Thus says Yahweh, "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, 'Where is the good way?' and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."
Jeremiah 6:16 (World English Bible)
North Main Friends is a small worship group that meets at 125 Broadus Ave., Greenville, SC. We invite anyone who is interested to come to our worship services, or as we call them— meetings for worship, every Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM. Our worship group has a close connection with Ohio Yearly Meeting in Barnesville, Ohio, an important voice of the conservative Quaker faith. Different Quaker groups meet once a year for a variety of spiritual and business reasons, and each group generally adopts its name from these meetings. The term "Conservative Quaker" is not a reference to politics, and does not mean that the members are affiliated with any political group. Conservative, rather, refers to the simple life that Friends seek. The word also refers to the conservative Quakers' efforts to conserve the original Quaker disciplines.
If you are interested in knowing more about conservative Friends in general, then try the above link. The conservative Friends home website has much valuable information, and will answer many questions you may have concerning conservative Quakers in general. Let us also suggest a visit to the Crossroad Friends website. The Crossroad Friends Worship Group is in Michigan, but a visit to their website would be fruitful if you are interested in knowing more about Quaker history. Our Michigan Friends have provided valuable links to a great amount of online reading material.
There is also the Quaker Faith and Fellowship Site, a worldwide cyberspace gathering of Friends. Here is a quote from the site's home page: "It is in this spirit that Quaker Faith and Fellowship has endeavored to open a cyberspace community which offers cyberspace meeting for worship to whoever, whenever and wherever need is felt." Another good site to visit is The Conservative Friend, an outreach of the Ohio Yearly Meeting.
Quaker groups also have more local associations, called "Monthly Meetings." Rockingham Monthly Meeting in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is a monthly meeting that has ties our Greenville group. There is also another Friends' group not too far away in Atlanta, the Chattahoochee Friends. We also appear on The Friends Christian Renewal Site.
As you can see, conservative Quakers are small in number, but extremely active in many places around the world. If you are local to Greenville, SC, we cordially invite you to our local meeting. If you have arrived at this site from another place, we encourage you to find out more about the Quaker community by exploring the rest of this site, or the links you will find here.
We at North Main Friends are deeply gratefuly to The Anchorage, a contemplative Christian ministry. After meeting in homes for a year and half, North Main Friends has accepted an invitation from The Anchorage to meet at its location on Broadus Ave.
Last year, North Main Friends' worshippers made a decision to become a support to the nearby Triune Mercy Center. Triune provides meals for the less fortunate of our community, and does so every day of the week. At this time, North Main Friends provides, prepares and serves the food for numerous hungry people at lunch on the third Sunday of each month. Our next scheduled time for this activity is February 21, 2010. We have had many friends outside our meeting join us for and contribute to these events, and we sincerely thank them for their efforts. In additon, North Main Friends completed, at the end of February 2009, a volunteer effort to improve the facilities in the non-foods distribution room at Triune. Our group purchased the materials and spent three days renovating the clothing shelves and clothing racks.
In addition to Triune Mercy Center, North Main Friends is gradually establishing a connection with the Perry Correctional Center. We have visited the center on several occasions, and will be doing more definitive work in the future. Our contact there is the Rev. Andy Cooper, chaplain of the Perry Center.
The pictures on this site come from two sources. The photographs were taken in the Shenandoah Valley, in the area where Friends from the Rockingham Monthly Meeting live.