(What all the cool kids know) 

There's a NEW SECRET CODE to be sure your silent announcement is discovered and published, and is not lost in a crowd of way too many emails.  Send your announcement to flowerruth@gmail.com+SA. It will go right to the head of the line.

Please join us for worship on Sunday!  We offer four choices on Sundays:

• The blended meeting in the meeting house at 10 a.m.
• The blended meeting on Zoom at 10 a.m. OR
• Outside in the Memorial Garden at either 8:45 or 10 a.m.

In week 3 of our continuing experiment, we will all meet in the Spirit.  Nothing has changed there. In our physical and cyber spaces, we will try a different configuration of microphones to better blend  the meeting of those in the meetinghouse and those on Zoom.  For those coming into the meetinghouse to worship, please see the guidelines here.  Masks and vaccinations are still required, to protect the most vulnerable among us.

Both outdoor meetings for worship will be in the Memorial Garden, since First Day School will be starting on Sunday.  If some Friends find the "joyful noise" of the children's First Day School activities distracting during the 10:00 meeting, remember that there is also an earlier meeting for worship in the Memorial Garden which begins at 8:45.

First Day School OPENS on Sunday April 3

The nursery will be open before the beginning of meeting for small children, as needed.  Otherwise children are welcome to join their parents either in the meetinghouse or in the Memorial Garden.  When children leave after the first few minutes of meeting, they will find a whole program and enthusiastic teachers awaiting them. Children will be returned to their parents at about 11:20.

Adelphi Meeting's Youth Program

Attention all Adelphi Youth!  Bringing all the fun of camp to Adelphi!  For the remainder of the school year, we are planning to have extra special gatherings once a month for the middle school and high school Friends.  BYM camp counselor alums Jamie DeMarco and Sara Dean will be leading the youth activities with support from Karen Armstrong and Ernie Walker.  All youth are encouraged to bring their friends with them.

Mark your calendars:

Middle School Age Friends: we will meet once a month during Meeting for Worship, 10:20-11:20 on the following First Days:     

• April 3
• May 8
• June 5

• April 19
• May 15
• June 12 

Please contact Karen Armstrong via her email address in Breeze if you have questions.  

Will There Be Potluck? Yes!

Hospitality Committee will be facilitating a potluck meal at rise of Meeting again this Sunday. Please bring whatever foods and/or drinks you’d like to contribute. Also, if you are bringing food or staying for potluck, please help Will Kastens with set up and clean-up. Hospitality Committee is quite small these days and any help you can give is greatly appreciated. We will be setting up food and drinks inside. Please wear masks at all times when picking up your food and assisting with cleanup, except when eating or drinking. Please eat outdoors only. 

Second Hour on the Life of Bayard Rustin

On Sunday, April 3, Jade Eaton will lead us in an exploration and discussion of Bayard Rustin's life, focusing on his work in the areas of labor and economics.  As always, the presentation will be followed by discussion to help us explore the lessons we take from Rustin's life and work.

First Friday Film Discussion

This coming Friday is First Friday!  This week, watch "I Am a Girl," a story of six young women in the United States, Australia, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Papua New Guinea, highlighting common threads of gender inequality, domestic abuse, mental health and family planning. Here is a review of the film; the film is available through your local library on Kanopy.  The discussion will be on Friday, April 1 at 7 pm. and the Zoom link for the discussion will be circulated on that day.

Update: On the Lodin Family - Afghan Refugees

The Lodin family moved out the hotel and into a townhouse yesterday, March 28.  Jamie Buss has circulated an updated report on the family and the assistance Adelphi Meeting has been organizing. Many Friends have been involved in big and small ways to help this large and lovely family make a new home here.  More assistance will be needed as government-provided "refugee assistance" ends and the family moves toward an economically stable place.  There are still many ways to help:  Is there an unused bike lurking in your shed or back yard? Are you downsizing to a smaller place? Do you have more linens, blankets, or cookware than you need?  Check out the report here.

From the Ad Hoc Strawberry Festival Group

A small group of planners met on Saturday March 26 to discuss how to put on a Strawberry Festival on June 4, 2022, under two sets of difficulties: 

• Covid concerns dictate having a primarily outdoor festival, and
• We are an aging and busy community. 

We urge you to read the notes from our first meeting and see where you might want take the lead on an event or activity. So far, we have people to take the lead on Bake Sale, Jewelry and White Elephants. (And we are trying to figure out a less stressful way to do White Elephants - see notes).  We are particularly concerned about three kinds of jobs:

• people willing to do the set up (putting up all the tables, tents and bringing out items to be sold),
• people willing to do clean-up (moving all of the same afterwards), 
• And someone(s) to drive a truck to Pennsylvania to get the strawberries.  

Finding Help

Help goes both ways.  Friends have been helping each other through this pandemic and its aftermath.  Friends are prepared to offer spiritual, practical, and financial support.  Learn more here.  

"April Con"

The Spring Conference (April Con) for Young Friends of high school age is open for registration.  The conference is April 1 to 3 at Hopewell Friends Meeting in Clearbrook, VA.  Registration closes March 30 - so be sure you're signed up.

Stony Run Meeting is Hiring

Stony Run Meeting (on the north side of Baltimore) is looking for a full time "operations coordinator," a multi-skilled people-and-communications-oriented person who can keep things running smoothly for the meeting. Check out the job description and link to further details here.

