Friends Center, Philadelphia
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friendsctr.bsky.social
Friends Center, Philadelphia
@friendsctr.bsky.social
470 followers 190 following 290 posts
The Quaker hub for peace and justice. Space for worship, nonprofit offices, and events in Philadelphia. https://www.friendscentercorp.org.
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friendsctr.bsky.social
New banners just dropped!

2025 is Friends Center's 50th anniversary as the Quaker hub for peace & justice in Philadelphia.

We're celebrating with a series of workshops on nonviolent action!
A white and green banner hangs on a black fence above a red brick wall. In the background are trees and the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse. The banner says, Friends Center 50th. 50th anniversary 1975-2025. The Quaker hub for peace and justice in Philadelphia. Learn peacemaking with us." There is a web address and a QR code that go to the web page given in the post.
September 30, 2025 at 5:51 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
We have new @afsc-org.bsky.social banners to share with you all:

"Quaker Communities
are stronger with immigrants"

1/2
Banner on a black metal fence says, "Quaker communities are stronger with immigrants." The AFSC logo is in the upper right corner. The lower left has the url afsc.org/stronger. The fence is installed on a brick wall. In the background is a tree and the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse. Banner on a different black metal fence says, "Quaker communities are stronger with immigrants." The AFSC logo is in the upper right corner. The lower left has the url afsc.org/stronger. The fence is installed on a brick wall. In the background are trees and the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse. This is on Race Street.
September 9, 2025 at 4:32 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
And just like that, the @afsc-org.bsky.social historical marker is back and looking better than ever.

It notes AFSC as co-recipient of 1947 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Quakers.

Thank you, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission!
Photo of a blue historical marker with yellow text that says, "American Friends Service Committee. Founded in Philadelphia in 1917, the AFSC has given practical expression to the faith of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Its worldwide humanitarian work has reflected a commitment to nonviolence and justice. Co-recipient, Nobel Peace Prize, 1947." In the background is a tree, a brick building, a sidewalk, and a street with cars.
September 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Here is the headless pole and the actual sign commemorating Civilian Public Service organized by Mennonite, and Church of the Brethren, and Quaker organizations (like @afsc-org.bsky.social).

(The writings on the signs are in the Alt Text.) 2/2
Yellow sign attached to a pole says this Pennsylvania Historical Marker is down for maintenance. Behind a fence in the background is a blue car. During World War II, some 12,000 men who were classified as conscientious objectors to war—about fifteen percent of them from Pennsylvania—served in non-military occupations across the United States. Under the leadership of Mennonite, Quaker, and Church of the Brethren agencies, they were engaged in mental health care and medical experiments, in forestry and on dairy farms, and in other important civic projects. PA Historical & Museum Commission 1996
August 28, 2025 at 5:46 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
On closer inspection, a tag from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission says the AFSC sign is down for maintenance. Whew!

On the right is the actual sign. 2/2
Text on yellow tag says, Pennsylvania Historical Marker Maintenance. This historical marker is down for maintenance. For information, telephone (717) 705-4266, with further contact info. A low-resolution photo of the marker says, American Friends Service Committee. Founded in Philadelphia in 1917, the AFSC has given practical expression to the faith of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Its worldwide humanitarian work has reflected a commitment to nonviolence and justice. Co-recipient, Nobel Peace Prize, 1947.
August 19, 2025 at 6:57 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Friends have had a presence at our present site since the 1840s. The Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse was built in 1856. @afsc-org.bsky.social, founded here in 1917, has a historic marker recognizes their work for...

Wait, what? It's gone! 1/2
A blue pole in the center of the photo has nothing on top. A yellow tag says "Historical Marker, down for Maintenance." On the right a banner on a fence says "Quakers welcome migrants with dignity." There are trees, mostly screening a red brick building with black & beige trim. A partially cropped and blocked sign says IENDS CE..ER. It is Friends Center's front entrance!
August 19, 2025 at 6:49 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
The geometry of light as seen in the worship room at the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse here.
A view of the balcony in a Quaker meetinghouse. There are four windows set in a yellow wall, through which sunlight is streaming. There are raked rows of dark brown benches with dark orange-red cushions. To the right the first floor is visible. At the left rear a staircase climbs to the attic.
August 12, 2025 at 4:44 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
The things you see when walking around Friends Center:

New @afsc-org.bsky.social yard signs in the offices of @quakerspym.bsky.social!

