Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting

Name: Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting
Address: 20 E Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19118, US
Telephone: +12152473553
Rating: 4.7

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Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting

A Quaker community in NW Philadelphia whose meetinghouse includes a James Turrell Skyspace
(19)

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting (CHFM) is a Quaker community in northwest Philadelphia, which has embarked upon an extraordinary outreach project: a new meetinghouse for Friends, the local community, the Philadelphia region, and beyond. Incorporating a contemporary art installation -- a Skyspace by James Turrell, this “green” building is home to the growing Friends meeting, facilitating enhanced soc

ial justice activities and attracting those who value quiet contemplation, the environment, the arts and a vibrant community. This 21st Century meetinghouse continues a 350-year-old Philadelphia tradition begun by William Penn by offering a safe and welcoming place for people of all faiths to gather for quiet reflection, worship and fellowship. In addition, it is an educational resource for green living, demonstrating up-to-date ways of conserving energy and living in harmony with the natural world. The new meetinghouse is located at 20 East Mermaid Lane in Chestnut Hill. Gifts from meeting members, friends, neighbors, and funders helped make this building a reality. Of course, all are welcome to join us for silent worship during Quaker meetings on Sunday mornings at 10.30 a.m., or to visit when we host among other things: Mount Airy Learning Tree continued education classes; election day polling; or, mindfulness meditation seminars.

06/24/2024

Many thanks to our Peace & Social Concerns Committee, which presented a forum this morning after our meeting for worship. Thanks to speakers Jean Warrington, Eileen Flanagan, Miriam Fisher Schaefer, and Helene Hilger. After their short presentations, the group in attendance shared what they feel called to do for the climate crisis.

06/20/2024

Hello 👋! We’re interested in different ways to house our members’ name tags for Sunday Quaker meeting. Do other religious spaces have better systems that make it easier for their attendees to find their name tags? We love our case (pictured) but sometimes it can be hard to find your name tag.

We’d love to hear your strategies!

06/10/2024

A perfect Sunday morning = Bike ride + Quaker meeting. ❤️🚲

06/10/2024

Thanks to everyone who put together today’s celebration of our wonderful children and their accomplishments. There was a grill going on the back patio with lots of great food and even better company. We celebrated our children and our many volunteers who have made this year’s Children’s Program a wonderful success!

05/16/2024

Photos from this cloudy week ☁️

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05/06/2024

Thanks to Haley (and Adam’s mom!) for joining us for a sunset under the Skyspace! ❤️ And thanks to everyone who has left a review on Google and TripAdvisor- this helps get the word out about the Skyspace. So appreciated!

04/30/2024

Did you know we're now on Instagram, too!? Follow our page on Instagram at :

04/28/2024

Today, the children in meeting learned about trees and identifying trees. They each received a copy of “Be a Friend to Trees” by Patricia Lauber.

04/26/2024

A beautiful day at the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting! Come join us for Quaker meeting for worship outdoors at 9 am on Sunday or for an indoor meeting for worship at 10:30 am on Sunday. We have free childcare & classes available during the 10:30 am meeting for worship. We also have a public Skyspace opening this Sunday evening! Be sure to make your reservation (link in bio).

04/22/2024

Tuesday is Election Day and we are the polling place for Ward 9, Division 4. We have parking and the building is accessible for wheelchairs. We can’t wait to see you! Let’s !

04/16/2024

A peaceful place—come visit our Quaker meetinghouse in Chestnut Hill or host your next event in our space.

Thanks to for this photo!

04/09/2024

The meetinghouse in full bloom today!

Photo by

04/08/2024

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting attenders Mike Silberman, Ann Donnelly, and their daughter Vera visited Dallas for the and shared these amazing photos!

04/07/2024

What a good time! We love all the different ways our community uses the meetinghouse.

04/03/2024

“Watching it gives you a sense of time, light and the cosmos. . . It’s an experience of such beauty and simplicity and yet so profound because it’s individual for each person, but you’re also sitting in community.” - Skyspace Host Signe Wilkinson, .

Thank you to Catherine Lee and the Chestnut Hill Local for highlighting the Skyspace.

Space is limited and viewings are filling up. Please make reservations at the link in our bio.

