Whether this is your first at a Quaker meeting or you have been coming for years, know that you are welcome. You are welcome whether you attend in person or online. We are glad you are here.
As Friends, we practice a listening spirituality. We listen for the voice of the Spirit through music, readings, prepared messages, and open worship.
In our open worship, we believe that God can speak to or through anyone. We listen in silence for the leading of the Spirit. If you feel led to speak out of the silence, please do!
Blessings, Ashley
[email protected] ngfm.org
Office Hours: 2-4pm on Mondays and by appointment
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.
Dear Friends, It was so wonderful to see you engage with the Transition Team’s event on Sunday! I appreciated your care and thoughtfulness in responding to the queries in open worship, both aloud and in writing. And I could see how people were getting to know each other better and reflect on what is unique about New Garden Friends Meeting over lunch. Many thanks to everyone who helped to organize and facilitate the gathering. I…
Dear Friends, Happy Spring! Spring is my favorite season, followed very closely by Fall. For me, these transitional seasons are full of beauty, hope, and excitement for what is to come (even as I continue to wake up to temps in the 20’s and wonder when I can really start to get things started in the garden). This season of transition at New Garden Friends Meeting is affecting me similarly. Some days I am simply…
The April 2nd Forum will engage in discernment of an appropriate statement on Reproductive Health Care. This discussion will focus our response to the following request from Friends Committee on National Legislation. “From its inception, Friends Committee on National Legislation has relied on meetings and churches to ground our work in the concerns of Friends. We invite you to engage your meeting or church in worship and discernment about this issue. Your discernment will guide…
Please come join us as we celebrate our 140th Church Anniversary and our rich church history at the 1st Annual “Celebrating Our Heritage” banquet on April 22, 2023, 6:00 p.m. at the Wyndham Garden Hotel Greensboro in the Carolina Ballroom. Tickets are $40.00. Seating is limited, please RSVP by April 3, 2023. Please call Felicia Raleigh at 336-662-2313 or email [email protected] to reserve your tickets.
If you are unable to disarm our CPI alarm when entering the Meetinghouse, immediately call the House Clerk (Roger 336-681-6499) The GPD will respond if the alarm is not cancelled, resulting in a $100.00 fine to the Meeting and unnecessary diversion of the police from their important duties. For information on disarming our CPI alarm system, see Valerie in person at the Meeting.
“Many hands make light work”: That’s the motto of New Garden’s nominating committee as we begin our annual swing spring into action. So, we’re inviting you to consider how you can lend your hands and talents in support of the programs and activities of the meeting, and enjoy being with other New Gardeners. And … thanks to Zoom, and other new technologies ….most committees meet electronically, so the burden of rushing through dinner and driving…
Greetings Triad-area Bridge Players & Friends! The Triad Bridge Club is excited to announce the start of a NEW duplicate bridge game in Greensboro on Thursdays… Designed with advancing players in mind, this is a shorter and fun-oriented new take on our favorite game! bridgeLITE will be a limited masterpoint game (0-799er), with a goal of providing a comfortable, less intense atmosphere for players still working on developing their game. All games will be 20-21…
Dear Friends, As you hopefully already know, we will have a special event for the Transition Team after Semi-Programmed Worship this week. There will be a carry-in lunch and members of the Transition Team will be facilitating conversations around queries. In worship and this event, the meeting will be reflecting on the “heritage” focus point. I am really looking forward to the ways the Transition Team is going to engage the meeting, and I have…
Can black people be racist? This is not for me to answer, but something that I have wondered about. In trying to find a definitive answer to this question I have become more confused. I think it depends on how you define “racism”. In the Pendle Hill Pamphlet that we all received in the mail during COVID isolation, author/scholar/activist Harold D. Weaver, Jr. says, “No”. According to Dr. Weaver, racism = power & discrimination/prejudice. Power…
The NCFF Anti-Racism Working Group will meet via Zoom on March 30 at 7pm to discuss the book To Drink From the Well. The book is in the New Garden Library, and Kate Seel ([email protected]) has an extra copy to give away. Contact Kate for the book and Margaret Rowlett ([email protected]) for the Zoom link.
Join us for a screening of Babylon: Journeys of Refugees, followed by a discussion with the creators and light refreshments. The film runtime is 1 hour, and will start promptly at 6:00pm. Location is the Bryan Jr. Auditorium in the Frank Family Science Center at Guilford College. “Using puppets and moving panoramic scrolls, five actor/singer/puppeteers tell refugees’ stories in original four-part choral songs… Babylon looks at the relationship of refugees to their homelands, lost and…
Dear Friends, Last week, my family and I adventured to Philadelphia, PA for a quick visit with my “kid brother”. We did all the things you’re supposed to do in Philly. We went to LOVE park and admired a very “un-Quakerly” statue of William Penn atop City Hall. We went to Reading Market and ate Amish pastries. We checked out the Liberty Bell, and the oldest street in the country. And most importantly, we visited…
Have you moved, or changed phone numbers? Do you have a new email address? If so, please contact Valerie at the NGFM office. We have had several people move, relocate to Friends Homes, or leave the city. We would like to update our directory with current information in order to keep everyone in contact with each other. Please either email to [email protected] or call 336-292-5487 with your new information. Thank you, Valerie
New Garden Friends School is hosting a memorial service to honor the life and legacy of Jim Newlin on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at New Garden Friends Meeting.