#Quakers
Sign says, AFSC. Immigrants make our communities stronger. afsc.org/stronger Sign says, AFSC. Los inmigrantes hacen nuestras comunidades mas fuertes. afsc.org/stronger
August 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
PPC creates tools that political officials, opinion leaders, grassroots organizations, & the people of Pennsylvania need to expand our vibrant democracy, secure our freedom, & seek economic justice in Pennsylvania.

P.S. Here's a sign they have pinned up in their workspace. /20b
Poster says, No tax giveaways for billionaires and corporations. Pennsylvanians together.
August 1, 2025 at 4:10 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
We so appreciated the flowers and kind note from acls1919.bsky.social after they had a meeting here recently!
A small vase of flowers sits on a gray countertop. It has green ferns and filling. Yellow roses and lilies spring up above the greens. In the background are the bottom ends of two green banners against a yellow wall. A note is in front of the vase. The note in front of the vase says Sending deep thanks and appreciation to Shakirah, Erick, and the rest of the Friends Center team for your warm welcome and hospitality at our event last week. THANK YOU!!! With gratitude, ACLS
July 31, 2025 at 3:40 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
So much depends
upon

a green oak
leaf

dotted with rain
drops

beside the Quaker
Meetinghouse

(h/t William Carlos Williams)
The underside of a green oak leaf is dotted with raindrops. It is lying on brick pavers, next to a brick wall. Sand and moss are visible in the seams between the pavers. It is in the courtyard of Friends Center, near the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse.
June 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
New Quaker banners just dropped:

@afsc-org.bsky.social supersized their yard signs! (1/2)
Banner says, "Quakers welcome migrants with dignity. (A pointed star logo.) AFSC. AFSC.org/welcome." The banner is hung on a black fence above a low brick wall. In the background are green trees and the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse.
June 10, 2025 at 2:07 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Yesterday we welcomed Friends Select School's DEI Book Awards to Friends Center.
#FriendsEducation #QuakerEducation
Poster says: Friends Select. Join us! 3rd annual DEI book awards. Wednesday, May 21, 6 pm. Categories: biography, kids' choice award, equity and race, celebrating identity, Linda Patterson Award. An image of stacked books is inside a circle in the center. A QR code is on the right. Race Street Meeting House, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia PA. Some additional fine print, but the event is in the past, so it's no longer pertinent.
May 22, 2025 at 7:36 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
View of Quaker Walk 2025 support van decal: "Walk to Washington. The Quaker-interfaith pilgrimage for peace & justice, walking to DC to affirm & defend everlasting human rights across all borders. ALL ARE WELCOME. Quakerwalk2025.org." Race St. Quaker Meetinghouse windows of reflected in van window!
The text of the post describes the photo. We might add that the van's gas cap is visible beside the decal. And part of the Philadelphia Family Courthouse is reflected next to the Meetinghouse windows.
May 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
The Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse in repose.

Today and every day, may you sink down to the Seed within, and there find peace, love, and Truth.
The facing benches in the Worship Room of the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse. A large window in the Meetinghouse looks out to the courtyard, where there are brick pavers and trees leafing out in bright green. A bench in the corner is on a slightly elevated platform floor. The floor has an area of sunlight. The light is uneven, with the shadows of leaves as well as some bright spots resulting from the old, wavy float glass in the window through which the light came.
May 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Congratulations to our tenant Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative on launching their 10th anniversary celebration in our courtyard today!
A sign board sits on brick pavers. It reads PYSC. Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative. 10th year kickoff celebration. Join us in the courtyard. A PYSC banner and tables with merch and balloons are in the Friends Center courtyard. A PYSC logo background is in front of the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse.
May 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
For Earth Month, we got a new recycling bin outside our front door. Now you can dispose of your recyclable containers even before you enter our office building or the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. And compost when you can!
Two trash cans sit on brick pavers next to a brick wall. One is black. The other is gray and has two stickers that say Recycle and have the recycling logo consisting of three arrows twisted into a triangle shape.
April 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Our courtyard gardens between the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse & our office building are an oasis of peace in Center City Philly. Now showing: Carolina silverbell, lilacs, and a shrub. Could it be alnifolia, aka summersweet or pepperbush? (ID welcome!)
A Carolina silverbell tree branch has bell-shaped white blossoms hanging down, along with a few new, bright green leaves. Out of focus in the background is the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse. Purple clusters of lilac blossoms and deep green leaves are in the foreground. Out of focus in the background is a brick courtyard, a fence and another garden, the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse, and part of an office building. It is the courtyard at Friends Center! A bush with small white blossoms on stalks with green, ovate, smooth-sided leaves. It may be clethra alnifolia, the coastal sweetpepperbush. It is in the garden at Friends Center.
April 23, 2025 at 9:42 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
New cherry petals just dropped!

