Meeting for Worship remains the touchstone for most of us. By the efforts of all to balance the deep quiet with discerned messages that lead us, we feel more centered and have more time to absorb messages. A monthly “Meeting for Preparation for Worship,” in which an individual shares his or her spiritual journey, has deepened worship for some. For others our ongoing Spiritual Exploration program has ripened their connections to God. Monthly Meeting for Business has continued to be productive and generally free of tension. Works gets done. One BYM observer commented that respect and caring are apparent in our process. A member of the Ministry and Worship Committee is present each month with the sole purpose of holding the Meeting in the Light. There is still, however, room for improvement. Some are distracted by people coming and going during worship. Furthermore, our hearing-assistive sound system needs replacement.

Our community has strengthened as we have expanded opportunities to gather together. Ministry and Worship Committee instituted a new meeting time called “zero hour” (8:30 or 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning) to augment our busy Second Hour schedule. Snacks, or a small meal, now offered after every Meeting for Worship, has allowed more people to stay for fellowship, greet newcomers, and attend Second Hours or Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business. We have been challenged to provide this, however, as every household must volunteer to bring food once or twice a year. Also contributing to a stronger community is an individual whose leading it has been to revitalize our newsletter and directory, posting photos of every member and attender on-line. We have an active Communications Subcommittee expanding and enriching the Adelphi website. Outreach and Fellowship Committee, though small, greets newcomers every week and sent “care” packages to 22 of our college students. Adult Religious Education scheduled well-attended monthly Second Hours on topics of interest to both newcomers and old-timers. We had a study group on the book Fit for Freedom but Not for Friendship, and weekly Bible study, though this latter group eventually ended. There was also a Quakerism 101 series especially for newcomers.

House and Grounds Committee energetically tackled many delayed maintenance projects and our facilities are more welcoming as a result. Pastoral Care has been there for us all, assisting individuals and families in distress, arranging food when needed. They have shepherded prospective members through the process of becoming Quakers, and engaged couples through the clearness process for marriage. We know we can count on them.

Religious Education continues to be a real strength of Adelphi Friends Meeting, with dedicated teachers and a large participation. Elementary-age children still wish that their time sitting in the silence would be shortened. In First Day School they prefer active time; drawing, making up plays and building things related to their lessons are favorites. Young Friends particularly relish their open conversations about spiritual matters. They find the silence in the first 20 minutes of Meeting for Worship peaceful and important. BYM Conferences for Junior Young Friends and Young Friends, respectively, are especially appreciated, in part because Young Friends organize their own conferences. Many of the young people expressed a wish for more Meeting-wide events, such as our 50^th Anniversary weekend, and other inter-generational gatherings so that they could know adults more and have the adults know them. The Meeting’s children and Young Friends are enthusiastic about their classes and the friends that they make, being accepted and appreciated for who they are, and the presence of the Spirit or God that they experience.

As we look to the future, a dedicated Facilities and Resources Working Group is leading us through the difficult process of making needed decisions about whether to upgrade our current buildings, tear them down and rebuild, or move in order to start afresh with much-needed additional space. This working group has involved the community in a Spirit-centered process using different types of activities and modalities. The process has been clear and gentle, but is also directly targeting difficult or long-standing issues.

We still have challenges and unmet needs. Some longstanding conflicts in the community have not been addressed properly. Realizing that we do not have a good method for resolving these conflicts, we are looking for a structure and process. We wish to do a better job of supporting Friends Community School but time for this is hard to find. Takoma Park Preparative Meeting is under our care but finds itself needing more from us and we endeavor to see how to do this. Most of our committees are very busy and need more members, resulting in one or two committees languishing. Burn-out is a very real threat and we struggle with how to support our committees.

This has been a very active year for our Meeting as we move through the process to envision our future, as we continue to build and support a caring community, and as we turn towards an ever-loving and nurturing Spirit.

Our Long-Range Planning task group continues to develop proposals for Adelphi’s future, forming work groups such as ones for outreach (called “Go Forth”) projects and for Facilities. As part of the Long-Range Planning process, a Meeting-wide retreat was held at Sandy Spring in January generated new ideas including the “Go Forth” projects and a suggested First Day schedule. We continue to explore ways in which modifying our schedule might help us meet the diverse and growing needs of our dynamic community life.

