This lesson explores the Edward Hicks painting, The Peaceable Kingdom (1820), beginning with a famous passage from the book of Isaiah. The focus then turns to the background of the painting depicting the treaty between William Penn and early Friends...
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...
The Questions We Ask is a lesson for older children and young teens. Karen Greenler (Madison Meeting, WI) has created an exploration of the creation story in Genesis laid alongside the Big Bang Theory. Her approach is addressed to"Quaker skeptics," the young Friends...
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...
Created for teachers to use during Yearly Meeting Sessions, this booklet contains many activities, visualizations, games, and crafts for kindergarten through high school. Meditations and centering exercises to bring us closer to our Center. Download/view curriculum,...
This curriculum explains processes of making decisions in Quaker meeting. In three lessons, students learn about meeting for business, clearness committees, and threshing sessions are described along with age-appropriate activties to increase understanding. For...
This curriculum helps children walk gently over God's Earth through interactive and fun activities. Young Friends experience the Earth as our home, see how we share our home with God's creatures, and learn how we can behave in caring ways for our world. Quaker...
This study focuses on living into the Kingdom of Heaven — humility, unity, integrity, and sacrifice. Jesus demonstrates through his teaching and through is life what oneness with one another requires, what obedience to God looks like in the world. We’re invited into...
A resource for Friends, includes the Passover prayers and celebration of Passover. The purpose is stated in the final prayer of acceptance, "You are not obligated to complete the task of creating a better world in your lifetime, but neither must you refuse to do your...
Quakers using Godly Play® in their religious education program have stories from that curriculum and other resources to choose from during this time in the First Day School year. What follows is by no means an exhaustive list, but some thoughts on what has worked in...
A story about the power of God's love Each spring, as Easter approaches, we see new life all around us. This story of the symbolic transformation from winter to spring, is adapted for Friends from the Godly Play® story The Mystery of Easter* and work by the Faith...
From Wellesley (Massachusetts, USA) Friends Meeting (New England Yearly Meeting), a thoughtful set of queries for this season of renewal and rebirth. Download the article Easter Light: Seeking in the Spring of the Year
"A curriculum envisioned, created, and developed as a way to guide and educate young Friends in their Quaker faith, similar to Confirmation Classes or Bar/Bat Mitzvah studies found in other faiths. For any Quaker Meeting or Church, the program is designed for middle...
From the Godly Play Foundation: "Children have an innate sense of the presence of God. The Godly Play approach helps them to explore their faith through story, to gain religious language and to enhance their spiritual experience though wonder and play. Based on...
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...
Eleven lessons on Old Testament men and women, including Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, David and Goliath, Amos, and Jonah. The introduction includes a general approach to teaching the Old Testament stories. Designed for unprogrammed Friends....
Nine lessons on the early Life of Jesus: The Gifts of the Magi, Jesus as a Boy, The Baptism of Jesus, Jesus in the Wilderness, The Calling and Mission of the Disciples, and The Parables of the Mustard Seed. There is an introductory chapter on "How to Teach Children...
QuakerSpeak is a Quaker YouTube channel offering interviews with Friends of all different backgrounds, responding to the core questions of our faith. QuakerSpeak interviews are brief, personal and intimate, seeking to give viewers an experience that is entertaining,...
This packet includes seven idea sheets which supplement and complete the materials in Teaching Children About Jesus, Part I. This second set of Seeds includes material on the miracles, Palm Sunday, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Road to Emmaus, and Pentecost...
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...
This 2003 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting curriculum explores the peace testimony in three lessons. It is adapted from Blessed are the Peacemakers, an older PYM curriculum. The packet includes activities for teachers in First-day schools to use in creating lessons for...
This experiential curriculum introduces high school age Friends to the Quaker process of conducting business. By experiencing and reflecting on the processes involved in committees and meeting for worship with a concern for business, young Friends explore the...
An Episcopalian resource, "Holy Week in a Box" uses simple objects tucked into a small box, along with Bible passages to tell the stories observed during the week leading up to Easter. Each item in the box is a symbol, representing a piece of the gospel narrative:...
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…
