A Year of Joys and Challenges

By David Jamieson

UCC President

Hello to each of you. As 2024 comes to a close, I want to share with you an update on how our conference is doing. It has been an amazing year of service for our church members, students, teachers, pastors, and office staff. Many of you shared your stories of how lives are being changed in your local community through Serve One More.

During our recent Executive Committee, Richie Brower, our Serve One More associate director, told a story about how volunteers were able to make a difference in the life of one family in Orofino. Living without a home of their own for some time, this family had the opportunity to purchase, at low cost, a 50-year-old mobile home in need of major repairs. Volunteers from the Adventist school, church, and local community were able to restore the home, sealing the  roof, replacing siding, and installing a beautiful new floor. 

The family’s three children shared with Richie what this means to them. You could feel the pure excitement as each child shared how they were going to paint their room and how they would finally have their own home to decorate for Christmas.

Stories just like these are happening across our conference. And I would just like to say thank you for your dedication to sharing the message of Christ’s love to your community. 

Also, across our conference, our membership numbers continue to set new UCC records, and we now stand at an all-time high of 27,463. Our weekly attendance has also increased to more than 10,300. 

However, with these incredible achievements, there are also challenges. Health care costs for our pastors, teachers, and office staff continue to climb dramatically. In 2025, it is projected that the increase will be approximately $800,000. The Washington Minimum Salary Threshold is another challenge for this conference, as this mandates the minimum that salaried, exempt employees can be paid. There are many reasons for these cost increases, including inflation pressures and uncertainty in the national economy. 

These challenges are, unfortunately, beyond our direct control and are impacting many of the conferences across the North American Division. In addition, as our costs continue to rise, the tithe that we have received so far this year has decreased by 6.13% or $1.5 million.

These two factors are contributing to a significant budget shortfall for 2024. Our conference executive committee will have to make some very difficult decisions in 2025 regarding staffing, programming, and services. 

We know that God will continue to bless and provide for this conference in a mighty way. The evidence of this is apparent in the many stories that we could tell you of lives being changed.  

However, I am personally asking for each of you to help our conference with two things as we approach the end of this year: the first is prayer. Please pray that God will pour out His blessings in full measure for this conference and our work to Serve One More. Secondly, I ask that each of you prayerfully consider your year-end giving of tithes and offerings to Upper Columbia Conference. 

Tithe is what supports our pastors, teachers, and support services. 75% of tithe received supports UCC church programs, elementary schools, academies, and Walla Walla University. The rest goes to support world missions and our world church.

Thank you so much for considering these two requests. It is my prayer that God will continue to grow our conference and its influence in our communities. May He also continue to guide, protect, and bless you and your family during this Christmas season and in the new year.

This letter is part of the President's Report, which includes actions from the December 5, 2024 Executive Committee meeting. Click here for the full report.