Quaker Religious Education Collaborative

Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) held its hybrid annual conference at Winchester (Ind.) Meeting in early November 2023. Around 100 Friends participated from across the United States, Africa, Latin America, Britain, Belgium, and Sweden. QREC provided Spanish language interpretation and tech stipends. Presenters included: Melinda Wenner Bradley, of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, on patterns and examples in answering new questions with Faith & Play Stories; Laura MacNorlin, of Atlanta (Ga.) Meeting and Friends School of Atlanta, on ways to use the arts in practice and programming; and Beth Henricks, of Indianapolis First Friends Meeting in Indiana, on the Quaker affirmation curriculum for adults.

Since last September, online Conversation Circles gathered around these topics: outreach to families, support for parenting in community, radical acceptance of children and youth in Quaker meetings, and Sparkling Still (a core Quaker religious education curriculum for ages 3–8).

In October, QREC responded to requests from African and Latin American Friends and offered two online trainings on lesson writing for elementary and middle school-aged groups, in both Spanish and English, facilitated by Elizabeth Wintermute and Andrew Wright, both of Durham (N.C.) Meeting. Nadine Hoover, of Buffalo (N.Y.) Meeting, hosted online practice and discussion groups on the QREC publication Walking in the World as a Friend.

QREC turns ten years old this April.

quakerrecollaborative.org