clearness committee

The function of the Clearness Committee is not to give advice or “fix” people from the outside in but rather to help people remove the interference so that they can discover their own wisdom from the inside out.

~ Parker Palmer

 

 

This discernment exercise was created by the Quakers in the seventeenth century as a way to bring personal decisions, dilemmas, and quandaries to a trusted spiritual community to participate in their listening to the “inner light” without giving advice or impose our own convictions upon one another. Instead, the members of a Clearness Committee gather to hold a safe space for the one seeking guidance to hear the Spirit within them. As Parker suggests, this practice is probably not best for extremely fragile people or extremely delicate problems, both of which might be more appropriate for a trained counselor or therapist. But for many of our crossroads in life, this practice can play a key part in our larger discernment process. Here are the basic guidelines:

 

The Practice

  1. The Committee meets for 1 ½  to 2 hours in length. Obviously, everything said is entirely confidential.

  2. A Facilitator convenes the group, guides the process, and manages the timetable and the guidelines.

  3. The Focus Person (the one seeking guidance) presents a concise statement of the problem, background issues that bear on the issue, and any hunches that she or he may have regarding the way forward (10-15 minute max).

  4. The essence of the gathering is the group asking open, curious questions to the Focus Person to elicit more awareness around the issue being considered. Questions are not disguised advice-giving or stories from participants’ own experience; it’s not about offering books, podcasts, or other resources. It’s simply about being fully present to this person and being led by the Spirit to questions that want to be asked.

  5. The ethos of the gathering is gentle and spacious. Everything spoken is held in respectful, attentive silence before moving on to the next element. The group refrains from chitchat and joking without being somber; this is a focused, sacred holding of space. If the Focus Person prefers not to answer a question, that is entirely okay. But answers, as well as questions, should be to the point and not burdened with too much backstory. If there comes a time of silence between questions and answers, that is welcomed.

  6. 15 minutes before the end, the Facilitator will offer a time of Mirroring to the Focus Person. If the answer is no, the group continues with questions. If the answer is yes, the group will make room to offer reflections to the Focus Person on what has been said. This is still not an occasion for advice; instead, it’s a time to offer genuine observations such as…

    • When you spoke about (whatever), I noticed a shift in your expression or body posture.

    • I heard a word or theme repeatedly over this time that caught my attention, which is….

    • The point of mirroring to reflect back to the Focus Person what is being perceived of him/her through spiritually sensitive senses.

  7. It can be helpful for someone who likes note-taking to record the gist of what is said to be given to the Focus Person at the end. After the Clearness Committee is concluded and people have left that space, if participants have resources or suggestions they feel particularly prompted to share, that may be offered in an open, non-prescriptive way by email or a follow-up conversation.

For more info on Clearness Committees, click here.