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Highlights from QREC’s 2021-2022 Work and Ministry

The Quaker Religious Education Collaborative, across regions and cultures, stepped up in robust, faithful ways to listen, discern, and serve some of the emerging needs of our community of practice during this second year of the pandemic. We drew on our creativity and craft of teaching in this time of reset and recalibration of our ministry. The Covid 19 pandemic, in many cases, imperiled the very existence of the religious education programs in Friends meetings and churches. Many families drifted away from their Quaker communities, while experienced teachers rotated out of service, new teachers needed to be called and trained, and previous styles of content and programming lost their appeal. The myriad challenges cascaded and compounded each other.

The interaction among the challenges may also be a key to a new beginning. We can see how a new way forward, might address multiple needs. Fruitful approaches that can attract families and enliven faith in this new time include intergenerational programming, experiential learning, faith formation extending into the home, and a heightened awareness that Quakerism is useful in guiding all aspects of our life. If there is one overarching theme it might be “re-integration” and yearning for wholeness.

QREC has responded to these needs and shifts by:

  • building our collective capacity to do the work,
  • regathering and strengthening our communities of practice, and
  • actively exploring new ways to speak more fully to Friends’ conditions.

We used the tools at hand like our Conversation Circles and Valiant Together Facebook Page, financial reserves in the form of grant monies, living connections with Friends around the world, and our ability to create new resources to respond to emerging needs.

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Highlights Report

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