This Labor Day Weekend, watch one of the final four performances of A Quiet Roar: The Unparalleled Lives of Bayard Rustin & Sarah Mapps Douglass, a Semiquincentennial theater program at Arch Street Meeting House (320 Arch Street). [Read more…] about Final Performances of A Quiet Roar at Arch Street Meeting House
Arch Street Meeting House
The Original 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery Is On View at Arch Street Meeting House | Press Release
The Original 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery is on view at Arch Street Meeting House The original 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery will be on view from June 29 to August 9, 2026. The 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery was last publicly exhibited in the summer of 2007 at the National Constitution Center. This Summer, it will return to Arch Street Meeting House for the first time since 2006, where it was discovered after its nearly two-century disappearance from the historical record. [Read more…] about The Original 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery Is On View at Arch Street Meeting House | Press Release
National Peace Walk – Philadelphia Segment
The National Peace Walk continues their project of worshipful walking towards a peaceful world. On Saturday, May 23rd, Friends will engage in a 14-mile pilgrimage from Center City, Philadelphia, to Media Friends Meeting. SEPTA railway and shuttle support will be available for Friends throughout the day. Join for all or any part, especially our community meals at Lansdowne and Media Friends Meeting at 1 pm/5 pm.
The walk begins with a meeting at Arch Street Meetinghouse (320 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19106) at 10:30 am for worship and grounding. At 11:00 am, the group will depart for the first segment of the day to Landsdowne Friends School (120 N Lansdowne Ave, Lansdowne, PA 19050), 7 miles away, for a light lunch around 1 pm. Friends are encouraged to take the time needed to rest here, as there will be transport available for the remaining 7 miles for Friends who wish to attend the program at the destination later in the day.
A welcome dinner at Media Friends Meeting (125 W 3rd St, Media, PA 19063) will begin at 5:00 PM, after which organizers of the National Peace Walk will present an interview from the PEACEWARD interview series, and speak of the path that has led from last May’s Walk to Washington, as well as what can be seen ahead for the current walk. Those in attendance will be invited into worshipful discernment of the message being carried by the walk, which will be brought to each subsequent meeting that supports the journey following Media Friends Meeting.
WHAT TO BRING:
Sun Protection (large hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, light-colored clothing) Walking Gear (comfortable shoes, trek poles/walking stick) Provisions (water, light snacks) SEPTA Key card/transportation plan if not intending to walk the entire route
Walking Route Here: https://bit.ly/3R9UttY
Learn more about the National Peace Walk at https://quakerwalk.org/nationalpeacewalk2026
Remembering Irene McHenry
Friends and friends are remembering and acknowledging the life and work of Irene McHenry.
Irene served in many roles in Friends school education. She was the founding head of Delaware Valley Friends School and later served as executive director of Friends Council on Education. [Read more…] about Remembering Irene McHenry
The Drinkers & Prisoners of Congress at Arch Street Meeting House
Norman E. Donoghue, II, will discuss his book, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778, and Philadelphia Quaker, Henry Drinker, during the American Revolution on March 19, 2026, at ASMH.
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5:30 PM – Refreshments
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6:30 PM – Keynote Speaker: Norman E. Donoghue, II, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778
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7:30 PM – Book Signing: Author Norman E. Donoghue, II will be available for questions and book signings.
In 1777, Congress labeled Quakers who would not take up arms in support of the War of Independence as “the most Dangerous Enemies America knows” and ordered Pennsylvania and Delaware to apprehend them. In response, Keystone State officials sent twenty men—seventeen of whom were Quakers—into exile, banishing them to Virginia, where they were held for a year.
Prisoners of Congress reconstructs this moment in American history through the experiences of four families: the Drinkers, the Fishers, the Pembertons, and the Gilpins. Identifying them as the new nation’s first political prisoners, Norman E. Donoghue II relates how the Quakers, once the preeminent power in Pennsylvania and an integral constituency of the colonies and early republic, came to be reviled by patriots who saw refusal to fight the English as borderline sedition.
Surprising, vital, and vividly told, this narrative of political and literal warfare waged by the United States against a pacifist religious group during the Revolutionary War era sheds new light on an essential aspect of American history. It will appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the nation’s founding.
PYM Friends and Affiliates Participating in Food Distribution | UPDATED 12.19.2025
UPDATED 12.19.2025
Different Quaker meetings, organizations, and affiliates in our region are gathering food pantry items this season.
If your meeting is collecting food or donations for a local pantry, please let PYM staff know so we can share your meeting’s work with the wider community. Friends can post this information on PYM Connect or email communications@pym.org.
Friends Participated in Stewardship This Past November
PYM Friends connected online and in-person this past fall for Fundraising Friends, Fall Continuing Sessions, and a Friends in Business event. Each of these opportunities brought Friends into clear work; they looked at financial stewardship in their meetings, reviewed the yearly meeting’s two witnesses, and considered how board service supports community as a whole.
[Read more…] about Friends Participated in Stewardship This Past November
Fall Continuing Sessions • Mott Memo • 2025
This past weekend, November 7-9, our Fall Continuing Sessions at Arch Street Meeting House, and online, gathered us into a community for worship, fellowship, and discernment as we continued our theme of Members One of Another, which will continue through all of 2026’s sessions. In the spirit of Lucretia Mott, this Mott Memo captures a reflection of our time together. The minutes from these sessions will soon be available on the PYM website under Session Minutes, so Friends can read and reflect on the work and joy we shared. [Read more…] about Fall Continuing Sessions • Mott Memo • 2025
PYM Explained • A Resource on How Meetings, Friends, Ministries, and Structures Link
Each part of PYM Explained provides how the yearly meeting lives as one connected body and leads into what comes next. This virtual version is shared so Friends are able to interact with it for easy research and finding.
Young adults turn to Quakers’ silent worship to offset — and cope with — a noisy world • As Featured in the Associated Press
This article, written by Luis Andres Heao, originally appeared in the Associated Press.
At the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia’s Old City, more and more young people are seeking respite from a clamorous technological age in the silent worship of a centuries-old faith.
