Friendly School at Yearly Meeting 2025

Photo credit: Daniel Buckmaster

Sunday 6 July | Melbourne and Online

Every year at Yearly Meeting, Friends have the opportunity to deepen their spiritual lives and be introduced to new ideas through the Friendly School workshops. These sessions invited us to learn and reflect and explore topics together in community.

What is Friendly School?

Friendly School is one of the favorite features of Yearly Meeting. It’s a day of workshops all happening concurrently and open to all Yearly Meeting attenders. These sessions reflect the diversity of Quaker faith and action. This year they will cover topics from spirituality and scripture to social justice, history, and art. There’s something for everyone.

This year, Friendly School will take place on Sunday 6 July at the Melbourne venue, with seven unique workshops led by experienced facilitators. Already, more than 120 Friends have registered to attend Yearly Meeting in person, with more joining online.

If you’re attending in person, you’re warmly encouraged to sign up for one of these workshops:

Register for a Friendly School Workshop

2025 Friendly School Workshops

1. Stories and Visions of Positive Peace
   Alan Clayton and David Evans
   Hear inspiring stories of peacebuilding: from Ecuador and Peru to Israel and Palestine, including peace teams, intercultural relationships, and the future of development and permaculture.
2. Psalm 23: A Poem of the Spiritual Journey Through the Whole of Life
   Ann Zubrick
   Explore Psalm 23 as poetry—what questions in life might it help you answer?
3. Experiment with Light: Using Early Friends’ Worship Practices
   Helen Gould
   Experience guided meditations based on early Quaker worship writings to discern personal, communal, and societal leadings.
4. Expecting the Best and Preparing for the Worst in Our Daily Lives
   Jenny Spinks
   Reflect on how Advices, Queries and the Testimonies support our lives in both challenge and hope.
5. Storytelling and the Practice of Welldoing
   Mary Butler
   Engage with storytelling, deep listening, and reflection to uncover what it means to live faithfully and well.
6. Meeting for Stitching, Drawing, and Talking Australian Quaker History
   Sally O’Wheel
   Join in an artful gathering of Friends to stitch and draw the story of Australian Quakerism, while sharing stories.
7. Quakers, Peace and the Early Church: Reading the Epistle of James
   Tim Gee
   Read and discuss the Epistle of James, exploring its relevance to modern Quaker faith and practice.

Whether you’re drawn to quiet contemplation, creative expression, or theological exploration, Friendly School offers a time to gather, grow, and be nurtured by the wisdom of our community.

We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful day.