Religious Education continues to be an important part of our corporate life. Adelphi’s active First Day School enriches all ages. Children and youth appreciate gathering with friends, learning about Quakerism, and discussing spiritual matters. Both groups gather monthly for worship: grades 1-5 in Junior Meeting, and grades 6-12 in Young Friends Worship Sharing. They also appreciate special Meeting-wide events. Junior Meeting sponsors an annual Games Day where all ages play and raise funds for initiative chosen by the children. Young Friends have generated much energy here and in BYM. For the third year in a row, a Young Friend from Adelphi has clerked BYM Young Friends. Adelphi Young Friends have served as campers and counselors at Quaker camps, and several are attending Quaker colleges. Adult Religious Education offers multiple opportunities for sharing and learning. Bible study is held monthly with a small but dedicated group. Quakerism 101’s evenings during the week were well-attended. The Spiritual Exploration Program deepens our spiritual lives. A group discussing the book Fit for Freedom not for Friendship has helped people reflect on the role of African Americans in the Religious Society of Friends.

Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business has been better attended than in recent years. The Ministry and Worship Committee has designated a member to hold these meetings in the light, a practice modeled by BYM at its sessions, enriching our worship as we conduct our business. Adelphi continues to search for ways to help both adults with young children and new attenders to find ways to participate fully in the life of Meeting by joining worship groups and doing the work of the Meeting in committees. While the Long- Range Planning Committee deliberated on the systems and structures that would best serve our growing and changing community, some committees labored hard with fewer members. We also recognize our need to nurture the next generation of leaders.

Our many support and clearness committees are a sign of the vitality of our Meeting’s spiritual life. We have begun to see the larger dimensions of eldering, which can call forth spiritual gifts as much as offering correction. Our Pastoral Care Committee has labored with a concern to address long-standing and emerging conflicts within Meeting, including a number of attenders who are divorcing, including some married under care of the Meeting. The Pastoral Care Committee and others have struggled on how to reach out to them.

We look forward to a fruitful 2010 based on projects initiated in 2009. A “Go Forth” group will hold monthly coffee houses and Spanish language classes to reach out to, and build community with, local Spanish speakers. Three young friends and two adult Adelphi members will join a service project building homes in Tijuana, Mexico this summer. We look forward to deeper dialogue with Kenyan Friends on how our communities can strengthen one another. A significant outcome of our Long-Range Planning process has been an assessment of our 50+ year old facilities as in need of substantial repair, remodeling or replacement; a dynamic dialogue is underway.

The long-range planning process, which began with the fiftieth anniversary celebration in 2006, seemed to “season” everything that we did. Threshing sessions were held for the whole meeting to discuss particular aspects of the meeting’s life. Following the threshing sessions, members and attenders were encouraged to join “dream teams” so that they might meet regularly to flesh out provocative proposals. We found these meetings to be occasions for growing spiritually and getting to know one another.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee budgeted financial support for Young Friends’ service projects. Young Friends applied for money for a particular project and then were scheduled to share with the Meeting about the project after it was completed. Several Young Friends took advantage of this opportunity; Ian Schwenke went to Colorado, Giovanna Selvaggio-Stix went to El Salvador, Chike Croslin went to Costa Rica, and the seventh and eighth grade class from Friends Community School went to Washington, DC.

We walked with the family of one Friend who was “transgendering,” that is, changing gender identification from male to female. The Friend and her family has had a support committee, which consulted with the Meeting’s standing committees. A second hour was held with the Friend and her spouse. Young Friends participated in the Second Hour, made a statement welcoming the Friend, and wrote a letter to the Friend and her family. The Meeting held several events of celebration and support.

Perhaps because of these factors, Meeting for Worship seemed deeper, with fewer messages on a typical First Day. One Friend said, “We have raised our level of ministry to one another.” Our regular First Day schedule included two meetings for worship, a smaller one at 9:00, held outside in the Memorial Garden the third First Day of the month, and a larger one at 10:00, ending with joys and concerns, and followed by introductions and announcements, with singing in between the two meetings. In the larger meeting the children and youth remain for the first twenty minutes, after which they go to their First Day School classes, though a few remain for the entire Meeting for Worship. On the fourth First Day, however, the children have Junior Meeting, and the youth have Young Friends Meeting for Worship.

We continued to offer a wide variety of ongoing gatherings, including monthly adult Bible study, Spiritual Exploration to nurture spiritual growth through monthly gathering of all participants and small support groups, monthly Preparation for Meeting for Worship when a Friend shares one’s spiritual journey, and several women’s groups and men’s groups. All of these have enriched our worship. A Friend said, “I listen to the messages with new appreciation because I know more about the person speaking.” A book group met for several months to study Parker Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak. One participant said that she found it helped her discern what she was going to do with the rest of her life.

