• Roanoke Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
• Calendar
• Worship and Beliefs
• History
• Meeting for Business
• Minutes
• Newsletters
• Blue Ridge Gathering
• Quaker Quotation of the Month
• Quaker Writings
• Committee News
• Area Quaker Meetings
• Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
• Quaker Language
• Quaker Literature
• Quaker Links
• Other Links

Roanoke Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

WELCOME

Welcome to the Roanoke Quaker website!  You will find here our contact information and monthly calendar as well as short accounts of our history, worship, beliefs and much else.  Also featured are updates on Blue Ridge Gathering, the area Friends get-together, and links to neighboring Meetings.

We welcome visitors. We love to share our worship with others.  We'll even talk to you about our beliefs, though we are not much on proselytizing.   And, no, we don't dress like the Quaker Oats Man or say "thee" and "thou" any more....

A SNAPSHOT OF QUAKERISM

What will you experience if you attend if you attend a Quaker Meeting for Worship?  You will find Friends sitting in a circle for an hour of silence, with brief vocal ministry occasionally coming from the participants.  It is a time of quiet, healing and reflection in the presence of the Spirit of God.

What are the beliefs of Quakers?  Peace, simplicity, community, integrity and equality are important testimonies for us.  They all flower from our rediscovery of the Inner Light, that is, we can feel the spirit of God moving within ourselves.

How do Quakers organize themselves?  Friends create offices and committees as needed, and members and attenders of the Meeting fill these roles.  We do not employ a minister.  Decisions are made at a once a month Meeting for Business, much like our Meeting for Worship, where Friends prayerfully seek guidance from God.  This may result in a sense of the Meeting, that is, a general sense that this is the path that God would have us follow.  A Clerk, or chair, articulates this in a minute.  We do not vote on these decisions.

For more information, please check for the pages on Quaker Worship and Beliefs, Meeting for Business, or Quaker Literature.

Our newest page is "Quaker Writings", featuring short pieces on aspects of Quakerism.  Please check the Committee News page for descriptions of the committees and the latest news on their activities.  A Meeting for Business page, explaining how Quakers make decisions corporately, has also been added recently.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Roanoke Meeting gathers in the Rice Room, second floor, opposite the elevators, at the Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Av. SW, Roanoke VA 24016.   Some activities occur in homes or other sites.

Religious education for children, with a space and a planned program, is available.  Children are encouraged to attend part of the Meeting for Worship, too. 

A Roanoke College Worship Group also gathers, usually on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7 PM in the Chaplain's Office at Roanoke College.  The office is near Clay St. and College Av.  While we offer it primarily to students, any and all people are welcome.  It does not gather during the months of April through August due to end of school exams and summer vacation.

Contributions to the Meeting may be mailed to our Post Office Box, listed below.  It may also be handed to David Hurt, our treasurer, at Meeting. 

Roanoke Friends may be contacted at 540-929-4975 or jenny@rev.net.  Our mailing address is PO Box 8023, Roanoke VA 24014-8023. 

All are welcome to worship with us!

GENERAL SCHEDULE

Every Sunday at 10:30 AM: Meeting for Worship

Every Sunday at 10:30 AM: Religious education for children.  Children may also attend part of the worship

Every first Sunday of the month at noon: Potluck

Every second Sunday of the month at noon: Adult Religious Education program

Every second Tuesday of the month at 7:45 PM: Reading Group at Jack & Diana Good's home; call 989-5876 for more information

Every third Sunday of the month at noon: Meeting for Business  (Friends are reminded that Meeting for Business is a Meeting for Worship)

Every fourth Sunday of the month at noon: Bible study

Every fourth Tuesday of the month at 7 PM: Roanoke College Worship Group at the Chaplain's Office; doesn't gather April through August.  Call Mike Heller at 772-1654 for more information    

As requested: Meeting for Healing at Tom Nasta's office; call 344-9448 for more information                                    

ALSO:

Lynchburg Meeting gathers for worship every Sunday at 10 AM in Lynchburg College's Religious Life Center, 1501 Lakeside Drive.  Call Jim Owens at 434-836-5331 or Heidi Koring at 434-847-4301 for more information.  Lynchburg is under the care of Roanoke Meeting.

For suggestions or concerns about the website, contact Gary Sandman at 540-989-0393 or garysandman@mfire.com.

AND:

A tip of the broadbrim to Matt Clark, a friend of Friends, for setting up this website!