A Quaker Meeting on East Kivett Street
Asheboro Friends Meeting gathers on East Kivett Street in Asheboro, North Carolina, where a fellowship of the Religious Society of Friends has worshipped since January 3, 1960. The meeting is the spiritual descendant of Quaker families who moved into town from rural Randolph County meetings like Bethel, Back Creek, Hopewell, and Science Hill as the railroad brought new life to the area in the early 1900s. A century later, Asheboro Friends continues to serve the same downtown it grew up alongside, with a campus that now includes a children's ministry wing and a retirement community next door.
Worship on Sunday Morning
Sunday School begins at 10:00 am, followed by Worship at 11:00 am. The meeting follows a programmed style with a pastor leading the service, in contrast with the silent, unprogrammed worship practiced by some Quaker meetings. Asheboro Friends is part of the Friends Church of North Carolina (FCNC), which the congregation recognizes as its yearly meeting and considers its place within the wider Religious Society of Friends.
Kids Klub and GLOW on Wednesdays
Children and youth sit at the heart of the meeting's weekly rhythm. On Wednesday afternoons, Kids Klub welcomes children ages 4 through 10 from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, and GLOW gathers students ages 11 and up from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Susan Coltrane directs both programs and works alongside intern David Peters. Coltrane has served in children's ministry for more than forty years, including two stints at Asheboro Friends separated by a period of retirement that ended when she felt called back in December 2016. Peters, a retired NCDOT roadway construction inspector, joined the youth team and continues his second career in ministry alongside Coltrane.
The children's ministry building itself was created in 2004 when the meeting converted its garage into a dedicated space for Kids Klub.
What Asheboro Friends Believes
The meeting holds to a Bible-centered, evangelical Quaker faith. Salvation comes through personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. The meeting teaches that all people are sinners in need of repentance and that the Holy Spirit awakens conviction of sin and enables believers to live Godly lives. Asheboro Friends confesses Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, affirming his Virgin Birth, sinless life, miracles, redeeming work on the cross, resurrection, and personal return. The Bible is received as inspired by the Holy Spirit and infallible in its teachings, and the Godhead is confessed as three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Pastor and the Meeting's Mission
David Millikan was recorded as a Friends Minister by North Carolina Yearly Meeting in 2014 and has served as pastor of Asheboro Friends since July 2016. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with degrees in chemistry and medical technology, Millikan came to pastoral ministry after a career as a medical technologist and laboratory information systems coordinator at High Point Regional Hospital.
The meeting's stated mission is to encourage life in Christ, growth in Christ, and service in the name of Christ.
Monthly Meeting, Quaker Men, and United Society of Friends Women
Three smaller groups sustain the meeting's shared life. The Monthly Meeting gathers to discuss the business and mission of the meeting and to determine its direction. Quaker Men is a men's missionary fellowship that shares a meal, undertakes service projects, and gathers around learning groups; Larry Marley coordinates the group's meetings. The United Society of Friends Women is the meeting's women's fellowship, and Helen Marley can be contacted for the next gathering time.
A Building That Grew With the Meeting
Asheboro Friends' current home opened on January 3, 1960, replacing the meeting's earlier building on Worth Street, where Quakers had first worshipped with the Presbyterians beginning in June 1913 before forming their own Monthly Meeting two years later. The original downtown building had reached capacity by 1948, and the meeting began raising funds for a new building on Kivett Street in 1956. The new sanctuary was designed with twenty-three classrooms, seven restrooms, three kitchens, and two fellowship halls. In 1982, the meeting built the Asheboro Friends Retirement Apartments on the same campus, and in 2004 the children's ministry building was added.
Giving, Office Hours, and Contact
Giving is available online through Tithe.ly. The meeting office is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 am to noon. The meeting can be reached by phone at (336) 625-3803 or by email at asheborofriends@yahoo.com. The mailing address is P.O. Box 987, Asheboro, NC 27204.