Christ Church, Philadelphia: Where the Founding Fathers Prayed for Wisdom and Courage

Frances Schwabenland
Jan 15
2 min read

In the midst of all the noise right now — the headlines, the surreal conversations about taking over lands that are not ours from nations responding with fleets and fear...Denmark has stood with us, an ally, a partner, a people who know

that strength is proven not by conquest,

but by cooperation. Power that forgets friendship

will soon forget justice... I felt called to return to a place where this country once paused long enough to breathe.

I went back to Christ Church in Philadelphia.

Here, in these pews worn smooth by time, our Founding Fathers knelt.

Not to posture.

Not to dominate.

But to pray — for wisdom, for courage.

Fifteen signers of the Declaration of Independence were members of this church.

Before they dared to imagine a new nation, they first acknowledged something larger than themselves. They understood that power without humility is dangerous, and leadership without conscience is hollow.

Standing in this quiet church, light pouring through these old windows, I was reminded that the birth of this country was fueled by reflection of a people no longer willing to live with their liberty constrained under a king’s rule but by the courage to choose principle over impulse.

History doesn’t ask us to repeat it —

it asks us to remember.

In times like these, when the world feels unsteady and voices grow louder with domination, bullying and hatred, I find solace in returning to places that hold quiet with intention. Places where wisdom still lingers in the ether. Places that remind us that true strength begins not with conquest, but with wisdom… and the humility to seek it.

Perhaps that is the lesson that echoes from these walls into our present moment:

Before we act, we must kneel — not necessarily in prayer, but in conscience.

And listen

for that echo

"If history remembers us,

let it say this:

that before we dared to sign our names,

we bowed our heads —

aware that freedom is fragile,

that power is seductive,

and that the future will judge us

not by what we claimed,