Newtown Quakers Celebrate World Quaker Day

Newtown Quakers assemble under a banner made by the children to celebrate World Quaker Day 2017.

Newtown Quakers Celebrate World Quaker Day

Newtown Friends Meeting sent greetings and love to Quakers throughout the world on October 1 in celebration of World Quaker Day as they gathered for worship at the historic Newtown Meetinghouse and then assembled afterwards for a group photo under a sign made by the children.

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 new New Zealand.

The goal of World Quaker Day is to get every Quaker Meeting around the world to celebrate Quakers by inviting the public for 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.”

Sometimes there are talks about well-known Quakers like John Woolman, Judi Dench, William Penn, Lucretia Mott, John Greenleaf Whittier, the Barclays of Barclays Bank, Joan Baez, Susan B. Anthony, the Cadburys of Cadbury Chocolates, the Clarks of Clark’s shoes, Bethlehem Steel founder Joseph Wharton for whom the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is named, Johns Hopkins, Ezra Cornell of Cornell university, or Bonnie Raitt.

Sometimes talks focus on people most folks don’t realize were raised as Quakers like James Michener, Daniel Boone, James Dean, and Philadelphian Samuel Nicholas, "The Fighting Quaker" founder of the Marine Corps during the Revolutionary War.