Pennsylvania Conference | Seventh-day Adventist Church

October 2015 Feature: Taking it to the Streets

Story by Sam Belony/ Photos by Krystal Irrgang

Union administrators team with Pastor Tara VinCross to start the REACH Columbia Union Urban Evangelism School, where young adults are not only staying in the church, they are transforming it—as well as the many lives they touch through boots-on-the-ground ministry.

The unprecedented venture was born like so many God-inspired projects—thoughts planted in the minds of those seeking to be used by the Lord in ministry. This particular idea started developing in 2010 when Tara VinCross, then pastor of Pennsylvania Conference’s Chestnut Hill church, wrote a ministry development plan as part of her doctorate in ministry. She hoped it would result in an urban evangelism school in Philadelphia.

Unbeknownst to her, Columbia Union Conference leaders had hatched a similar idea and were also planning to launch an evangelism school. Eventually, the plans coalesced. “After completing my doctoral program, I thought, ‘Well, that’s the only piece that hasn’t been completed,’” VinCross recalls. Then one day, the union called to discuss a collaboration, and together in 2013 they formed a task force.

Blue Mountain Academy Staff, Alumni Celebrate 60 Years of Ministry

In 1952 a real estate agent was tasked with finding the right property for the future Blue Mountain Academy (BMA). When he found it, he immediately called the president of what was then the East Pennsylvania Conference to share the news; however, he left out one vital piece of information: the land wasn’t for sale. Two conference employees toured the 683-acre grounds in Hamburg, Pa., that held six farms, a dairy, 169 head of cattle, nine buildings, seven barns and machinery to operate the entire plant. It also included a summer camp with five buildings, a swimming pool and summer vacation cottage.

Story by Caron Oswald

Adventist Missionaries Bring Bibles to Cuba

The Seventh-day Adventist mission team enjoys visiting Cuba (Noah Simpson is not pictured.)

Although Seventh-day Adventists were unable to worship openly in Cuba until recently, members from Potomac Conference’s Seabrook church in Lanham, Md., have ministered there for more than three years. And this summer, Seabrook church members Gavin Simpson, Noah Simpson and Audrey Clarke traveled with Margaret Cancelliere, a member from Pennsylvania Conference’s Pottstown church, and Kenton Rawlins, a member from Connecticut, for a third mission trip to Gibara, a small seaside town where they have worked for the past two years.

Story by Dawna-gene Milton and V. Michelle Bernard

Liberian Church Joins Pennsylvania Conference

A small group of members interested in reaching the more than 15,000 Liberians living in the Philadelphia area reached out to Pastor Matthew Kamara who was completing a doctorate of ministry at Andrews University (Mich.). Kamara previously served as the treasurer of the Liberian Conference in Africa and planted several churches there and in South Bend, Ind.

Story by Pennsylvania Conference Staff

Kamara agreed to help and started the journey to opening the Pilgrim church. In 2013 Kamara started commuting to Philadelphia on weekends. In 2014 he moved there and started working more intensely in the area. Now, after only two years, about 60 people attend each Sabbath.

Pennsylvania emplea a un nuevo director

Pennsylvania emplea a un nuevo director

Historia por Tamyra Horst

Gabriel Montalvo (en la foto) es el nuevo director de los ministerios hispanos en Pennsylvania Conference, aunque no es nuevo en el ministerio en este estado. Comenzó como pastor laico en 1996, al frente de las iglesias Philadelphia Hispanic #4, Hispanic ll, Lehigh Valley Hispanic, Bethlehem Hispanic e Easton El Camino y el grupo El Faro en Lehigh Valley. Actualmente pastorea las iglesias Grace Hispanic y Frazer Hispanic y las compañías South Philly Hispanic, Kennett Square Hispanic y Philadelphia Youth Connect en el área de Philadelphia.

Como pastor, evangelista y plantador de Iglesias, su visión para el ministerio hispano es “involucrar a niños, jóvenes y adultos en apresurar el regreso de Cristo revelando a Jesús y haciendo a su vez discípulos”.

Read the article in English.

Read and share these stories from the September 2015 Visitor: