{"id":15871,"date":"2025-10-31T20:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/young-adults-turn-to-quakers-silent-worship-to-offset-and-cope-with-a-noisy-world\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:35:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:35:21","slug":"young-adults-turn-to-quakers-silent-worship-to-offset-and-cope-with-a-noisy-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/young-adults-turn-to-quakers-silent-worship-to-offset-and-cope-with-a-noisy-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Young adults turn to Quakers\u2019 silent worship to offset \u2013\u00a0and cope with \u2013 a noisy world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Quakers
Quakers attend a Sunday worship in the historic West Room of the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

PHILADELPHIA \u2013 At the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia\u2019s Old City, increasing numbers of young people are seeking respite from a clamorous technological age in the silent worship of a centuries-old faith.<\/p>\n

Like other Quaker houses of worship, it follows values of simplicity and equality. There\u2019s no clergy, pulpit, altar, statues of saints or stained-glass windows. No singing, chanting, incense or candles. They simply sit in silence in two-century-old wooden pews \u2013 and wait for a message from God to move through them until they speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis feels different in that it\u2019s so simple. It\u2019s set up in a way that makes you feel like your internal world \u2026 is equally as important as the space that you\u2019re in,\u201d says Valerie Goodman, a pink-haired artist reading her Bible outside the meeting house on a recent Sunday before going inside. Goodman, 27, grew up Southern Baptist but left the evangelical church in college.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like I can have a minute to breathe. It\u2019s different than having a moment of meditation in my apartment because there\u2019s still all of the distractions around,\u201d Goodman says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s crazy being in a room full of other people that are all there to experience that themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has been called the \u201cWestminster Abbey of Quakerism.\u201d Yet for years, attendance at Arch Street was so low, and its historic 300-seat West Room felt so empty, that the few people present began to meet in a smaller room. Attendance has surged in recent years, rising from about 25 before the pandemic to as many as 100 today.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that I\u2019m very excited about is the number of people that we have coming to meeting, and the fact that the majority of them are young,\u201d says Hazele Goodridge, Arch Street\u2019s clerk.<\/p>\n

One couple\u2019s story<\/div>\n

Among them: Emily Philbrook, 24, and Benjamin Barger, 27, who recently married at Arch Street in a traditional Quaker wedding. The couple moved from Washington to Philadelphia so he could attend veterinary school and began to worship at Arch Street three years ago.<\/p>\n

Wearing a dark suit and white wedding dress, they sat on chairs up front, facing hundreds of guests. Eyes shut, they held a long period of silence broken only when they stood to exchange their vows. Like other Quaker weddings, it was a self-uniting ceremony: They married each other, without an officiant. At the end, the guests lined up to sign, as witnesses, a marriage certificate.<\/p>\n

Two days later, the couple returned to Arch Street for Sunday worship, wearing jeans, sneakers and Philadelphia Eagles T-shirts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really nice to have that hour of silence when so much is going on in the world,\u201d Barger says. \u201cKind of like stepping back into time a little bit in this building.\u201d<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t merely the silence. Philbrook says she values the faith\u2019s long tradition of Quaker activism that she believes is attracting young people at a time of deep divisions and political violence in America.<\/p>\n

Historically, Quakers have been involved in peaceful protests to end wars and slavery, and they support women\u2019s voting rights in line with their commitment to justice and peace. Earlier this year, Quakers marched from New York to Washington to protest the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn times of national distress, people tend to turn toward something that is historically a peaceful and social justice-oriented faith,\u201d Philbrook says. \u201cThey just want a place to sit and reflect and be in a like-minded community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracing its heritage to William Penn<\/div>\n

