p. 16 | The Columbia Union Conference by Irving H. Evans

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 13, 1916

The Columbia Union Conference

By Irving H. Evans

The Columbia Union Conference held its fourth biennial session in Pittsburgh, Pa., March 13-20. Nearly the entire corps of workers were present at the opening of the conference, and remained till its close.

The meetings were held in the auditorium of the Carnegie Library, in one of Pittsburgh's beautiful suburbs. The committee on preparations had made every possible arrangement for the convenience and comfort of the delegates.

The Lord has greatly blessed the work in the Columbia Union Conference during the last two years. There have been 2,150 persons baptized, and an increase in church membership of 969. The tithe of the conferences aggregated $296,295.87, an increase over the previous biennial period of $44,377.89. The growth in the mission funds has been as encouraging as the increase in the tithe. The union conference raised its full quota of twenty cents a week, which aggregated $143,658.28, or an increase of $34,711.88 over the preceding two years. This is certainly a marked growth, but it is not all. The Mount Vernon Academy has paid its entire indebtedness, being among the first of our educational institutions to wipe out the blighting curse of debt. The conference has finished paying the old debt of the Philadelphia Sanitarium, which was closed some years ago; it has also contributed $10,000 to apply on the debt of the Washington Missionary College.

In the union conference there have been erected eleven church buildings, at a cost of $46,000, besides an office for the union conference officers.

The book sales have kept pace with other lines of work. During the past term the literature sales amounted to $216,339.65, an increase of $19,704.85 over the previous term. But it is planned to make the coming years better than the past. All departments of the work have grown and kept pace with the spirit of the work already mentioned. Most of those leading in the work for the past two years were reelected for the coming four years.

Elder Daniells was with us, and not only helped in the conference meetings, but also gave two lectures in the Pitt Theater, each of which was attended by two thousand of the best citizens of Pittsburgh.

The entire meeting was full of encouragement and helpfulness. The reports from the conference presidents and departmental secretaries were full of courage, and added to the interest of the meeting. From first to last, the conference was a feast to the soul. Many made new resolves to lead a consecrated life and persevere in the work of overcoming. We confidently expect great things to be accomplished in the years to come in the Columbia Union Conference. I. H. EVANS.