From our cherry trees on Cherry Street.
Cherry petals are on a brick plaza. On the left is a cherry tree with some petals still on it plus green shoots. On the right is a stepped porch. It is the front of the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse at Friends Center. A view of cherry petals on bricks, with ground cover and trees behind. On the right behind a fence is Cherry Street. (Cherries on cherry, isn't that nice?) It is the front plaza at Friends Center. A closer view of cherry petals on the brick pavers. The edge of the ground cover is on the top right. There are also brown oak leaves. The oak tree in our front plaza doesn't shed its old leaves until spring!
April 11, 2025 at 8:28 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
And in which we point out that you, too, can have your nonprofit organization's meeting, workshop, or community event in the Quaker Meetinghouse or our main office building, conveniently located in Center City Philly.
friendscentercorp.org/event-space/
A person is presenting to a group of people, a majority of them in red long-sleeved shirts, seated in a crescent formation. They are in the Cherry Street Room in the Quaker Meetinghouse at Friends Center.
April 11, 2025 at 6:52 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Consider the crocuses
outside our Quaker Meetinghouse
& the daffodils, dogwoods, & Japanese pieris
arrayed in glory.

Remember to take a few minutes
every now & then when you can
to breathe more deeply
to gaze on beauty
to find your center.
May you find moments of peace in your day & evening.
Purple crocuses spilling over their stems. In the background are a metal fence and a brick building. The building is the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse. Daffodils blooming in a flower bed lined by granite pavers. Brick pavers are to the left. Last year's twigs are in the background. A spindly dogwood tree has yellow blossoms. In the background is a brick building, the Friends Select School's STEAM Building. A pieris shrub has green leaves with many clusters of small white flowers. In the background is a glass curtain wall, reflecting the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse and the STEAM Building.
March 28, 2025 at 9:32 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Someone lost their toys on Cherry Street yesterday. We hope they made their way back to their rightful humans!
Two stuffed toys are on a brick wall. On the left is a white seal with a blue mane and tail. On the right is an owl with a black and white belly, purple claws, red wings, and purple-tinged eyes. If they are characters, sorry, we don't know them! They are cute smol beans, though.
March 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Quick timeline cleanse: Our cherry trees on Cherry Street are blooming outside the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse.
Cherry blossoms are on a tightly trimmed tree in front of a brick building with tall beige doors and shutters on the first story and dark green shutters on the second story. Above them is a pediment with an oval window. It is the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse. A hazy, semi-cloudy sky is in the background. A closer view of cherry blossoms in front of the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse.
March 20, 2025 at 8:36 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
New @afsc-org.bsky.social yard signs just dropped:

Quakers welcome migrants with dignity!

We posted our sign next to the statue of Mary Dyer, Quaker witness for religious freedom, by our front entry.
A bronze statue of a woman in plain dress with a head covering sitting on a bench. Her hands are in her lap. Her face is solemn and her gaze is directed somewhat downward. The statue is on an engraved stone plinth that says, "Mary Dyer. Quaker witness for religious freedom. Holly trees are behind her. On the left is a yard sign that says, "AFSC. Quakers welcome migrants with dignity."
March 14, 2025 at 7:42 PM
friendsctr.bsky.social
Here's a downloadable flyer for the community meeting on immigrant rights and concerns in the Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse here on 3/16, 4 pm.
Graphic of an open door. One Philadelphia: A community meeting about immigrant rights and concerns. Join neighbors and friends to learn - faith community actions, from lawsuits to local shopping. City of Philadelphia steps - local officials' efforts to preserve welcoming policies. Nonprofit partnering - available resources and support. Our collaboration can protect our communities. Sunday March 16, 4 to 5:15 pm. Time for conversation to follow. Doors close at 6 pm. Friends Center. 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia. Register: https://shorturl.at/vgLca
March 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM