Quaker Education

"THAT OF GOD IN EVERY PERSON"

The central concept that "there is that of God in every person" colors what we do throughout the school. That tenet leads us to value each child for his or her accomplishments, to believe in encouraging students from diverse ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds to attend the school, to discuss peaceful resolution of difficulties whether those difficulties occur on the kindergarten playground, the Upper School playing fields or in the world beyond Penn Charter, and to foster a commitment of service to others.

Banner with Amana (Hindi) If asked about Quakerism at Penn Charter, most students would focus on Meeting for Worship, a time of silent meditation punctuated by thoughts any member of the group wishes to share. For the kindergartner, that meeting may be five minutes of silence. By the close of the year, the meetings have reached 20 minutes. Upper and Middle School students meet for 40 minutes weekly. Most often, students who choose to speak share a reflection about some event of importance in their lives. Adults within the group are often moved by the clarity, simplicity and truth of the words of students. For many students, participation in service projects is an important influence and a vital expression of Quaker social concern for others.

Parents also wonder how Quakerism will fit with their own religious tradition if that tradition is apart from the Society of Friends. Parents of children who have gone through the school comment that the period of silence is a time that has helped their children to refine their own moral positions and to consider their own spiritual roots. Quakers in no way wish to deny the validity of other religious traditions. Rather, it is the school's desire to help a student reflect on the meaning of that tradition in a way that supports the work of the family.

A Friends School: Quakerism at Penn Charter

The publication A Friends School: Quakerism at Penn Charter explores the school's Quaker roots and the ways in which Quaker values shape the Penn Charter experience.

meetinghouse benches closeup

Quaker Focus of the Month

May/June 2010:
That of God in Everyone

The belief that there is that of God, or the Divine Spark, in everyone is one of the core beliefs of the Religious Society of Friends. It is from this and other basic beliefs that the testimonies spring.

Here is a more complete quote from George Fox about this belief:

“This is the word of the Lord God to you all, a charge to you all in the presence of the living God; be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your life and conduct may preach among all sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you: then to the Lord God you shall be a sweet savour, and a blessing.”
– George Fox

“Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated, but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.”
– Pablo Casals

“Learn to be quiet enough to hear the sound of the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in other people.”
– Marian Wright Edelman