04/03/2024

“Watching it gives you a sense of time, light and the cosmos. . . It’s an experience of such beauty and simplicity and yet so profound because it’s individual for each person, but you’re also sitting in community.” - Skyspace Host Signe Wilkinson, The Chestnut Hill Local

Thank you to Catherine Lee and the Chestnut Hill Local for highlighting the Skyspace.

Space is limited and viewings are filling up. Please make reservations here: https://skyspace-at-chestnut-hill-friends-meeting.ticketleap.com

https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/greeting-the-light-at-hill-skyspace,31718

Judging from the comments in the Skyspace guest book, reactions to the program are unanimous – the experience is indeed wondrous.

04/01/2024

What a wonderful Easter egg hunt after Quaker meeting today for the kids! Eggs were filled with special treats, including quotes from children’s authors.

03/23/2024

This Sunday (March 24th) the kids will be dying eggs to prepare for our Easter egg hunt on Sunday the 30th! Whether you attend Quaker meeting regularly or never have before, this is a great opportunity for the kids in your life to join in some fun.

03/20/2024

🕊️✌🏼The Practice of Non-Violence: an event with Anam Thubten, April 9, 7 PM at Germantown Meeting. In this evening talk, Anam Thubten, author and founder of the Dharmata Foundation in San Francisco, will offer teachings on non-violence. Non-harming, or ahimsa, is considered the foundation of one’s spiritual practice in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Thubten will speak to the power of non-violence to bring about joy and inner freedom, creating a benevolent relationship between oneself and the world. $15 suggested donation. Tea and light refreshments offered after the talk. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Location: Germantown Friends Meeting.

03/14/2024

We are hosting Khruangbin’s A LA SALA LA VENTANA - An early album listening event at Greet the Light on April 4th.

Attendees will utilize headphones for a contemplative listening experience as the Skyspace illuminates at sunset.

Enter for your chance to attend using the link below. Attendees will be selected at random and contacted directly via email to confirm their tickets. Please note space is extremely limited, if you do not receive a confirmation email, unfortunately, you will not be able to attend.

Note: Khruangbin will not be in attendance.

Special thanks to James Turrell and the Turrell Art Foundation

https://form.jotform.com/240655707994166

03/06/2024

We are so grateful to Charles Bruder who was able to come visit us this past Sunday to portray John Woolman! The kids (and the whole community for that matter!) loved it.

Our Director Charles Bruder was portraying John Woolman at Chestnut Hill Quaker Meeting yesterday. What a treat for the children to have the chance to ask questions like, " did you play the piano when you were little?"
What a great opportunity to share John Woolman's message with the young.

03/03/2024

Greet the Light Skyspace is pleased to announce the 2024 public event schedule is now live. Admission is by advance reservation only. Please register at our TicketLeap website service:

https://skyspace-at-chestnut-hill-friends-meeting.ticketleap.com/james-turrell-skyspace-at-chfm-2024-great-the-light/

Viewings start this year on Sunday, March 24th. After that, we offer viewings on the First Friday of each month and every Sunday evening (except there is no Sunday evening viewing on weekends that have a First Friday event).

“Pure bliss.” “Magical experience.” “A canopy of beauty.” “Pure splendor, a kind of secular, visual theology.” —Skyspace visitors Come experience the sunrise and sunset in Philadelphia's only James Turrell Skyspace, which is located inside Chestnut HIll Friends Meetinghouse. Evenin...

03/02/2024

On Sunday, March 3rd at 9 am ET, our member Craig DeLarge invites you to bring and discuss your favorite Bible passages that exemplify each of the Quaker Testimonies. Craig will bring his own favorites and looks forward to discussing them all with you. We welcome those who cannot attend a class in person to observe via Zoom using the link for meeting for worship (below). This is a Bring Your Own Bible (BYOB) event!

https://zoom.us/j/97901320780?pwd=eTdyVFpMTWcwZFpsZDNRYlVhc0RnQT09, Meeting ID: 979 0132 0780, Password: CHFM2020

02/29/2024

This month our First Day School has been learning about John Woolman. This Sunday, we will welcome a very special guest from Mt. Holly, New Jersey, who will join us for Meeting for Worship and then have a conversation with young Friends at First Day School!

Thanks to Miriam Fisher for making this happen for our kids!

As Earlham School of Religion professor Michael Birkel points out, John Woolman was a great example of a Quaker who balanced activism with an inward contempl...

02/25/2024

Thanks to everyone who made tonight’s dinner, open mic, and dance party so much fun! What a great night.

