Sunday, February 19, Second Hour (12:15)

What is the Cornstalk Project?

The Cornstalk Project helps widows and orphans in Northwestern Kenya. It was started by Adelphi Friends and now is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
We were inspired to help by the generosity of Bartholomew and Ruth Miheso, who are from the village, Magada, which means “cornstalk”.  They are now members of Adelphi.

The widows we help are their neighbors in Magada and nearby Nakuru. Some have HIV/AIDS.  Some are elderly, and yet are responsible for orphaned grandchildren. The children are helped by paying for school tuition, uniforms and school supplies.

Please come to our second hour on February 19^th to hear more about the women and children helped and how you could get involved. What is so sad and yet wonderful is how far $1000 goes to help so many people.

Drafting the Spiritual State of the Meeting Report

Ministry and Worship Committee is now in the editing and writing stage for the 2022 Spiritual State of the Meeting report.  Though the "comment period" for the report is basically closed, the committee has added a new query focused on Adelphi's care for Friends Community School and how that care affected the spiritual state of our Meeting in 2022.  The new query reads:

How well have we exercised our care for Friends Community School
and how has that affected the spiritual life of our community?

If you have thoughts or reflections to share on just this one query, please share them via the online form.  Open Breeze and click on "More" and then "Forms."  Scroll down to "Spiritual State" and click on "Spiritual State of the Meeting 2022." The deadline for comments on this one query is February 24.

Discernment about Adelphi's Building Project

We're engaged in a season of discernment about our Adelphi Meeting property - in particular, the renovation of the meetinghouse. We are accumulating documents on our website for you to review and consider.  Click on "Building Discernment"  in the banner at the top of the page, then you'll see a folder with seven documents. 

So far, the folder includes reviews of our early planning process, of the progress we've made so far, and of our financial situation. As further documents are shared, they'll be added in the same place.

Help Needed

Nicaraguan Political Prisoners Released to DC 

Of the 222 political prisoners who were released from Nicaragua's jails last week and sent to the United States, about 20 who have no family or acquaintances here will remain in the DC area.  They are being hosted by households in the community, including Adelphi households. (Thank you, Friends!)

The refugees were given only $300 toward resettlement expenses.  With the approval of Adelphi's Clerk, Trustees, and Finance Committee Clerk, arrangements have been made for Adelphi to accept contributions to support the Nicaraguan refugees through our Aid Fund.

If you would like to provide financial assistance, please make a donation via the Adelphi website:  Where the form defaults to "Give to Building Fund", click the drop-down arrow and select "Give to Refugee Support - Nicaragua."

Note that you can also use this form to make a donation that supports the Lodin family from Afghanistan, or to make a regular contribution to Meeting.

If you wish to donate by check, you may place your contribution (made out to Adelphi Friends Meeting and indicating Nicaraguan Refugees in the memo line) in the donations box in the foyer of the meetinghouse.  Or give or mail your check to: Asst. Treasurer, Adelphi Friends Meeting, 2303 Metzerott Road, Adelphi, MD 20783.

Sharing Produce

Climate Change in the American Mind

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication has just released a fascinating new report based on extensive public survey research, Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes. The report digs into a lot of questions, including these: 

• Do Americans agree that global warming is actually happening?  Is it human-caused?
• Do people believe that global warming is connected to severe weather?
• How worried are people about global warming? What risks to people see?
• Do people talk about it, hear about it in the media? Are some people experiencing psychological distress?

 Here are some key findings. (You might be surprised!)

Baltimore Yearly Meeting Announcements
-- and Some Deep Topics

Here are the announcements: BYM's Winter Interim Meeting will be held on March 25 @ Friends Meeting of Washington in person and online, from 10 am to 1 pm with committee meetings at 2 pm.  And more, as always - on unity with nature, anti-nuclear actions, Peace and Social Concerns networking, summer projects for teens, Quaker Spring (an online retreat), faithful meetings and more and more.

Here are two items to read deeply and with care: 

• BYM Staff News - a letter from Khalila Lomax and Sarah Gillooly
• A message from BYM Working Group on Racism about why those of us who are white Quakers must do the hard work of overcoming our racism

Pendle Hill

The Quaker retreat and study center has several events coming up - some are online, others on campus. The online opportunities include: Building Sanctuary Within to Build Sanctuary for Others - Online: March 6, 7:30 - 9:00 PM ES

Pendle Hill’s Reading Group - Online: March 15, 2023, 7-8:30pm EST 

Hope Leans Forward - Online: March 18 & 25, 10:00 - 11:30 AM EST

Saturday, February 18 at 1 pm

Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival

The Film Festival continues this Saturday at 1 p.m. The upcoming feature is "The Prep School Negro:  African Americans in Quaker Schools."  The Black Quaker Project sent information on the speakers for this Saturday's film discussion, including how to register for this Saturday and every-other Saturday until April.

Monday, February 20 at 7 pm

Driving While Black - Both Freedom and Danger

On February 20, Reel n' Meal at the New Deal Cafe presents Driving While Black, a film that depicts both the freedom and the danger African Americans face on the road, from the early 1900s up to the 1960s. Traveling by car allowed them to bypass segregated bus and train stations and all-White racist sundown towns. But being stopped by the police was always a danger that continues up to today. Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Rayshard Brooks and now Tyre Nichols have lost their lives after being pulled over by the police.

The film begins at 7 p.m. on February 20.  You can watch it in-person (in good company) at the New Deal Café, 113 Centerway, Greenbelt, or you can see it online via Zoom. (Registration is required at https://tinyurl.com/ReelnMealFeb20). William Ford, award-winning reporter, will lead the discussion following the film. Here's a flier from the New Deal Cafe, and you can view a trailer for the film here. 

For the Next Generations... 

For the younger children, ages 0 through kindergarten, the Nursery opens from 10 a.m. to 11:30 each Sunday in the white house. Zarmina Khan is our new caregiver in the Nursery.

Children in 1st through 5th grades and Young Friends worship with their families (and all of us) for the first 20 minutes of meeting. Children and youth and their teachers then move to classrooms in the white house.

• To get a log-in to access Breeze (our online meeting directory), contact either Mackenzie Morgan or Reuben Snipper at webservent@adelphifriends.org (“webservent,” with an “e,” is correct.)
   
• To sign up to receive Silent Announcements or to change the email address where you receive them: There's a small form on our webpage (www.AdelphiFriends.org), at the bottom left corner.  You can use that form to subscribe to Silent Announcements or change the address where the announcements go.
   
• To edit your own entry in the Breeze directory, just look up your own name and click on the little pencil icon next to each section of information (e-mail, home address, etc.)
   
• To find out who serves on various committees: In Breeze, click on tags and then choose "committees." You should find up-to-date lists there.
   

• To schedule something at Adelphi (for example, committee meeting on Zoom, 2nd hour, a room for an in-person meeting, space outside on the campus, etc.) send an email to schedule@adelphifriends.org.

• Title for event, such as 2nd Hour topic, name of committee, etc.
• Purpose of event, if not clear from the title
• Name of requester and contact information
• “Location,” i.e., Zoom, in-person, or both. If in-person, what space you want to meet in (Library, Meeting Room, Memorial Garden, Social Hall, etc.)
• Date and time when it starts and ends. If recurring, what dates or pattern, e.g. 2^nd Thursday of the month
• If Zoom meeting, will it be open to the public? If so, you may need a technical person to manage the waiting room, etc. Please let us know by mentioning this on your request.
• Other information that would be helpful for us to help you with this

• To find the Zoom link for a scheduled meeting:  Go to Breeze at this link, and click on “Events.”  The Zoom info should be there. 
• To announce your event in Silent Announcements. For events at Adelphi, schedule the event first by following the steps in “How to Schedule Something at Adelphi (above).”  Once you have done that, your event will be on the calendar with date, time and place.  
  
  Then you can tell people more about the event – or announce something that isn’t an Adelphi event – by sending an email to this address.  Silent Announcements are prepared each Friday morning, with brief updates on Tuesdays. To ensure that your announcement gets to the right folder, please put [SA] or just SA at the beginning of your subject line.

• Keep an eye on opportunities to meet with others in the community as we learn more together – about Quakerism, about our community and the world around us. These will usually be described in Silent Announcements, our bi-weekly news. 
   
• To join in the work of a committee – a great way to get to know people - contact the Nominating Committee, through one of the committee’s members listed on the “committees” tag in Breeze
   
• Provide financial support for Adelphi’s work and worship together.  If you are able, donate to support the Meeting’s budget, which includes everything from building upkeep to support for members and families and families in our broader community, to “mini-reparations” as we begin to acknowledge how the development of Quakerism on this continent are tied to the development and continuation of racism. 
  
  You can donate by sending a check to the Adelphi Meeting Treasurer, 2303 Metzerott Rd., Adelphi, MD 20783. Or donate securely on our website – either a one-time donation or a monthly/ quarterly pledge. To make or change a pledge to support renovations of the meetinghouse, click here.
   
• Advocate with others on an issue you are concerned about. Sign up here for the “Couch Potato Activists’” list serve and report your activities here.
   

• You can find approved minutes of past meetings: look here for 2022 minutes, and here for earlier years.
   
• You can also find recent issues of Silent Announcements:  The last two months' editions are listed at this link. 

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

Bible study: Wednesdays, 7:30pm