An Hour of Silent Quaker Worship

In a podcasting landscape saturated with superficial chatting, a local Philadelphia Quaker podcast just released an episode that aims to do  the opposite: an hour of Quaker silence, broken only by two moments of spontaneous preaching.

Quakers have been gathering in Meetinghouses across the Philadelphia region to practice their unique form of silent worship since the 17th century. Based on their understanding that “there is that of God in everyone” most Quaker meetings have no pastor or formal plan for their “unprogrammed” meetings for worship. Instead, participants are invited to sit and wait for their own inward, divine inspiration.

Using a multi-mic spatial audio setup, producer Zack Jackson recorded 60 minutes of unedited Quaker silent worship at Philadelphia’s historic Green St. Meeting. Billed as an “anti-podcast,” the episode abandons standard, busy format to create a 3D acoustic documentary of communal stillness.

“In the Quaker tradition, waiting worship is never an empty silence; it is a profound, shared, expectant stillness,” says Jackson. “If you listen on headphones, you hear the physical reality of a community gathering together. Passing cars, the creaking of benches, and the profound weight of the room when the silence is finally broken by vocal ministry.”

The episode of Thee Quaker Podcast serves as an immersive audio sanctuary. Listeners are invited to use the space for their own self-directed, embodied worship, or simply as a dedicated digital detox to disconnect from the noise of the internet.

Available on March 31st 2026 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms. High quality, lossless audio is available at https://quakerpodcast.com/an-hour-of-silent-quaker-worship/.