02/21/2024

Thanks to the Three Quaker Podcast for sharing more about our Skyspace and meeting.

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia is celebrating 10 years in its new meeting house this year. What sets this building apart is its Skyspace, a permanent art installation designed by the artist James Turrell. When the roof retracts, the aperture in the ceiling is open to the sky and soft lighting slowly changes the color of the room.

Viewers spend an hour watching the sky gently lighten as the sun rises, or slowly darken as the sun sets. Deeply appreciating the beauty of the sky as it transforms is a mind-bending, mystical experience, something we don’t usually set aside time for in our daily lives.

Learn more about the Skyspace here: https://buff.ly/48GSRM9

Or go to unprogrammed Meeting for Worship Sunday mornings at 10:30.
https://buff.ly/48Daah3

02/18/2024

Two upcoming opportunities shared by the Peace & Social Concerns Committee for Sunday, February 25th:

☮️ Silent Procession for Peace. Sunday, February 25, 2 PM, Peace Park (corner of Mermaid and Winston by our Quaker meetinghouse). This is a unique opportunity for our Meeting to join in silence other local religious organizations and the larger Chestnut Hill community who call for peace in the Middle East. Protocol: Please wear dark colors. No flags, banners, message t-shirts, or additional signs. Drums, but no chants or songs. For more information, please contact Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, [email protected] or Wendy Weingarten, [email protected].

🕊️ Eileen Flanagan will offer a 45-minute introduction to being a peacekeeper/marshal in the Worship Room at 1 PM, directly before the Silent Procession for Peace. Join this quick training to learn how to support peaceful protest in Philly, whether for that day's procession or in preparation for the 2024 election and its aftermath.

02/18/2024

You’re invited! Join us for our Winter Chili Dinner, Talent Show, and Dance party on Saturday, February 24th from 5-9 PM.

Calling all CHFM jugglers, jokesters, orators. artists, singers, players. Come share your gifts with the Meeting community! Sign up by e-mailing [email protected] or sign up at Meeting on Sunday morning. Dinner space is limited, so please sign up soon so we have a sense of attendance.

Evening timing:
5:00 Chili Dinner
6:00 Talent Show
7:00 Dancing to our DJ, Betsy Robertson

Children welcome!

Address

20 E Mermaid Lane
Philadelphia, PA
19118

Opening Hours

10:30am - 11:30am

Telephone

+12152473553

Website

http://chestnuthillquakers.org/

Alerts

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Videos

PSA: Parents, if you’re looking for a little respite from the heat, come join us for Quaker meeting! We have AC, childcare for little ones, and fun lessons for bigger kids. Why not come enjoy some silence and community? Questions about childcare?! Send us a DM. We’re happy to chat. #beattheheat #philly #chestnuthill #quaker #sunday

If you’re thinking about checking out a Quaker meeting for worship, we’d love for you to come join us any Sunday. Meeting for worship starts at 10:30 and we often have some food and coffee afterwards in our social room and outside if it’s not too hot or cold. Come join us!

Being active in our community, state, country, and world, is an important part of Quakerism. Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting Member Jean Warrington shares a little about how easy it is to write to our legislators after Quaker meeting breaks one Sunday a month.

Spring has sprung! 🌱🌿 What a beautiful morning.

A little bit about what our Sunday Quaker meeting for worship is like.✌🏼

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our talent show and dance party last night! Here are a few photos and videos to enjoy.

The plant sale is up and running! Come on out. We’ll be here until 3 pm ET on Sunday May 14th. Cash, credit and Venmo accepted.

In Philadelphia? Come checkout the native plant sale in Chestnut Hill this weekend! We will have 14 varieties of native plants, for sun and shade—you’ll have plenty to choose from! And we accept venmo, cash, and check. Location: 20 East Mermaid Lane/Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting. 12-2 pm. Easy parking.

A fun morning of activity before Quaker meeting and meeting for business!

Lovely singing before Quaker meeting this morning! You can join in for singing on the 3rd and 4th Sundays of every month at 9:30 am. ❤️

What's "open" about a Skyspace Opening?

The opening before The Opening: When people visit the Skyspace at Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, they want to be sure to find a place inside to absorb the entire 50-minute+ experience. But here's a somewhat twitchy video of something that has to happen first, before the Skyspace opening can begin: the roof must open.