Meeting History
The Davidson community of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) began meeting in July 1989 as an offshoot of the Charlotte Monthly Meeting (a member of North Carolina Yearly Meeting FUM at the time). The group initially consisted of Barbara Christian, Patty and Ralph Levering, and Suzy and Lauren (Buzz) Yoder, some of whom were members of Charlotte Meeting.
In 1991 the group decided to officially become a worship group under the care of Charlotte Friends, and in 1994 began conducting Meetings for Worship with Attention to Business. Patty Levering served as the first clerk of the Meeting.
In April 2000, Friends General Conference traveling Friend Nancy Middleton visited and suggested that Davidson Friends might be ready to become a stand-alone Meeting, no longer under the care of another local Meeting community and granting membership on its own.
August 27, 2000, Friends from Charlotte Friends, NCYM-FUM, NCYM-Conservative, and Piedmont Friends Fellowship came to talk to Davidson Friends about the process of becoming a stand-alone Meeting and choosing an affiliation.
April 2002, Davidson Friends became a stand-alone Meeting with the support of the Charlotte Friends. Davidson Friends chose to affiliate with Piedmont Friends Fellowship, and through the fellowship with Friends General Conference.
July 9, 2009, Davidson Meeting was accepted as a member of North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative). This came after four or five years of discernment on the part of the Meeting, and after several visits from representatives of the Yearly Meeting (some informally, some requested by Davidson Friends, and others as part of the Yearly Meeting discernment process).
(Thanks to Sara Emmons Lamb for compiling the chronology through 2002).
History of Places in Davidson Where Friends Have Worshipped
From the beginning until January 2008, the group met in the Carolina Inn, a building owned by Davidson College.
Due to continually increased attendance, the Meeting relocated to the basement of the Tomlinson building, located more directly on the Davidson College campus.
In December 2007 the Meeting accepted a generous gift of property at 625 South Street in Davidson, commonly known as the "Little Yellow House."
Some activities began to take place at the Little Yellow House, and in November 2008 the Meeting approved a process that is expected to end in the construction
on the 625 South Street property of a structure with space large enough to hold everyone for Meeting for Worship.
History of Davidson Friends Worship Style and Spiritual Fellowship
For a while when the group began worship, one person would provide a reading or a piece of music for the worship to center on, but in time that practice ended.
The group always relied primarily on expectant waiting in silence for messages from the Divine to be shared, commonly known as "unprogrammed worship."
According to Patty Levering, the original group intended this faith community to be very open to Christian language and grounded in the Christian roots of Friends while being very accepting of people wherever they are in their spiritual journeys.
The Carolina Inn in Davidson, NC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The "Little Yellow House"