George Fox Preaching in Tavern

Mid-17th century England was swept by dramatic changes: sharp religious and political conflict, rising hopes, charismatic leaders and popular grassroots movements – in short, a world much like the one we live in today.Ā Quakers were born as a faith community into this world – bringing with them approaches to worship, gender and class relationships, beliefs about God and scripture, and ways of making decisions that were a sharp departure from anything the world had seen before.

This series of workshops walks with those Friends, sharing what we know about their fresh approaches to worship, belief, and life with others. The main intention is to reflect together on what 1st generation Friends have to teach us in terms of how we live together into these same critical questions as a faith community today. There is an adaptation of this curriculum intended for use in pastoral meetings called, “Birth of the Friends Church.”

Purposes of course:

  • To enrich Friends knowledge and understanding of the first generation of Friends
  • To use this understanding to help Friends today enter a similarly radical living relationship with God as a faith community
  • To facilitate meetings using this understand as a springboard to talk about key issues in the life of the faith community including theology, worship, the testimonies, and radical witness.

Download the course materials:

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 ā€˜sense of the meetingā€™ process, sitting in expectant, worshipful waiting for the emergence of shared truth. Read moreā€¦

Working Circles

Hand Icon

Our workĀ  takes place in ā€˜circlesā€™ 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 Godā€™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.

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

Hand Icon

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€¦

Author:Ā Peter Blood-Patterson

Illustrator:Ā 

Publisher:Ā Peter Blood Patterson

Age Group: Adults, Young Adult Friends (YAFs)

Preparation Time:Ā 1 hour each session

Related File:Ā  Click to view/download file

Related Link (or File):Ā  Click to go to link

Topics:Ā Adult Education, Community, Equality, Integrity, Peace, Quaker Faith & Practice, Quaker History, Quaker Values, Service, Simplicity, Spiritual Journeys, Stewardship, Testimonies, Theology, Truth, Truth and Truth-telling

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 ā€˜sense of the meetingā€™ process, sitting in expectant, worshipful waiting for the emergence of shared truth. Read moreā€¦

Working Circles

Hand Icon

Our workĀ  takes place in ā€˜circlesā€™ 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 Godā€™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.

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

Hand Icon

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€¦