Chesapeake Conference

Story by Tamaria L. Kulemeka

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.

Bonnie Franckowiak, professor and coordinator of the Master of Science Nursing Program at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md., says, “The use of opioids in this country is staggering. It’s huge, and it’s growing all the time; we don’t seem to have a handle on it at all,” she says. “In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is enough to give every American adult their own pill box.”

Editorial by Rick Remmers

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.

One of the foundational doctrines of the reformation was sola scriptura—a recognition that the Bible alone is to be our source of doctrines and practice. Rather than accepting church tradition or other kinds of authority, we must look to the Bible as the reliable source of God’s teaching and direction for our lives.

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

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 initiative took place at North American Division’s ACS-sponsored distribution center at the World Harvest Outreach church in Houston.

Story by Oksana Wetmore / Photos by Urbanized Geek

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.

Volunteers worshiped with community members, many of whom are homeless, distributed 500 meals, 5,000 diapers and personal care items, conducted 20 health screenings and prayed with 30 attendees at this year’s Washington, D.C., event at Shepard’s Park.

By Debra McKinney Banks

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. Plausible theories from pastors and historians posit that during more agrarian times, farming families needed to tend to the livestock and finish the chores before attending church. Whatever the reason, most people don’t maintain that farming lifestyle anymore. Today some pastors have discovered that holding Sabbath services at non-traditional times—either before or after 11—are becoming more of a necessity to meet the missional needs of their flocks.