Guidelines for Clearness Committees
In the early days of Quakerism, clearness committees were appointed by Friends meetings to look into whether two people expressing their intention to marry were “clear” of any other entanglements (a previous engagement; unpaid debts; a family dispute) that might stand in the way of their union. Gradually the clearness committees appointed by meetings to look into questions of membership or marriage came to focus less on external impediments, and more on the whether the individuals involved were clear about their leadings.
In the 1960s this old Quaker practice took on new urgency as young men facing the draft asked their peers to serve on clearness committees to help them discern what they were led to do. This was not group discernment, as in normal Quaker business practice, but group support for individual discernment. Only the individual could know for sure what kind of witness he was called to, but the clearness committee could provide prayer and caring to move his discernment process forward. The result was a powerful sense of community and mutual accountability around a shared commitment to faithfulness. Soon clearness committees were being organized around a wide range of issues, not only in Young Friends of North America, but in many parts of the Religious Society of Friends. They have been used to help members through difficult life decisions, to test and affirm individual witness, and as a powerful way of supporting and holding accountable those engaged in traveling ministry.
The basic process is simple. Normally the person seeking clearness asks for a committee to be formed, although it may be helpful for some one else to suggest the idea. The focus person is usually asked to suggest who should serve on the committee. Other members may be added by the meeting. Five is a good size for such a committee, although it may be smaller or larger. A meeting time and place are chosen to allow for privacy and uninterrupted, open-ended worship. The committee settles into silence. Out of the silence, the focus person describes what clearness he or she is seeking.
The role of the other committee members is to hold that situation in the Light, and ask questions, out of silent worship, that may help the focus person find clarity.
The person clerking the committee should explain the guidelines for asking questions:
- Resist the impulse to provide advice or counsel. The purpose of the meeting is not to solve a problem, but to open space for the Light to break through.
- Do not spend too much time trying to clarify the history of the situation brought before the committee. Focus on opening up the way forward.
- Keep your attention on the focus person. Sharing your own experiences and insights, even in question form, will be a distraction.
- Maintain an attitude of prayerful listening. Keep your questions simple and non-directive.
- Do not be afraid to ask questions that seem far-fetched or even irrelevant. If they rise up in you with a certain insistence, like a message in worship, they probably need to be asked.
- Pay attention to where God seems to be breaking through, as manifested in love, joy, compassion. Affirm the presence of God.
- Do not enter into the process feeling that you know the answer. There is always a mystery at the heart of worship.
- Expect to be transformed.
The committee meets in the expectation that this kind of focused, prayerful support will eventually bring the focus person to a sense of clearness about how to move forward. It may not happen in the first meeting. The committee should be prepared to meet as often as necessary, as long as the discernment process seems to be moving forward. The sense of mutual trust and mutual accountability engendered by the clearness process brings us into deeper community with each other.
Suggestions for further reading:
- Hoffman, Jan. Clearness Committees and Their Use in Spiritual Discernment. Quaker Press of FGC, 1996.
- Loring, Patricia. Spiritual Discernment: The Context and Goal of Clearness Committees. Pendle Hill, 1992.
