As we gradually resume in-person activities, we continue to prioritize safety and inclusiveness for all users of our Meeting House, both New Gardeners and visitors.
We are opening the building to small groups according to the capacity limits we set previously. Group leaders can contact Sharon (336.292.5487) to make reservations. All visitors should remain masked and socially distanced and follow other guidelines provided by COVID advisors.
We will continue to hold semi-programmed meetings for worship at 11:00 am on Sundays outdoors. This remains the safest way for a large group of people, vaccinated and unvaccinated, to be together.
We will provide live Zoom and Facebook connections for those who prefer to participate from home; those participants should also note the time change from 10 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and the other changes in schedule, below.
Adult Forum will meet by Zoom at 9:30 a.m. You can participate as a small group on the grounds, if you prefer. Just bring along your computer.
Those attending unprogrammed meetings for worship on Sundays from 9 – 9:45 a.m. are welcome to use the meeting room.
Please follow the guidance below;
In case of threatening weather, we will send out a notice by email early Sunday morning, canceling outdoor activities. In this case, Zoom and Facebook live will take place according to the new schedule: 11 a.m.
Thank you for your care and patience.
NGFM COVID Medical Advisors
New Garden Friends Meeting is an inclusive, welcoming faith community in the tradition of the Religious Society of Friends. Our members and attenders represent a wide range of religious backgrounds and traditions. Grounded in more than 250 years of Quaker heritage, New Garden remains a vital Meeting for those who seek that of God in every person.
Do you have a surplus iPad or similar tablet capable of running Zoom? New Garden’s Tech Crew needs a tablet for use during Meeting for Worship. It needs to be capable of running Zoom and have an earphone port. It will be used to monitor the First Day Zoom webcast managed from the Meeting House.…
The COVID Advisory Group last met 11/8/21, and protocols for New Garden Friends Meeting will continue mostly the same through the Holiday season. Specifically, we will continue semi-programmed Meeting for Worship (MFW) outdoors and/or by Zoom and Facebook Live, now back to 11 am. Friends will be notified if weather does not permit in-person outdoor…
The Peace & Social Concerns Committee is extending the deadline for submitting one-page-proposals on how the committee should spend grant money in the “Broader Concerns” portion of our budget. We are awarding $250-$500 grants to projects and organizations that normally do not receive much financial support, and that reflect Quaker values, including our commitment to…
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative spoke virtually to an A&T University audience on Wednesday, November 17. He noted the practice in Germany of ensuring that their people learn about the parts their ancestors played in allowing the atrocities of the Holocaust, in hopes that such things will never be…
Honor cards are a different way for you to give a present to your friends or loved ones: Instead of a physical object, you give a card that reflects a gift to a charity. The gift to the charity is in the name of your friend or loved one, so they know that a local…
Simple Christmas is back and in person! / This year, Simple Christmas has been scheduled for Saturday, December 4, 12:30-4 p.m. Because activities will take place outdoors, there is a possibility that we will have to postpone. If that is the case, rain/snow date is the following Saturday, December 11 at the same time. We…
Infectious disease experts are now saying that fully vaccinated people can gather for the holidays with minimal risk. Testing in advance adds assurance that someone in the group is not unknowingly infected with COVID and thus capable of spreading the virus. When the gathering includes elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or unvaccinated people (eg, children under age…
Do you knit? Do you crochet? Caring Friends Needs You! Caring Friends is looking for folks willing to make afghans. We have been blessed with an abundance of afghan supplied from our generous community in the past, but now supplies are running low. Afghans are offered by Caring Friends volunteers to those people in our…
Christmas is right around the corner and plans are underway for how New Garden Friends Meeting can safely celebrate Christmas together as a community. Thanks to the hard work of Roger Seel (clerk of House Committee), aided by Linda Maynard (clerk of Grounds Committee) we have a live Christmas tree that has been planted near…
The vigil continues for the tragic killing of a homeless unarmed mentally ill man named Marcus Smith at the hands of Greensboro police 3 years ago. The public is invited to join as we ask for justice and truth in law enforcement. We will continue every Monday from 12-1 p.m. on Washington St. downtown until…
Infectious disease experts are now saying that fully vaccinated people can gather for the holidays with minimal risk. Testing in advance adds assurance that someone in the group is not unknowingly infected with COVID and thus capable of spreading the virus. When the gathering includes elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or unvaccinated people (eg, children under age…
From a recent post of The Black Quaker Project: The BlackQuaker Project celebrates Benjamin Banneker (9 November 1731 – 19 October 1806), a legendary almanac publisher, astronomer, surveyor, farmer, and friend of Friends, who notably petitioned Thomas Jefferson to acknowledge African Americans’ inalienable right to liberation. Born of Senegalese descent and free from slavery, Banneker…
Margaret has partnered with the Meeting on Ministry and Counsel to shorten her work week so that she can spend more time with her family. She will be using her paid time off (vacation time) to take every Thursday off through the end of December. Margaret will continue to work her regular schedule of Sunday…
