Tuesday April 21, 2020
Re-Thinking... Everything
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Faith and hope are not about believing everything will be alright. They call us to our purpose: to love one another. They call us to constantly cultivate love in quiet ways through it all. They call us to use our gifts in service, by offering all manner of simple kindnesses, speaking truth to lies, protecting the vulnerable, striving for justice and championing peace. In turn, faith and hope promise us that no matter what happens, unexpected tangible support will arrive, joy and love will comfort us, and infallible guidance will lead us every step of the way.
- Judith Goedeke
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Poem as Portal
Saturday, April 25, 10:00 to noon
The weight of our current situation is being borne differently by each of us. We come together to touch what is so, open to our own perfect guidance, and find our way forward gracefully and with heart.
Our portal is an entry point to a new way of being. You are warmly invited. When we go in, we go beyond. Approach a place beyond words, a place quietly calling to us, a place of truth. I welcome you to what a participant describes as “a moment to touch all that is internal and all that is eternal, where all potential exists.” Now more than ever, in this time of fear and courage, of despondency and hope, is the time.
Please RSVP by Friday, April 24th to Judith Goedeke (contact info in Breeze) to receive materials and the Zoom sign in for Saturday.
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Strawberry Festival 2020
– Alternate Activities for our New Reality
Sadly, COVID-19 prevents the Strawberry Festival from being held as usual on the first Saturday of June. An Ad Hoc Strawberry Festival Committee is considering options to raise the money usually generated by the festival and to build community during this time.
The ad hoc committee is considering these possibilities:
1. The Meeting could hold a similar festival (apple? pumpkin?) in the fall, if larger gatherings can be safely held at that time.
2. The Meeting could hold a variety of online and/or contactless fundraising activities, either concurrently in June or spaced out over time, in the spirit of the Strawberry Festival. Ideas include
- curbside strawberry sales,
- an online silent auction,
- a bake sale with porch delivery of pies and cakes, or
- individuals selling items online (via eBay, ThredUp, etc.) and donating the proceeds.
The Ad Hoc Committee is available to coordinate, but for either option to be a success will require volunteers to agree to organize specific activities. The Committee is interested in hearing from the community, especially those who would like to volunteer, but also those with comments and suggestions. Please contact Catherine Vanderwaart (contact information in Breeze).
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Spiritual Formation Retreat Cancelled
BYM has announced with sadness that the Spring 2020 Spiritual Formation Retreat and program has been canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. BYM very much hopes that the fall retreat and program will be able to proceed as planned. Adelphi’s liaison on the Ministry & Worship committee for this program is Chloe Schwenke, and she will provide further updates as the situation develops.
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Another STRIDE Movie Watch Party
Thursday April 23rd, 2020 at 6:30pm
Join a watch party of the Netflix documentary, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, a 2020 documentary about a summer camp in the 1970's for people with disabilities and how this experienced galvanized the camper's activism. Facebook event here.
Join in on Thursday April 23rd, 2020 at 6:30pm using this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89446317297 Learn more about STRIDE here. Donations for this event can be made through BYM's website; they are graciously accepted, though not required.
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Friendly Eights
There's still time to sign up for Friendly Eights. How to do it? Check the listing here to find a group that will be meeting at a time that works for you. Send the convener a message, and the convener will take it from there. (You can also find this page in the "Hub" on the website if you lose the link.)
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Adelphi Cares
Do you need some help getting groceries or prescriptions, getting to necessary places like medical appointments, or help with some other practical difficulties presented by the presence of COVID-19 among us? Contact Wendy Eck, clerk of Pastoral Care Committee (contact information in Breeze.) Wendy co-ordinates a team of volunteers who are available to provide this kind of help. Are you a person who can shop, provide rides, or help in other practical ways? Wendy wants to hear from you, too.
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Sharing Joys and Concerns
If you would like the meeting to hear about a joy or concern in your life, but do not want to (or cannot) announce the situation yourself, please contact Wendy Eck (contact information in Breeze). She will be happy to share your joy or concern with the meeting, with or without our name, as you wish.
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Free Mental Health Support
for People in Front Line Service Occupations
Crossings is facilitating connection between volunteer mental health professionals and people who are regularly exposed to COVID-19 in their work or home life, such as those who work in front-line service occupations, like grocery stores, ancillary and clinical health care, postal service, etc.
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The Library Committee Will Bring Us Books!
The library committee members will support Friends with books and pamphlets from AFM's library collection. Given the need to shelter in place and physical distancing, a library committee member will drop the book in a bag at your doorstep or some other location agreed upon. Read more about how to request and receive books.
