Religious education among Friends is lifelong: children in First Day School, newcomers learning about Quaker worship and practice, and experienced Friends deepening their understanding. This page gathers resources for monthly meetings and worship groups of every size, including small meetings without a formal program.

LEYM’s 2025–26 annual query asked meetings how they help Friends build a solid foundation in Quaker thought, experience, discernment, and history, and how the Yearly Meeting could help. This page is one response.

• For adults and newcomers
• For children and First Day School
• Families, youth, and young adults
• Share what works in your meeting

For Adults and Newcomers

From LEYM

• Quakerism 101: A Kit for Meetings: seven ready-to-run sessions with handouts and suggested materials, drawn from LEYM’s 2023–24 series.
• Spiritual Formation Program: a year in a local group, with personal spiritual practices and shared readings, opening and closing with a retreat. See also A Sampler of Spiritual Disciplines.
• Gifts and Leadings Among Friends (2026): a recorded session with a gifts inventory and handout, in a format your meeting can repeat.
• Spiritual Deepening and Vital Community (2026): Friends from Athens, Broadmead, and Red Cedar on how spirituality and community feed each other, with a format meetings can adapt.
• LEYM Book of Advices & Queries (2012): 66 advices and queries for personal reflection or group discussion.
• LEYM Clerks Book List (PDF): reading suggestions on Quaker practice, useful for a meeting library or reading group.
• Welcome to Meeting for Worship (PDF, 2025) from Ministry & Nurture, for newcomers.

From Other Friends

• Quaker Affirmation from Indianapolis First Friends Meeting: a thoroughly developed ten-month curriculum covering Quaker history, the testimonies, ways Friends discern God’s leading, Quaker theology, Quaker artists and changemakers, how Quakerism compares with other faiths, and participants’ own developing beliefs. The Adult Affirmation includes a participant manual, teacher manual, and presentation materials, free to download (donations welcome). A meeting could use all of it or draw on parts for a Quakerism 101 series.
• Religious Education for Adults (“Quakerism 101”) from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting: a collection of free materials for introductory classes, including a six-session study of the “revolutionary roots” of Quakerism.
• QuakerSpeak: short videos of Friends speaking about faith and practice, each with discussion questions. A good seed for a discussion before or after worship.
• Adult Religious Education from Friends General Conference: guidance for facilitators, activities, and retreats.
• Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) resource library: curricula, articles, and videos, searchable by audience, including adult education and small meetings.

For Children and First Day School

• Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC): a grassroots, cross-branch network of Friends who share a stewardship for lifelong Quaker faith formation. Its resource library covers children’s, youth, and family education, with videos and lesson ideas.
• Teaching Religious Education from FGC: guides for volunteer teachers, including Quaker First Day School for Busy People; starting, restarting, or revitalizing a First Day School; bridging irregular attendance; and nurturing teachers.
• Preparing Children and Teenagers for Quaker Worship (FGC).
• Faith & Play Stories: a Montessori-inspired approach using contemplative storytelling, which works well with mixed ages. Curriculum books are sold by QuakerBooks, and trainings are offered.
• Quaker Activity Pages for Children (FGC), free to print.
• Support for Youth in Your Meeting from New England Yearly Meeting: planning tools, welcoming families, and a Spanish translation of Faith and Play.

Families, Youth, and Young Adults

• Youth Affirmation from Indianapolis First Friends Meeting: the middle and high school version of the Quaker Affirmation curriculum, with student and teacher manuals and presentation materials (free PDFs). It serves a similar role to confirmation or bar/bat mitzvah study in other faiths.
• Families with Children in Our Family of Friends (2025): Athens, Ann Arbor, and Broadmead on including families in worship and community.
• LEYM Youth Programs, including the children’s and youth program at Annual Meeting, and Young Adult Friends.
• Light and Livelies from FGC: 50-plus energizing and community-building activities for teens and older.
• For more on welcoming families and multiage community, see Resources for Outreach.

Share What Works in Your Meeting

Has your meeting developed a newcomers’ series, a First Day School lesson plan, or a study guide that others could use? Please send it to the Digital Communications Facilitator at leymworker@gmail.com so we can share it here. Meetings looking for support with religious education are also welcome to contact the Ministry & Nurture co-clerks.

Updated September 2026.