Newtown Quakers to Celebrate World Quaker Day, October 3, 2021

Newtown PA

27 September, 2021

2:04 PM

Description

Newtown Quakers Celebrate World Quaker Day, October 3, 2021 Newtown Quaker Meeting will be sending greetings and love to people throughout the world onOctober 3 in celebration of World Quaker Day as they gather virtually via Zoom for worship inNewtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania (www.newtownfriendsmeeting.org).There are approximately 400,000 Quakers worldwide in North, Central and South America,Europe, the UK, East Europe, Russia, Africa, Southeast Asia, The Far East, Australia and NewZealand. The goal of World Quaker Day is for Quaker Meetings and organizations around the world toshare something about Quakers with the public via some event -- a talk of "Why I am a Quaker,"or "My Spiritual Journey" by a member, the founding of their Quaker Meeting, or maybe "Things about Quakers You Didn't Know." During Covid-19, most events are of necessityvirtual and online. Sometimes talks are about well-known Quakers like George Fox, Margaret Fell, John Woolman,Judi Dench, William Penn, Lucretia Mott, Alice Paul, John Greenleaf Whittier, the Barclays ofBarclays Bank, Joan Baez, Susan B. Anthony, the Cadburys of Cadbury Chocolates, the Clarksof Clark's Shoes, Bethlehem Steel founder Joseph Wharton for whom the Wharton School at theUniversity of Pennsylvania is named, Johns Hopkins, Ezra Cornell of Cornell university, orBonnie Raitt, and others. Talks sometimes focus on people raised as Quakers like James Michener, Daniel Boone, andJames Dean. Sometimes, the public is just invited in for a cup of coffee. A wonderful Quaker Day inGlasgow, Scotland, a few years ago was featured in the local paper which said Glasgow FriendsMeeting was promoting "the Glasgow Library scheme" where there was a 'human library' at the meeting house on Saturday when visitors could "borrow a Quaker for 40 minutes for a chat and cup of coffee." Newtown Quaker Meetinghouse is currently closed for all events due to the coronaviruspandemic but activities of the Meeting and the Meeting's 345 members continue online andoutdoors (such as the biweekly vigils on Newtown's State Street in support of racial justice). When the Meetinghouse at 219 Court Street, Newtown, does re-open, all events will continue tobe open to the public as usual.