Rethinking “First Day School”

On Thursday, September 29, Friends gathered online for a presentation and discussion exploring the roots of Quaker religious education and our condition in meetings today. PYM Participants were joined by Friends from meetings across the US (all the way to Hawaii) and Costa Rica, to “rethink” the way we approach children’s religious education in meetings. Is it time to release a scholastic, lesson-based model focused only on Sunday morning?

Queries anchored both small group and whole group discussion and themes that emerged included: sharing about intergenerational programs, including youth in activism and witness, and understanding religious education as the responsibility of the whole meeting. It was an inspiring conversation!

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Queries

• How are we called to re-think and re-envision how religious education programs invite children and youth into spiritual community and nurture their Quaker identity?
• What does it look like to shift away from a scholastic model toward one that centers experiential learning and worship?
• What grounding does our Faith and Practice offer, in combination with our experience of faith and practice during the time of the pandemic and the ways it has impacted communities?
• What new directions in religious education are possible that support an inclusive, intergenerational experience of Quakerism?