First Day School was, according to Young Friends, “a safe place,” where they were “known and listened to.” The children particularly appreciated times in which they were cooking and eating. First Day School was held for preschool through senior high school students. The two classes of elementary school age children (first and second grade in one class and third through fifth grade in the other) have studied the Bible, Quaker history, and living the testimonies. Middle School Young Friends have been studying world religions and service opportunities, and High School Young Friends have been discussing contemporary issues in light of Quaker values. First Day School, however, has been struggling to find teachers, and we have been encouraging non-parents to teach. Teachers of the younger children have reported challenges because of the different expectations of the children, parents and teachers.

Due in part to our envisioning a more vibrant future of the Meeting, Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business has witnessed a larger attendance and a less contentious spirit. Friends have appreciated the work of the clerk. In carrying on the work of the Meeting, however, a number of committees have reported inadequate membership, and Friends felt they were stretched too thin.

Nevertheless, a Friend commented, “The spirit of the Meeting is very uplifting. I feel a real sense of community here.” Less of a “chasm” seemed to exist between Friends who identify themselves as Christians and those who do not. One second hour focused on being Christian in a liberal Quaker meeting. Some Friends expressed a need to know one another more deeply. The reinstitution of “neighborhood groups” might be helpful.

In our witness to the world, many individuals have done a “marvelous job for a meeting this size,” said one Friend. Furthermore, we have become more supportive of people following their leadings. People were showing more trust for one another on their spiritual paths. More people are coming to Meeting in order to be nurtured so that they can express their witness in the world. We still struggled as a meeting to find corporate ways of service in which more people can participate. One of the ways we have exercised corporate witness has been through Friends Community School, which is under our spiritual care. There are still unhealed wounds suffered over the life of the school. The new head is open to talking with the people involved and moving forward in a forthright and loving manner.

We continue to grow, to serve, to care, to worship, so that, in the words of George Fox, “the power of the Lord might be over all.”

Many women from our Meeting attended the yearly BYM Women’s Retreat in Front Royal, and a group of committed and energetic women stepped forward to organize the 2010 Retreat! It looks like the dates will be January 29-31, 2010, and the location will move back to Skycroft Retreat Center in Middletown, MD.

The prompting of the Spirit led one member of our Meeting to organize us to contribute food weekly to the food pantry at St. Camillus Catholic Church. Most weeks our food “basket” is quite full, and we are grateful to work together with a church that has a food outreach program to the community.

A long-time member of our Meeting, Esther Webb, age 92, died on March 27th. She was faithful in her attendance at Meeting for Worship and, true to form, she was with us the Sunday before her death. She was very active in organizing and working for peace from World War II all the way through to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A Memorial Service was held for her on April 5th.

We have also been continuing our Meeting-wide process of long-range planning by having Dream Teams in five major topic areas. January 31 will be a retreat where Dream Teams will report their top dreams and we will seek unity on future directions of our Meeting. Peace and Social Concerns has been sponsoring a monthly program,“Preparation for Meeting for Worship,” in which once a month an individual from our Meeting shares his or her spiritual journey in the half-hour before Meeting for Worship. We have deepened our understanding and appreciation of each other as we have done this.

We have also been experimenting with snacks after every Meeting for Worship as a way to increase fellowship in our fairly large Meeting. There has been a very positive response to this and we hope to continue it. We have also started to offer monthly electronic debit of donations
to the Meeting. We hope this will not only simplify the donation process but increase the predictability of monthly income.

The trauma of war affects more than just the soldiers coming home from the Middle East. Alaine Duncan from our Meeting has been recognized for her work in founding Crossings Healingworks, a non-profit group that provides soldiers, their family members and others who care for them with stress reduction in the form of acupuncture and massage. The group offers reduced and sliding scale fees to soldiers and their partners, parents and children. More information is available at www.crossingshealingworks.org. (Donations or other support appreciated in this effort to help bring peace to war.)

The young people, through Junior Meeting and Young Friends Worship Sharing, are guided in their participation in Meeting for Worship and other Quaker practices. Peace and Social Concerns Committee instituted a Preparation for Meeting for Worship, a half-hour period prior to Meeting for Worship on the Third First Day of the month, during which individual members of the Meeting reflect on their own spiritual journeys. A small outdoor worship in the Memorial Garden on the second First Day of the month was instituted. A Christmas evening meeting was held, and it was well appreciated by those who attended. Individuals still express some concern that our time to express joys and concerns sometimes goes too far afield or lasts too long. The Ministry and Worship Committee has struggled with this issue, but no consensus has emerged.

