.

Story by Elizabeth Anderson

Jimmy "Jay" Alignay, aka "Coach Jay," a member of Chesapeake Conference's New Hope church in Fulton, Md., is spreading the news about pickleball to anyone who will listen, so it’s not surprising he convinced Dawn Stem, a work colleague, to get on board.  

Pickleball, however, is just the latest thing on Stem's activity list with Alignay.

A Tabletop Stop

Scott Kabel (right) plays weekly board games with church and community members. Photo by David Butterfield

Story by Elizabeth Anderson

Scott Kabel, who currently resides in Hawaii, has ties to Pennsylvania Conference’s Blue Mountain Academy where he taught a class—and played tabletop games with his students—while doing dissertation work for his education doctorate.

These days, playing games with the community in Hawaii is his passion. Kabel owns a trove of tabletop games and started hosting a weekly game night at the Hawaii Conference office in August of 2022 “with mostly church friends,” Kabel says. “But then I started playing in more areas around town. Now maybe [only] a third of the group is Adventist. Sometimes fewer.”

Adventist HealthCare Named a Top Workplace in Annual Washington Post Rankings

Story by Costin Jordache

Adventist HealthCare earned a spot on The Washington Post’s list of Top Workplaces 2023 in the Washington, D.C., area. Adventist HealthCare was the only hospital system on the list of 199 honored employers from public and private industries, nonprofits and government agencies. Beyond the healthcare sector, Adventist HealthCare was one of only 17 organizations that The Post honored in the largest company category.

WGTS 91.9 Welcomes Mercedes Rich

WGTS 91.9 welcomes Mercedes Rich as the evening show producer. Rich comes to WGTS from 88.3 The Journey on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.  She’ll work on the air and behind the scenes with Evening Show Host Suzanne Cheesman. Her first show was on Friday, June 9.

When are the 2023 Columbia Union Camp Meetings?

Volunteers at the Potomac Conference Hispanic Camp meeting. Photo courtesy Potomac Conference

Camp meeting season is right around the corner. Use the online Visitor guide to find your favorite speaker or more information about online or in-person meetings around the Columbia Union.