Freedom Stories:  Spotlight on How Change Happened

Tomorrow night, March 30 at 7 pm

Coming right up - tomorrow night, March 30 - the project presents "Freedom and the Law," telling the story of hundreds of enslaved Black residents of Prince George's County challenged slavery in the courts between the late 1700s and early 1800s. 

No need to register.  The program will be live on You-Tube from 7 to 8 pm tomorrow night - Wednesday March 30th. Click on the arrow on the poster at this link - it will take you directly to the live program.  OR, you can opt to "watch it later" via a link at the top right of the poster.

Joe's Movement Emporium is one of six cosponsors of the Freedom Stories Project.  Others include Prince Georges County Library System, Office of Human Rights, and Historical Society, along with the PG Community College Center for Performing Arts and Maryland Humanities.

Reparations:  How Can We Begin to Make Small Repairs?

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee, Reparations Sub-committee, invites Friends to tell us about a local organization that could be meaningfully supported by $5k less.

In particular, we are looking for local organizations or projects that aid or support Black or Indigenous people and have a focus of deepening the knowledge and understanding of the history of Black or Indigenous people in our region or that support Black or Indigenous people's presence on and use of the lands in our area. Preference will be given to Prince George's County based organizations. Here is survey you can use to introduce us to this organization:  https://forms.gle/kLQtbTbSKYSa87bW8 

Multi-Faith Open Letter
to the Nicaraguan Government

Please consider signing and passing on this Multi-Faith Open Letter to the Nicaraguan Government. It is being organized by a multi-faith group of people in the United States who have felt called upon to pause and reflect on the suffering in our world as we approach Holy Week, Passover and Ramadan – a time of reflection, prayer, fasting and compassion, and also a time to raise a collective voice in favor of peace and justice.  While we are horrified by the invasion of Ukraine and by the violence in Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan, we feel it is upon us to raise our collective voice for Nicaragua, where a tragedy has been unfolding for the last 4 years with sparse media coverage.  Of the 170 political prisoners currently imprisoned, one has already died in custody and many others are gravely ill, as a result of the inhuman conditions they are being kept in. Please sign the letter by April 4 so that it can be sent on April 8.  and share with your friends and contacts.

War in Ukraine:  Resources and Information

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting has compiled responses from Friends Meetings and other faith groups to the invasion of Ukraine.  They also list practical ways that Friends can assist and support the UN and other international agencies that are supporting the people of the region.

Local Ukrainian Congregation: To support the relief efforts of a local Ukrainian church, read the bulletin from St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral.  The cathedral is just up New Hampshire Avenue from Adelphi - about 15 minutes away.

Moscow Friends Meeting is hosting a daily global virtual meeting for worship to hold in the Light the situation in Ukraine, the decision makers, the soldiers, the citizens, and all the people whose lives are in danger and already disrupted by fear.  These meeting start at noon in the US eastern time zone (which is 8 pm in Moscow).  Here is the link.  The Meeting ID is 416 500 5614, and the Passcode is 182805.

• Get involved in meeting activities and outreach? Check out this updated list of committees and opportunities, and get in touch with a member of the Nominating Committee about your interests.
   
• Donate on line or at a distance?  Mail to Adelphi Meeting Treasurer, 2303 Metzerott Rd., Adelphi, MD 20783. Or donate securely on our website. To make or change a pledge to support renovations of the meetinghouse, click here.
   
• Get a log-in to access Breeze?   If you need help with Breeze, contact Mackenzie or Reuben at webservent@adelphifriends.org (webservent, with an “e,” is correct.)
   
• Silent Announcements:
  • Submit an item for the bi-weekly Silent Announcements? For now, please respond to this email or send a message directly to the editor, Ruth Flower, at "flowerruth[at]gmail.com+SA"  Put "Silent Announcement" in the subject line.  For events, please include date, time, place (if in person), and how to register (if on Zoom). Silent Announcements are prepared each Friday morning, with brief updates on Tuesdays.
     
  • Find a recent issue of Silent Announcements?  The last two months' editions are listed at this link.
     
  • Sign up to receive Silent Announcements or to change the email address where you receive them? On our webpage, bottom left corner of the "splash" (main) page, there's a small form to indicate your interest or your change. If your email has changed for all purposes, please enter the change on your page in Breeze.  
     
• Zoom Meetings at Adelphi
  • Schedule a Zoom meeting, send an email  to zoom@adelphifriends.org.  Here are some details that you'll need to provide in order to reserve a Zoom "line" through the meeting.  
     
  • Find the Zoom link for your committee meeting? Go to Breeze at this link, and click on “Events.”  The Zoom info should be there. 
     
• Schedule an in-person meeting at Adelphi (whether indoors or outdoors, recurrent or one-time) send an email to our resident Joseph Ndayisenga (resident@adelphifriends.org) requesting the use of that space.  Review these guidelines prepared by the Clerk when we started opening the meetinghouse grounds to outdoor use.  Keep in mind that the meetinghouse is now under re-construction, and much of the space in the White House is taken up with storage for items that were in the meetinghouse.
   
• Advocate with others about an issue you are concerned about? Sign up here for the Couch Potato Activists list serve and report your activities here.

Business meeting: noon, second Sunday of the month
Additional Meetings for Worship:  Wednesdays at noon, Sundays at 7 pm

Bible study: Wednesdays, 7:30pm