Philadelphia

As I filed into the Friends Center—the self-declared “Quaker Hub for Peace and Justice in Philadelphia”—on Wednesday evening, I was struck with an instant feeling of familiarity. The flyers on the wall of the parish house promoting various social justice causes; the severe-looking woman with close-cropped hair, decked out in her finest overalls (at events such as these, it’s the men who sport the ponytails) and the meeting house itself, with its creaky pews and simple, unadorned aesthetic. It hit me almost immediately: I felt like I was back at the First Unitarian Church of Providence, which I attended weekly when I was growing up. I could almost taste the stale pretzels and warm apple juice that was doled out during Sunday school.