COLUMBIA, MARYLAND—Exactly three years after the North American Division held a grand opening celebration for its 120,000 square foot building in Columbia, Maryland—at a reported cost of $30 million, ($19 million for the building and $11 million for upgrades)—the building lies largely dormant with only 8-10 people inside at any given time.
COVID-19 has caused many churches to re-evaluate whether their buildings are "essential." In March, the North American Division administration voted "that all staff should cease all travels immediately," and large scale events were cancelled across the Division.
With most of the NAD building laying completely dormant for the past 6 months, it is fairly clear that the building is not needed at all. The NAD formerly shared space with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists located approximately 17 miles away in Silver Spring, Maryland before a highly publicized "divorce" over various theological and administrative disagreements.
Perhaps since the change of leadership at the NAD, the time has come to re-evaluate whether that physical separation might have actually been a $30 million mistake.
Under the NAD's active encouragement, many SDA churches across the nation have remained completely closed for a half-year, with the exception of some video streaming services or online Sabbath Schools.
Tithe revenue and offerings are decreasing, and the expensive NAD building itself is nearly empty as employees work from home, or elsewhere. It is essentially "non-essential."
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