Special Tour: First Prayer at Carpenters' Hall
Meet at Carpenters' Hall at 320 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
September 7, 2025 at 2pm
First Prayer at Carpenters' Hall Tour
Member Tickets are $15 and the price will automatically be discounted at checkout for logged in members.
Sunday, September 7, 2025 will be the 251st anniversary of a remarkable event at Carpenters' Hall: the opening prayer for the First Continental Congress. That Congress was a seminal moment in the uniting of the often fractious colonies in figuring out how they might free themselves from imperial tyranny. But the prayer was given in hopes of also uniting the sometimes fractious religious congregations represented by the congressional delegates. After some debate, the prayer was given by the Rev. Jacob Duché of nearby Christ Church. His prayer was a resounding success, reportedly leaving representatives in floods of tears, and inspired them to work together towards forging a great and fair new nation.
In celebration of that original prayer, we will visit four nearby historic congregations: Mother Bethel AME Church (Rev. Carolyn Cavaness), St. Peter’s Church (Rev. Sarah Hedgis-Kligerman), Old Pine Street Church (Rev. Jason Ferris) and Old St. Joseph’s Church (Fr. Francis Hannafey). The tour concludes at Carpenters’ Hall, where the current rector of Christ Church, Rev. Samantha Vincent-Alexander, will recite Duche’s original 1774 invocation.
Special thanks to our friends at Carpenters' Hall and the participating congregations for sharing their space and knowledge for this tour.
Preservation Alliance walking tours utilize an audio system that transmits from a headset worn by the guide to earpieces worn by tour attendees. The equipment is thoroughly sanitized before and after each use. Tour attendees can also plug in their personal headsets or earbuds that use a standard headphone jack (Not compatible with Bluetooth or Apple earphones).
A limited number of $2 tickets are available for PA ACCESS or Art-Reach ACCESS card holders. Please email us at [email protected] for discount.
Space is limited. Advance registration required. Sold out? Email [email protected] to join our waitlist
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