9:30-10:30 a.m. Zoom only / Join us for a discussion about “THERE THERE” by Tommy Orange. This award-winning novel is about what life is like for Native Americans who live in cities, having moved from tribal reservations. We will have two guest facilitators trained by the Public Library to lead our discussion that day. You may pick up a…
This year, Simple Christmas has been scheduled for Saturday, December 4, 12-4 p.m. Because activities will take place outdoors, there is a possibility that we will have to postpone. If that is the case, rain/snow date is the following Saturday, December 11 at the same time. We have shifted to the afternoon in hopes that it will be…
The COVID Advisory Group last met 11/8/21, and protocols for New Garden Friends Meeting will continue mostly the same through the Holiday season. Specifically, we will continue semi-programmed Meeting for Worship (MFW) outdoors and/or by Zoom and Facebook Live, now back to 11 am. Friends will be notified if weather does not permit in-person…
The Antiracism Work Group is sharing queries to support our community in learning to view our processes and actions through an antiracism lens. Friends are invited to use these queries in their prayer, meditation, and contemplative practices, and may wish to share their responses and experiences of sitting with these queries in their interactions with…
A quotation from Amhara Powell, in “Discovering Fellowship among African American Friends,” Friends Bulletin, Vol. 74, No. 1, January 2003, pp. 3-4: “Unprogrammed worship spoke to my condition like no prior religious practice. I thought of myself as having always been a Quaker without ever having known it. . . When I joined the Religious…
Adult Forum *Now 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. on Zoom only. Join us as we continue our oral readings and discussion from the book, “Faithful Voices: Oral Readings Exploring Beliefs in Action”. On November 21, the Forum class will discuss the current selection for our whole city to read a book together: THERE THERE by Tommy…
Need to schedule a ZOOM meeting for a New Garden Friends Meeting group or event? Email the NGFM office to set up the meeting and get password information.
The Fall North Carolina Fellowship of Friends meeting will be held virtually on November 13 from 10 a.m. – noon. Check the newsletter for Zoom login information.
The Peace and Social Concerns Committee seeks proposals for funds to support organizations, programs or projects that are in-line with our Quaker testimonies and our commitment to becoming an antiracist faith community. Our meeting provides small grants (usually $250 – $500) through the Peace and Social Concerns Committee’s Broader Concerns budget. If there is a…
Update for Meeting for Worship at New Garden Friends for Sunday – November 7, 2021 Due to expected cold weather – the Sunday 11:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship will be held virtually, not outside at NGFM. It can be viewed via Zoom and the New Garden Facebook Page. Reading: “Liminality” by Carrie Newcomer Message: Liminality…
The COVID Advisory Group last met 10/11/21, and protocols for New Garden Friends Meeting continue the same at least until the next advisory Group meeting. Specifically, we will continue semi-programmed Meeting for Worship (MFW) outdoors and/or by Zoom and Facebook Live. Friends will be notified if weather does not permit in-person outdoor worship. Unprogrammed…
The September 29 entry in this space offered a quotation from Harold Weaver, Jr.’s Pendle Hill Pamphlet #465 – Race, Systemic Violence, and Retrospective Justice (2020). In that pamphlet he mentions The BlackQuaker Project, which “(1) celebrates the lives and contributions of Quakers of Color worldwide and (2) documents and addresses their concerns. It is…
9:45 a.m. / On November 21, our Adult Forum Zoom class will discuss the current selection for our whole city to read a book together: “There There” by Tommy Orange. This award-winning novel is about what life is like for Native Americans who live in cities, having moved from tribal reservations. We will have two…
Adult Forum will meet by Zoom at 9:45 a.m. Join us November 7 and 14 for oral readings and discussion from the book, “Faithful Voices: Oral Readings Exploring Beliefs in Action”. On November 7th, we will read and discuss George Fox.
Youth ages 12-18 are invited to join us around the campfire at New Garden Friends Meeting on Sunday, November 7th, from 5-6 p.m. This will be the first evening after “falling back”, so it should be plenty dark. We will spend time together catching up and enjoying the warmth of the fire. Masks are required.
Margaret has partnered with the Meeting on Ministry and Counsel to shorten her work week so that she can spend more time with her family. She will be using her paid time off (vacation time) to take every Thursday off through the end of December. Margaret will continue to work her regular schedule of Sunday…
Friends are advised that the time for semi-programmed Meeting for Worship will be pushed back to 11 a.m. as Daylight Savings Time ends (in effect November 7). Concurrently Adult Forum (Zoom only) will then move back to its usual time at 9:45 a.m. With the understanding that cooler weather may be coming, decisions on whether…
9:30-10:30 a.m. Zoom only / Join us as we continue our oral readings and discussion…
11:00 a.m. / In-Person outdoors (weather permitting) on the grounds of our meeting house. Reading:…
9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. / Those attending unprogrammed meetings for worship on Sundays are welcome…
Simple Christmas is back and in person! / This year, Simple Christmas has been scheduled…
9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. / Those attending unprogrammed meetings for worship on Sundays are welcome…
11:00 a.m. / In-Person outdoors (weather permitting) on the grounds of our meeting house. Readings:…
9:30-10:30 a.m. Zoom only / Join us for a discussion about “THERE THERE” by Tommy Orange.…
11:00 a.m. / In-Person outdoors (weather permitting) on the grounds of our meeting house. Reading:…