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House Needed
The Schwenke/Lucas family (Christine, Chloe, Ian and Audrey, plus pets) are currently renting a home in Silver Spring, but our lease is soon up. We are looking for a 2-year unfurnished rental house in the Silver Spring area, starting either June 1st or July 1st. We are seeking 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home, ideally with working fireplace and off-street parking.
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Fellowship Opportunity: Sarah Gillooly writes that they serve as a Vice President at Americans United for Separation of Church & State (AU). AU believes that separating government from religion is the only way to ensure freedom of religion, including the right to believe or not to believe, for all. AU is launching a new Youth Organizing Fellowship, a year-long leadership development program (with a stipend!). The program will strengthen the organizing skills of a nation-wide cohort of ten young people (ages 18-25) and help them lead movements that intersect with the separation of religion and government - such as reproductive freedom, LGBTQ equality, and the rights of religious minorities. Read more online or contact Sarah (via Breeze). Applications due May 24th.
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We've learned a lot in the last few weeks about Ways to Help, Inspiration, Resources, Love and Support. A new page, WHIRLS, archives and organizes many of the particulars that we've shared with each other. Check here when you've lost a name or want to pick up on an idea. The list will refer you to an article in a recent Silent Announcements edition.
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Adelphi's Committees Are Up to Something...
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Couch Potato Activists
Peace and Social Concerns Committee has a deal for the “couch potato activists” among us. We all care a lot about a lot of things, but it’s hard to know how to do something effective to make systemic change, within the time we have available. Friends participating in the Couch Potato Activist program will commit to send two letters or e-mails per month, and one letter to the editor per year. Several topics will be suggested each month; participants can select whatever matches their interest. Appropriate contact information for each will be provided. By the end of the year, Couch Potato Activists will have sent a dozen letters or e-mails giving their own personal views to people whose votes and actions will make a difference, and they will even have finally written that one letter to the editor that they always meant to write. You want to sign up, don’t you. Contact Mosi Harrington (information in Breeze.)
FCNL Priorities Survey. Every two years, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) asks Quakers and other supporters where FCNL should place its emphasis in the next Congress (beginning in 2021). Peace and Social Concerns Committee will respond on behalf of the meeting and the committee needs your input for this task by April 28. Please take a few minutes and let us know your priorities. Go to this link and fill out the survey form. Peace and Social Concerns Committee deeply appreciates your immediate response.
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"Second Hours" Will Return
Different time, same station
Continuing Quaker Education Committee will be continuing its second-hour series about discernment on-line. The on-line series will begin in early May and continue through the summer. It is likely to be a “Saturday Lunch and Learn” event, rather than more time on Zoom on Sunday. Details to come.
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Children's Meetings
Religious Education Committee is scheduling a recurring 11:20 Zoom meeting on Sunday mornings for the next two months. The children and teachers will leave the all-ages after-worship gathering and go to their own digital space. The sign-in information for the children’s meeting will be posted in the chat in the all-ages after worship gathering; it will not be sent out in Silent Announcements.
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Note from the Treasurer
At the last Business Meeting, folks asked about the amount budgeted for designated outreach (money to outside groups) for FY 2020. Reuben Snipper reports that we approved in the budget $10,000 for the FCS’ Blackburn Scholarship (we have given $20K in recent years), $5,000 for the last installment of our pledge to the FCS Endowment Campaign, $1,000 for Youth Service Scholarships, and $1,000 to the BYM STRIDE program for a total of $17,000. Grants to Quaker Organizations and non-Quaker organizations were shifted to the Building Fund.
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Lunch Makers Rule
Lunch for individuals who are homeless in Prince Georges County is still being provided at UCC during the coronavirus crisis. Through Peace & Social Concerns, Adelphi will offer 40 bag lunches on Thursday May 7 at the Day Center in Hyattsville. The committee is looking for 8 good lunch-makers to provide 5 lunches each (just two more needed) Contact Lynn Hardesty (via Breeze) for more information.
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Food Assistance
St. Camillus Food Pantry needs help, as many more people are coming for food. You can donate through the Pantry's GoFundMe or drop off items when the Pantry is open, Fridays 3-5 pm and Saturdays 10-noon. More information available at https://www.stcamillusfoodpantry.org/
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Are you making masks
for family, friends, neighbors, hospitals, postal workers or someone else who needs them? Two things of interest: (1) A local group called Neighbors Making Masks (see their Facebook page) has a network of about 150 mask makers, with people organizing access to materials and good place to distribute the masks. You might want to hook up with them. (2) Just for giggles, check out the mask-maker song on YouTube, forwarded by Arthur Karpas.
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