This picture-book version of the Biblical parable of the loaves and fishes tells the story from the perspective of the young boy who offers up his simple lunch of rye bread loaves and fish he'd caught at his quiet fishing spot to Jesus, who uses them to feed the...
This is an idea packet assembled for families and small meetings who seek to educate children in Quaker faith and practice. Originally published in 1986, this is a treasure trove, worthy of adaptation and revision given that most Quaker meetings still face these...
Spirit Rising celebrates, critiques, questions, and reflects on the Quaker faith experience. Writing and visual art by teenage and young adult Quakers from around the world and across the theological and cultural spectrum of the Religious Society of Friends give...
In 1663, when all adults from Reading Friends Meeting were imprisoned for their faith, the children of the Meeting continued worship in the manner of Friends. This legend of Quaker Faith and Practice illustrates integrity, courage and non-violent resistance in the...
Two lessons on journeying from the homeland and welcoming immigrants. One lesson is based on the Friends Committee on National Legislation slogan, "Love Thy Neighbor, no exceptions". The other is a Biblically inspired story of journey and welcome told in the manner of...
This 11-lesson curriculum for First Day School explores four aspects of integrity: truth telling, authenticity, faithfulness/loyalty to the Truth, corporate action (our communal accountability to the Truth). For each week, there are engaging activities and/or...
Part one of the booklet contains the classic Quaker stories of George Fox, Elizabeth Fry, Stephen Grellet, William Pickett, Mary Fisher and John Woolman. Part two has stories of the experience of meeting for worship. The third part consists of two biblical...
This booklet offers opportunities for individual, family and all-meeting study of the foundations of the Quaker faith. It offers a way to welcome new attenders by drawing out the faith that is already within them while respecting where each is on their spiritual...
A series of six videos to help Quaker monthly meetings and worship groups welcome children and families. Recorded by Melinda Wenner Bradley in the Fall 2015. Rachel Guaraldi was the Videographer.
After many years of planning and three years of full-time work by many hands, the sequel to Rise Up Singing was published in 2015. The format of Rise Again is the same as in Rise Up Singing but the songs are all different. Rise Again expands possiblities to bring...
A beloved group singing songbook containing chords, lyrics and sources to 1,200 songs from a wide variety of genres from Beatles to Broadway, from Bob Dylan to traditional ballads. Rise Up Singing does NOT include notation, meaning that users must either know the...
This book exploring practical ways to be present could be used as part of a lesson on mindfulness and how we prepare for worship. The illustrations are lovely. Melinda Wenner Bradley has created the attached children's religious education lesson plan, "Looking Back,...
A contemporary and unique children's Christmas book about Jesus' love for all children, That Baby in the Manger offers a needed message about inclusion and acceptance of cultural differences. As the children of a small church struggle with the portrayal of the Holy...
The Quaker Parenting Initiative seeks to nurture parents on their spiritual journey as they strive to integrate principles of human development with their Quaker faith while living with and guiding their children. This website offers a rich array of resources for...
Is there a distinctly Quaker way of child rearing? What in Quakerism speaks to how we guide and nurture our children and ourselves as parents? Paths to Quaker Parenting, is the outcome of a group of Quaker parents and grandparents who met for three years to share...
A weighted compilation of 929 current Quaker titles surveyed and ranked by Friendly Librarians through publication year 2007. The list is arranged according to the reader's experience with Quaker Meetings. Goals are to help Friends meetings without a Friendly...
Finding the Light In You: Bright Silent Worship with Young Friends supportively guides the process of nurturing children's silent worship skills. Guided imagery, richly illustrated with color photos, provides a bridge from abstract adult silent worship to child-sized...
A core Quaker curriculum for young children, Sparkling Still provides everything you need to create lessons for children ages 3 to 8 and build a classroom community. Topics include sense of self, family and community, the natural world, the Bible and Quakerism,...
If you bring your children to a Quaker meeting, what will they experience? Part of the QuakerSpeak series from Friends Journal, this brief video excerpts interviews with Friends to explain how Quakers introduce children to silent worship, nurture children's spiritual...
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.
We share leadership as part of our collaborative mission, making decisions using the Quaker ‘sense of the meeting’ process, sitting in expectant, worshipful waiting for the emergence of shared truth. Read more…
Our work takes place in ‘circles’ 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 more…
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.
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 God’s 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.
Online conferences for Quaker religious educators to share about their work. Conversations are scheduled for two sessions per topic to encourage international participation. Join the conversation…
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 events…
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.
QREC depends on all of us sharing our gifts and skills as religious educators. Here are some of the ways you can get involved…
