Quakers Likely Targeted by Union Thugs for Choosing Nonunion Labors

Police investigating an arson and citing confrontational visits from union members in days prior

It was probably back in 1997, though some think it might have been even earlier, when the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting concluded that it had outgrown its space and that it was high time to erect a new building. But because it is not the Quaker way to rush into things, the group spent a few more years reflecting on whether it should buy land on Mermaid Lane for the new meetinghouse.

Even after the group sealed the deal in 2003, there was still plenty more talking and thinking and praying to be done about the undertaking. There was a "dialogue session" to articulate the group's "touchstone values," then, a year later, a workshop with a facilitator, and, finally—just to be certain—a retreat for members.

h/t Evan Gould