Many changes have occurred during 2007. Building on the impetus provided by the 50th anniversary celebration, during which we began the process of envisioning how the Meeting should continue to grow, the ad hoc Long Range Planning Committee worked throughout the year. Their report, entitled “Tending our Roots, Nurturing Our Future,” challenged the Meeting to look at the various themes developed and to respond to provocative proposals on each theme. There has been enthusiastic participation, and a plan has been developed to have threshing sessions on each theme during 2008.

Ministry and Worship Committee completed two major documents that have been in the works for years. Living Life in the Spirit is the Meeting’s guide for supporting individual callings and leadings, and a manual entitled Practices and Procedures Supporting the Spiritual Life of the Meeting spells out the charges of each Meeting committee and is a guidebook for worship, business and other spiritual practices. Both documents were approved by the Meeting, with the understanding that the manual will continue to be a work in progress, as Meeting needs and committee structures change.

Responding to the concern that visitors and newcomers sometimes find it difficult to integrate in the Meeting, Outreach and Fellowship has become more active in welcoming them and being available to interpret Adelphi and Quakerism. In addition, this committee along with the Hospitality Committee initiated a process by which expanded snacks are available following Meeting for Worship—with volunteers signing up to bring in food. This has enhanced the fellowship and might have encouraged more people to remain for the Second Hours, which have been better attended than in the past. The topics have included: Ramallah Friends School; an imam discussing Islam and peace; a threshing session on Peace and Social Concerns’ new proposals for distributing the money given to community organizations; Prince Edward County, Va. civil rights history; a listening session on the BYM young Friends program; worship sharing on the Spiritual State of the Meeting; and a session on Quaker Discernment.

The first interment of ashes in the Memorial Garden took place this year. The Memorial Garden provides a quiet sanctuary for individual meditation.

Our Meetings for Worship for the Conduct of Business this year presented no big controversies, and there was a general feeling that the business was conducted in a spirit of worship. This was the first full year since the Meeting changed its fiscal year from the calendar year to a December through November year. Finance Committee kept the Meeting well informed of how we were doing in terms of contributions and expenses, and appreciation has been expressed for the clarity of their reports. We were pleased that the budget was met.

All the committees of Meeting have been very active during the year, although it has been difficult to find enough members for our various committees. As a result, some people are stretched too thin. The Long Range Planning Committee is examining the role of the committees in the life of the Meeting, including the spiritual life of the Meeting. Pastoral Care has responded to the needs of members who were ill or who needed other assistance.

The First Day School program continues to be vibrant for both children and adults. Adult Religious Education has not been as active this year, and several people have expressed regret that Quakerism 101 or some variation on it did not occur. A desire for Bible study expressed by many will be addressed in second hours beginning in 2008.

Individual and corporate leadings and activities in the Meeting have continued to inspire and challenge us. Among the many, the renamed and revitalized Quaker Earthcare Witness Committee presented a sustainability minute, which was approved by the Meeting, and led us in potluck dinners using local foods and less trash. The tutoring project at Mother Jones Elementary School continues to receive financial support from Meeting, some volunteer support from Meeting members and support from other volunteers from the larger community. The same could be said on a national and international level for Ufufuo, which focuses on rebuilding and reconciliation. The Restore and Renew Wellness Clinic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Housing Initiative Partnership (HIP) have called us to ponder our relationship, respectively, with the military in wartime, and with the poor in our area.

Friends Community School, which is under the spiritual care of the Meeting, moved into its new green building in the fall. On November 4, Adelphi’s Meeting for Worship was held at the school in celebration of the anniversary of its founding. Tours of the new building were a highlight of this event. Concern, however, still exists about the degree of involvement of the Meeting in the spiritual life of the school.

The children in Meeting responded to the queries (adapted from the BYM queries) by saying that they do not feel encouraged to speak in Meeting for Worship, and there was a mixed response to whether they feel listened to by adults. Most find the silence (when they are in Meeting for Worship for the first twenty minutes) too long or too boring, but at least one appreciated the silence. Potluck and Strawberry Festival are popular with them and provide opportunities for intergenerational fellowship. The children have a concern for the environment, and they want to be more active. It has been suggested that there should be more cooperative games and social activities for the children on a regular basis.

Young Friends and Junior Young Friends provided feedback that Meeting is the focus of their spiritual life and expressed appreciation for hearing other people’s spiritual thoughts and understanding of Quakerism. They also appreciate the fellowship of other young people, and some feel that the Meeting provides a larger family.

Other activities of the Meeting have included a winter Local Foods potluck that challenged us to bring seasonally appropriate food, and Meeting middle schoolers learning about and visiting different religious traditions