Vocations and Gifts Parents: Is your work compatible with your values? Is the life of the business/institution for which you work broadly in line with the Quaker values of peace, justice, equality, simplicity, integrity, and community? Do you listen inwardly for new...
Home and Family Category
I Think, I Am! Teaching Kids the Power of Affirmations
I Think, I Am! can be a bridge for children from hearing about their gifts to embracing those words and incorporating them into their understanding of themselves. Being able to acknowledge our gifts is a crucial step on the Quaker faith formation journey. "Your...
Eighth Day of Creation: Discovering Your Gifts and Using Them
Our spiritual gifts and our special talents exist at the vital intersection of daily life and divine Love. A key element of our spiritual journeys is coming to appreciate our gifts and to understand that they are given to us for the benefit and building up of our...
Jack’s Talent
"You must be good at something," said Miss Lucinda. "Everyone has a special talent." On the first day of school, Miss Lucinda asks the students to share their special talents. Francesca is a star soccer player, Matthew can catch huge fish with his grandpa, and Candace...
Teaching the Language of Childrenās Spirituality
We as human beings need stories. It's this primal part of who we are as a human race ā from the very beginning. That's how we have always made meaning. Telling stories, over and over again. Caryl Cresswell, a recorded minister in Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting, a...
Sparkling Still LibraryThing Collection
Looking for excellent childrenās books to illustrate Friends faith and practice? Start HERE with the Sparkling Still LibraryThing collection, a continuously updated catalog by theme and age group.
Nurturing Children’s Spiritual Lives: A Journey of Spirit and Wonder
By Melinda Wenner Bradley When a new baby or child arrives in our lives, into our care, we learn to assess their needs: What does my crying child need? Is the baby hungry? Does she need to be fed? Is his diaper wet? What does my child need to help them fall asleep? We...
QREC Suggested Religious Education Web Resources
A rich collection of useful websites with curricula and learning materials from many different yearly meetings, Quaker organizations and other educational organizations for teaching all ages. Please use the comment section below to suggest other websites that should...
33 Multicultural Children’s Books About Peace
Every day can be about creating peace.Ā Here are some multicultural books on peace for Quaker collections......
My Mandala: What is Your Spiritual Journey?
This experiential curriculum uses mandalas to help children learn about their past and current connection to the Divine and to their faith community. Can be taught in one or more lessons.Ā From the authorā¦ "In 2017, the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions...
Conversation Circle Summary – Guiding the Guides: Supporting Spiritual Nurturers of Children and Youth in the Home
Guiding the Guides: Supporting Spiritual Nurturers of Children and Youth in the Home Welcome and Introductions Centering Silence Topic: Parents are childrenāĆĆ“s first and most important teachers. This is especially true for faith formation. Grounded,...
Books for Families in these Trying Times of Covid-19
Below is a thumbnail description of books that we think have a message for children in these trying times. Many of the stories are about children overcoming challenges. We hope the booksĀ encourage you Ā to think about other things, and appreciate the beauty around us....
Books and Music to Celebrate Earth Day
Below is a list of some of our favorite books that are associated with Earth Day. Some books tell about people and the work that theyāve done to help the Earth. Other books share stories to appreciate our beautiful Earth. Each entry has been chosen because it has a...
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Lesson plan for the home with a book and activities. When fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba's Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone's crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William spent his days in the library ā and figured...
Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence
Lesson plan for the home with a book, music and activities ā "All men are born free and equal." Everybody knows about the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But the founders weren't the only ones who believed that everyone had a right to...
Lucky Beans
Lesson plan for the home with a book and activities. 1930's Great Depression is the setting of a boy's ingenuity in helping his family. Like so many people during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Marshall Loman's dad has lost his job. There's little money, but there...
What Do You Do with an Idea?
Lesson plan for the home with a book, music and activities. What do you do with an idea? Especially an idea that's different, or daring, or a little wild? This is the story of one brilliant idea and the child who helps to bring it into the world. As the child's...