We will have a Clerking Workshop with Emily Provance on Tuesday, March 21 from 3-5 p.m on Zoom. This workshop is free and open to anyone age 11 and up who is interested in learning more about clerking. Friends interested in attending can sign up HERE. https://forms.gle/Z5Hs2LdHxYyaCdTYA –– Ashley Wilcox
The Transition Team needs your help in assessing our goals and pastoral needs! A first big step is examining what we most value about our past, and perhaps point out a few traditions we may wish to leave behind! The Transition Team will have its first meeting event on March 19th at the rise of Meeting: • Meeting for Worship will prepare us for reflecting on our heritage as a Meeting. • We will share…
Now is the time to push for the expansion of Medicaid in North Carolina. Both the House and Senate have passed versions of a Medicaid expansion bill, and a final bill is very likely to come up for a vote this session. Lobby Day will be a great opportunity to meet your legislators or members of their staffs, to introduce yourself so they will know who you are in future lobbying contacts. Between now and…
The saga of the Black Lives Matter sign continues. The sign, which disappeared during construction of sidewalks along New Garden Road only to be found in the woods adjacent to New Garden Cemetery and reinstalled, has been dismantled. Here’s why. Greensboro zoning inspectors, responding to a citizen complaint about the sign, made a site visit and found the sign to be out of compliance on two points. One post slightly exceeded the maximum height limit…
Dear Friends, The turn out in the fundraising lunch has been great. I was told that we raised $2225 in cash and around $3500 in total with checks and digital donations. Thank you all for your collaboration, kindness and generosity for the victims of an earthquake overseas. We’re also thankful to Nazareth Mediterranean/American Cuisine who generously donated the meal today. We’re looking forward to continue collaborating with our Quaker friends in further activities. –– Peace,…
The request for new and gently used blankets continues, but only through the month of March! We have collected 14 blankets so far, and they have been delivered to New Arrivals Institute as they come in. Please leave blankets in the designated bin in the connector. Thanks to those who have already contributed! –– Social Concerns Committee
Friends are reminded that Daylight Savings Time starts at 2:00 a.m. Sunday Morning.
If you love a behind-the-scenes tour of a museum or concert hall, The House Committee is for you. If you love the fellowship and service of a workday with New Garden Friends, The House Committee is for you. If you love to use your skills to build ownership in our Meeting, The House Committee is for you. If you love to use your vision to advance the purpose of our Meetinghouse, The House Committee is…
Many Quaker meetings are changing. A lot of our numbers are smaller. What are some of the ways we might adjust? What does it look like to have faith and cherish our communities while also recognizing that our energy levels are getting low? Since summer 2021, Emily Provance (New York Yearly Meeting) has been working with a group of Friends from multiple yearly meetings, countries, and theological branches of Quakerism. The group has been exploring…
Waseem Shahzad and Hena Aimaq and their four children are the most recent (and ninth!) family under New Garden’s care. In Afghanistan, Waseem and Hena worked toward a free economy and social democracy. When this dream collapsed, the lives of the family suddenly were endangered. They fled to Pakistan. Two years later they were allowed to emigrate to the U.S. The children are learning English, adapting to our culture, and taking advantage of educational opportunities.…
Tuesday, March 14th, 7pm Eastern/ 4pm Pacific / Join Quaker ecotheologian, Cherice Bock in sharing about her newest book, A Quaker Ecology: Meditations on the Future of Friends. In our best moments, Friends have been in the middle of the action around the social justice issues of each time period, discerning to the best of their abilities the direction the Inward Light leads and speaking truth to power. In our own time, climate justice can…
Dear Friends, I have had so much fun connecting with people at Guilford College over the past week! On Wednesday, my class met in the meetinghouse (we are halfway through the semester!). Then on Thursday, I joined QLSP for Taize worship in the New Garden meeting room. Afterward, we had a wonderful dinner with Friends from the meeting, provided by Caring Friends. Five students stayed for our pastoral visitation training, along with many people from…
NCFF will hold its Spring meeting on Saturday, March 4 from 9am-12pm. It will be in person at First Friends, 2100 W Friendly Ave, Greensboro, NC. Breakfast will be provided. You do not need to register or RSVP. However, if you would like to attend virtually, First Friends has set up a Zoom meeting for the day, and Richard Wilcox at [email protected] will need RSVP’s for virtual attenders so that he can forward the link…
There was a book in our Little Free Antiracist Library entitled, “Black Rednecks and White Liberals” by Thomas Sowell. I’d never heard of Thomas Sowell and there was no picture of him on the book jacket. There was, however, a short review, praising the book, by a Fox News commentator, so I suspected it was probably not conducive to our antiracist purposes. Before recycling it at McKays though, I did my homework and was, yet…
