Adult Religious Education provides monthly sessions on a variety of topics. Most sessions are hybrid, with some Friends meeting in person and others on Zoom. When possible, Zoom sessions will be recorded and posted on the website. In addition to Friends from Foxdale and Friends School, we also welcome participants from Upper Susquehanna Quarter and other local faith communities.
Past programs have focused on diverse topics such as Friends' spiritual journeys; local Quaker history; nontheism among Friends; preparing for worship; advocacy; and a Kenyan Quaker describing her ministries. Suggestions are welcome, and can be sent to Ann Sidone (annsidone1@gmail.com).
Join Adult Religious Education for “The Quaker Way Across the Year,” a monthly program for spiritual formation and religious education. Once a month we’ll meet via Zoom for worship sharing on that month’s topic, such as grounding the spiritual life in a regular spiritual practice; discernment; meeting for worship; and spiritual gifts. Each session will be complemented by short readings or videos- participants are requested to complete one of the recommended readings, video, or podcast prior to attending. Participants are free to attend just one, a few, or all of these monthly sessions, depending upon their leadings. The Quaker Way curriculum was developed by Pendle Hill and relies upon a variety of their pamphlets. More information on the program can be found at: https://pendlehill.org/learn/publications-bookstore/ We’ll follow Pendle Hill’s suggested order of sessions.
‘The Quaker Way Across the Year’ – March 27
The next “The Quaker Way Across the Year” spiritual formation and religious education session will be Friday, March 27, 7 to 8 pm, via Zoom. The March session will focus on Meeting for Worship. If you’d like to attend, please read or watch one of the resources below prior to the session.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86278073798?pwd=V2s2dVlWRDU4VHFPaFZrRWlIUnBpdz09 Passcode: Friend.
Possible Reading (some of these may be available from the SCFM library)
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #306 Four Doors to Meeting for Worship by William Taber
(Handout) “The Four Doors,” an FGC resource adapted from Four Doors to Meeting for Worship
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #366 Invitation to a Deeper Communion by Marcelle Martin
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #460 On Vocal Ministry: Nurturing the Community through Listening and Faithfulness by Barry Crossno and J. Brent Bill
(Handout) “Are You Called to Share a Message During Worship?” a decision tree graphic adapted from On Vocal Ministry
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #182 On Speaking Out of the Silence: Vocal Ministry in the Unprogrammed Meeting for Worship by Douglas Steere
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #444 The Gathered Meeting by Steven Davison
Possible Watching & Listening
Audiobook of Pendle Hill Pamphlet #306 Four Doors to Meeting for Worship by William Taber
First Monday Lecture Stanford Searl, "The Gathered Meeting and Embodied Quaker Voices"
Religious Education Archives
February, 2026
Listen to Cy Devries and Sarah Malone talk of their Sankofa experience.
In September of 2025 Sarah Malone and Cy Merriweather DeVries participated in the Sankofa Journey of the Evangelical Covenant Church. This immersive journey brought each participant into direct relationship with history and provided the opportunity to simultaneously impact the future. The physical journey from Atlanta, Georgia to Birmingham and Selma, Alabama to Memphis, Tennessee provided the opportunity to walk the paths of our nation’s struggle to achieve justice for all. Sarah and Cy were partners on the journey. They will share experiences from the journey and their aspiration to engage in the ongoing work of achieving the Kingian beloved community. The goals of the Sankofa Journey project go far beyond a reductive restating of the goals of the 1960s era civil rights movement.The goal of the Sankofa Journey is to reinitiate the development of peaceful coexistence and to help promote peaceful interactions and bring healing to all disenfranchised communities in America today. It is our hope that members of this meeting will find a way to promote participation in future Sankofa Journey and return to help create the beloved community in Centre County.
February 27, 2026
Resources for the first The Quaker Way Across the Year:
Reading (some of these may be available from the SCFM library)
- Pendle Hill Pamphlet #288 Improvisation & Spiritual Disciplines: Continuing the Divine-Human Duet by Carol Conti-Entin
- Pendle Hill Pamphlet #399 Prayer: Beginning Again by Sheila Keane
- Pendle Hill Pamphlet #374 The Practice of the Love of God by Kenneth Boulding
Watching & Listening
- First Monday Lecture Cherice Bock, "Friends and Sabbath in the Time of Climate Change"
- The Seed Ingrid Lakey: Sharing Silence and Attuning to Spirit
In addition, choose one spiritual practice and do it every day. If you find it isn’t the right practice for you, try another until you find one that sticks.
February 15, 2026 12:45
In September of 2025 Sarah Malone and Cy deVries participated in the Sankofa Journey of the Evangelical Covenant Church. This immersive journey brought each participant into direct relationship with history and provided the opportunity to simultaneously impact the future. The physical journey from Atlanta, Georgia to Birmingham and Selma, Alabama to Memphis, Tennessee provided the opportunity to walk the paths of our nation’s struggle to achieve justice for all. Sarah and Cy were partners on the journey. They will share experiences from the journey and their aspiration to engage in the ongoing work of achieving the Kingian beloved community. The goals of the Sankofa Journey project go far beyond a reductive restating of the goals of the 1960s era civil rights movement.The goal of the Sankofa Journey is to reinitiate the development of peaceful coexistence and to help promote peaceful interactions and bring healing to all disenfranchised communities in America today. It is our hope that members of this meeting will find a way to promote participation in future Sankofa Journey and return to help create the beloved community in Centre County.
This will be a hybrid program.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88194490526?pwd=trQLaY0W85GOJeEOQSQJ4d4MitZiUq.1
Passcode: Friend
November, 2025
The Virtue of Unbelonging: Professor Lisa Silvestri will explore the benefits of “seeing from the outside” as she shares with us some of the wisdom she gleaned from community organizers in writing her latest book, Peace by Peace: Risking Public Action, Creating Social Change.
Watch the Zoom Video Recording
Passcode: p%1OKB*x
October 19, 2025
Doug Miller presents a program on local Quaker history.
Watch the Zoom Video Recording
Passcode: $q00p5e#
September 14, 2025
Dorothy Habecker presents Greening State College Friends Meeting Grounds
Watch the Zoom Video Recording
Passcode: f4f+7ho$
September 9, 2025
Tony White shares his spiritual journey.
See the Zoom Video Recording
Passcode: SH^+5LQ8
May 7, 2025
Martin Melville shares his spiritual journey, from growing up as a Unitarian in Iowa City to becoming an elder and his current spiritual life.
See the Zoom Video Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14HcapKVsGmVBKq9lT_VQNW2dR4b2QAw6/view?usp=sharing