Quiet
Lesson plan for the home with book, videosĀ and activities. The author reminds us that mindfulnessā "being quiet, still, and present with one another" is a very special thing. Everything is in such a hurry, busy as busy can be. The birds are flying so fast, the...
Flowers for Sarajevo
Lesson plan for the home with a book, music and activities: Young Drasko is happy working with his father in the Sarajevo market. Then war encroaches. Drasko must run the family flower stand alone. One morning, the bakery is bombed and twenty-two people are killed....
Home Religious Education Guide – Sharing Our Gifts
Activities to Pair with Books and Music HOW TO USE THIS GUIDEĀ Ā Please use these ideas in ways that work best for your children.Ā The Concepts listed and Bible Readings are for grown-up background material to support you.Ā Reading aloud the book together, or watching...
Good People Everywhere
Lesson plan for the home with a book, videoĀ and music. Good People Everywhere is aĀ soothing story to help children become mindful of the beautiful, caring people in their world. Each page delightfully unfolds with vibrant, engaging illustrations and endearing stories...
A is for All the Things You Are
A lesson plan for the home with a book,Ā musicĀ and activities:Ā A Is for All the Things You Are: A Joyful ABC BookĀ is an alphabet board book developed by the National Museum of African American History and Culture that celebrates what makes us unique as individuals and...
Centering Tools: Mandalas
"It all starts with stopping," says author Beth Collea, as she describes how the practice of coloring mandalas helps young children settle. Links are provided to websites with free, printable mandalas from the simple to the intricate.Ā This tool isĀ useful for family...
Meeting Needs and Friends General Conference (FGC) Resources
Meeting Needs linked with FGC Resources: A Sampling (Bolded words can be put into a search engine like Google this way ā āFGC clearness committeesā, or "FGC outreachā for example or into the FGC search window on the website without the āFGCā) Outreach: How can we...
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An Introduction
The Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) is an international, cross-branch, grassroots network of Friends sharing a stewardship for lifelong Quaker faith formation through religious education. We formed in April 2014 and now serve more than 300 Friends in our network. We actively engage and support each other across languages and continents. We gather for regional and annual conferences and offer monthly Conversation Circles via an online conferencing platform.Ā
Steering Circle
We share leadership as part of our collaborative mission, making decisions using the Quaker āsense of the meetingā process, sitting in expectant, worshipful waiting for the emergence of shared truth. Read moreā¦
Working Circles
Our workĀ takes place in ācirclesā or small groups of Friends who labor on a common task, usually meeting by video conference due to the geographic diversity of the membership. Read moreā¦
The Resource Library
Finders Guide, a sampling of the collection
The QREC Resource Library is a place to share lessons and other educational information in support of our work as Quaker religious educators. This library is a forum for curricula, articles, videos and other educational materials on Quaker themes. You will also find principles, policies and procedures to strengthen operation of your child, youth and adult religious education programs.
Children’s Education
Adult Education
Family
African Quaker Library
Youth Education
Small Meetings
Young Adult Friends
Biblioteca QREC
Events
Find renewal, companionship, and help for nitty gritty issues in Quaker religious education, all the while opening spaces for Spirit to work and listening together for Godās way forward.
QREC holds an annual conference and retreat. In addition we hold online Conversation Circles and post other religious education events as we learn about them.
Conversation Circles
Online conferences for Quaker religious educators to share about their work. Conversations are scheduled for two sessions per topic to encourage international participation. Ā Join the conversationā¦
Other Events
Religious education events of interest to Quakers from all parts of the world. Please let us know about upcoming online or in-person events happening in your area. See the list of upcoming eventsā¦
Love at the Heart
Spiritual Practices
Discernment
Active Caring
Quaker Family Culture
Finding the Light
Faith at Home
Home is the heart of faith formation for all families. This is especially true for Friends. As an experiential religion, Quakerism is best learned through living in loving community. Indeed, the vast majority of faith formation for our young Friends happens at home in the busy swirl of daily life.
Become a Member
Submit Resources
Get Announcements
Donate
Attend an Event
Contact Us
Get Involved
QREC depends on all of us sharing our gifts and skills as religious educators. Here are some of the ways you can get involvedā¦