Seeking the way forward in our next chapter

New Garden Friends is a Quaker Meeting with 300 members and active attenders. The average weekly attendance is approximately 110. Ours is an aging congregation eager to include more young families.

The Meeting is located in Guilford County (pop. 546,000 in 2022) in the Piedmont region of north central North Carolina. The Meeting, established in 1754, anchors a community of Quaker institutions: Guilford College, Friendship Friends Meeting, Friends Homes retirement community, New Garden Cemetery Association, and New Garden Friends School (K-12).

The Meeting maintains dual memberships in Friends United Meeting and Friends General Conference.

In addition to the settled pastor, New Garden employs two other full-time staff members – an Office Manager and a Religious Education Coordinator. We also employ several part-time staff members: a Visitation Pastor, Music Minister, Organist/Pianist, Communications Assistant, Childcare Providers, and a Custodian.

The resource of the meetinghouse is used throughout the week to house other ministries such as office space for American Friends Service Committee, Siembra NC, and a play group for home-schooled children in the community.

Much of the work of the Meeting is shared by members through various committees, which include Religious Education, House, Grounds, Finance and Stewardship, Peace and Social Concerns, and Quaker Relations. New Garden has a Meeting for Ministry and Counsel, which partners with the Pastoral Minister in providing spiritual guidance, pastoral care, and worship planning.

Each First Day begins with a small, unprogrammed meeting (approximately a dozen attendees), and is followed by a larger semi-programmed meeting. The first half of the semi-programmed meeting for worship includes congregational singing, readings, special music, and a prepared message. The second half consists of open worship, during which members and attendees are welcome to share vocal ministry, as led by the Spirit. During the pandemic, New Garden began a hybrid ministry which enables members who cannot attend in person to participate remotely.

Our community deeply values the traditional Quaker testimonies and belief in “continuing revelation.” We welcome Light from many sources and spiritual traditions, including, but not limited to, Christianity and the Bible. New Garden has a strong commitment to social justice and works for peace, racial equity, environmental justice, and supports the immigrant and LBGTQ+ communities.

New Gardeners join with others in the larger Greensboro community and world by working with and funding international, national, and local organizations such as AFSC, FCNL, FCNCL, QUNO, RSWR, Greensboro Urban Ministries, and Meals on Wheels.

New Garden Friends Meeting is blessed with the resources needed to carry us where the Spirit leads in this next chapter.