The Arch Street Meeting House was built in the early 19th century on land donated by William Penn, an English Quaker who founded Pennsylvania based on Quaker principles of religious tolerance. It remains one of the world\u2019s largest active meeting houses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most important building in the Quaker faith, probably because it is that sort of mecca of Quakerism,\u201d says Sean Connolly, executive director of the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust. \u201cIt was built to be the largest, grandest Quaker meeting house in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few knew about it. Tourists visiting Independence Hall and other historic Philadelphia attractions would walk into the meeting house\u2019s brick building and were often surprised Quakers even existed, says Goodridge, a member of Arch Street for more than 25 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think, \u2018Oh, they must have all died out because probably they don\u2019t hear too much about us,\u2019\u201d says Goodridge, who is also the first Black clerk in Arch Street\u2019s history. \u201cThey think of Quakers as a historic construct, something that used to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others, she says, would confuse them with Amish or Mennonites or would invoke Quaker Oats, which is unrelated to the faith. The company describes the logo as \u201ca figure of a man in \u2018Quaker garb\u2019\u201d with white hair and a tall black hat on its label that the owners picked along with the Quaker name more than 150 years ago \u201cas a symbol of good quality and honest value.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQuakers didn\u2019t haggle,\u201d Goodridge says. \u201cQuakers were fair businesspeople. And they made good products \u2013 the benches are proof of it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Arch Street\u2019s original wooden pews withstood the test of time. But how does a religion that offers the solace of quiet make itself known and compete against all the loud noise of the modern world?<\/p>\n

Part of the challenge, Goodridge says, was that Quakers \u2013 those in the northeastern United States, at least \u2013 don\u2019t proselytize. Arch Street, though, has more leeway because it\u2019s a historic site with exterior exhibits that talk about the Quaker faith. That has helped increase visitation.<\/p>\n

The museum run by Arch Street\u2019s preservation trust has also held organized tours and virtual resources. One of them challenges visitors to test their knowledge of Quakerism with questions painted on a wooden panel. Among them: \u201cDo Quakers quake?\u201d \u201cDo Quakers eat Quaker Oats?\u201d and \u201cAre Quakers still around today?\u201d<\/p>\n

Roots in 17th-century England<\/div>\n

The Religious Society of Friends, or the Quakers, originated in 17th-century England. The Christian group was founded by George Fox, who objected to Anglican emphasis on ceremony. In the 1640s, he said he heard a voice that led him to develop a personal relationship with Christ, described as the Inner Light.<\/p>\n

Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms. Brought to court for opposing the established church, Fox tangled with a judge who derided him as a \u201cQuaker\u201d in reference to his agitation over religious matters.<\/p>\n

In the United States, Quakers became highly influential in cities like Philadelphia and founded colleges in Pennsylvania. But members of the group also faced scorn for refusing to join wars due to their belief in nonviolence. Some were persecuted and even executed for trying to spread their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

Today, there are an estimated 400,000 Quakers worldwide. About half live in Africa; most are in Kenya, where they use bands and choirs and evangelize.<\/p>\n

Arch Street Quakers, though, want to remain traditional. But members credit its outreach clerk, Alec Unkovic, for raising awareness about the often-ignored contributions of Quakers by redesigning the congregation\u2019s site and posting about events on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stillness in meeting and the way of silence is atypical for our current moment,\u201d says Unkovic, who grew up Catholic. \u201cThis meeting made a really conscious choice to acknowledge that many people were interested in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a recent Sunday, Aurora Reardanz sat with dozens of others at Arch Street. After worship, she shared that she had decided to become a full member.<\/p>\n

Though she was baptized Catholic, Reardanz never practiced. Instead, she found her spiritual home in Quakerism and the faith\u2019s values, known as SPICES \u2013 Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Stewardship. Today, she also appreciates silence, calling it \u201cbeautiful and alluring.\u201d But it wasn\u2019t always that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first meeting for worship at 15, I thought I was in a cult. I was terrified. The silence was deafening,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s something that grew on me, and I think it grows on a lot of people, and they learn to appreciate it in a world of constant noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation U.S., with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation U.S., with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Quakers
Quakers raise their hands after a worship service at the historic West Room of the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Emily
Emily Philbrook and Benjamin Barger hold a moment of silence during their traditional Quaker wedding at Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia on Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Newlywed
Newlywed couple, Emily Philbrook and Benjamin Barger, walk out of a worship service at the Quaker Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jeffrey
Jeffrey Kippax sits alone as he reads a text in preparation for upcoming Sunday worship in the historic West Room of the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Artist
Artist Valerie Goodman poses for a portrait outside the Arch Street Meeting House before attending a silent Quaker worship service in Philadelphia on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Quakers
Quakers leave after Sunday worship in the historic West Room of the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Light
Light shines onto a 19th century wooden pew in the West Room of the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia after a traditional Quaker wedding on Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia is seen on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Benjamin
Benjamin Barger and Emily Philbrook kiss as they walk out of Arch Street Meeting House after their traditional Quaker wedding in Old City Philadelphia on Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waiting for a message from God to move through them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15871"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19889,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15871\/revisions\/19889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15871"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}