Join us in an exciting pop-up partnership between Friends Peace Teams and the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative! We are starting a pilot project organizing Friendly Holiday Gift Fairs as a way to learn about, celebrate, and support peacemaking through "gifts...
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...
Obadiah, a young Quaker boy living in colonial Nantucket, is constantly followed by a sea gull. Obadiah wishes the seagul would leave him alone, but when it does leave, he yearns for its companionship. This story helps young children learn about the importance of...
Esperamos que este material sea de apoyo para el programa de educación de niños en su iglesia Amigos o reunión Cúaquera. El testimonio de paz de los Amigos, el cual es extraído naturalmente de la creencia de que hay algo de Dios en cada una de las personas, ha sido la...
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...
In 2016, when global warming left the entire city of La Paz without drinking water for weeks, the Friends International Bilingual Center (FIBC) seized the teachable moment to educate children about the crisis and what they could do to help. Through QREC, Friends in...
TThe Power of Goodness: Art and Stories for a Culture of Peace is a short story book with children's art from Chechnya, Russia and around the world illustrating narratives of nonviolence, healing and reconciliation. Together, the words and images capture the...
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...
Había un gran interés en mi mente en no ocupar mi tiempo con relación a las cosas externas, de tal manera que nada me impidiera tener la fiel atención a la voz del Pastor Verdadero. —El diario de John Woolman, 1743, p.18 Este currículo es el resultado de una...
Una obra de teatro sobre la vida de Lucretia Mott (1793–1880) por Thomas Leverett. Lucretia es retratada tanto de niña como de adulta e incluye a otras figuras históricas: Elias Hicks, Thomas Coffin (su esposo), Lucy Stone (una activista por los derechos de las...
This lesson plan introduces young Friends to Howard Thurman (1899-1982), African-American religious leader, writer and philosopher. Although Thurman was not a Quaker, he became a close friend of Quakers in the course of his work. His writings have been published by...
"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...
In this lesson plan, children reflect on peace, what happens when two leaders exchange mean-spirited words, and how they can promote peace by writing simple Peace Notes to President Donald Trump and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Witnessing for peace in this manner:...
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...
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...
First Day Stories is a collection of 12 short stories about Quaker practices and beliefs for preschool children. First Day Stories is not a high adventure book offering deep insights. Instead, it is a gentle book with quiet simple practices that present Quaker life in...
This curriculum with one lesson for each of the 12 queries found in the 1972 Faith and Practice manual of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Themes include: worship, ministry, care, education, outreach, social order, race relations, equality, environment, peace,...
Lessons based on 18 Dr. Seuss stories contain questions, activities, songs and related stories keyed to Quaker themes. Each of the stories can take one or two weeks. The curriculum contains an excellent resource list with related Bible or Quaker stories and songs from...
FAITH & PLAY™ is a Montessori-inspired curriculum to help children find words and images for expressing the experiences of holy mystery and wonder. Play is children's practice, hence the name Faith & Play, deriving from Faith and Practice. Faith & Play...
Quaker Pastor Gregg Koskela came to Friends as a young adult, from various Evangelical Christian denominations. In this video he articulates the top 10 things that attracted him to Quakerism.
This colorful little booklet helps young children explore the Quaker values of truth, peace, simplicity and equality. Set in a delightful garden, three children explore how important these values are. Aimed at 3 to 8 year olds, though appealing to all ages, this is a...
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…
