Holy Experiment

The Holy Experiment

A Quaker, William Penn intended Pennsylvania as a “Holy Experiment” dedicated to tolerance for all religious practices.  In this discussion, we focus on religion and faith communities, from the colonial era to the present.  The panel was moderated by Randall Miller of St. Joseph’s University with panelists including Emma Lapsansky-Werner of Haverford College; Maris Gillette of Haverford College (and the Muslim Voices project); Rabbi George Stern of the Neighborhood Interfaith Movement; and Tuomi Forrest of Partners for Sacred Places.   Emma Lapsansky Werner’s essay on The Holy Experiment was published in the Currents section of the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, April 10, followed also by posting on this Web site and on Newsworks.org .

The Greater Philadelphia Roundtable is a partnership of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, presented in cooperation with numerous civic partners.  This program has been supported in part by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ We the People initiative on American history.

Series co-sponsors:  Young Involved Philadelphia, the Friends of Independence, WHYY, the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Philadelphia Media Network, Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Neighborhood Interfaith Movement, Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities.

Program co-sponsors: American Friends Service Committee, Neighborhood Interfaith Movement, Partners for Sacred Places.

Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy