One of the special
joys of a Friends Meeting is the recurring reminder that each person
contributes to the spiritual strength of
the loving community, and that the community is a guiding and
sustaining force in the life of each individual. This mutual
relationship strengthens the Meeting and produces a bond of love
and trust among its members, helping the Meeting find unity in its
spiritual life and harmony in its actions.
Such
spiritual unity is evident in a Meeting when members feel free to
ask for help with clarifying personal problems and making
decisions. These may relate to family adjustments, marriage,
separation, divorce, stands on public issues, a new job, moving to
a
distant area, personal witness, traveling in the ministry, and other
decisions. Meetings usually respond to such requests for help by
appointing clearness committees. <The clearness processes for
membership application and marriage under the care of the Meeting
are described in the sections on those topics and in the Appendices.>
A
clearness committee is generally formed at the request of the person
or persons seeking clearness, though Friends in the Meeting
may initiate an offer of help. The seeker may make a request of the
Meeting as a whole, Overseers, or the Worship and Ministry
Committee, as appropriate. In every case, the request becomes the
responsibility of the Oversight Committee.
Overseers will sometimes find it desirable to have serious
preliminary talks with the seeker on the nature of the issue. Such
talks may convince the committee that the seeker needs professional
counseling, rather than the help of a Meeting committee, and they
will advise the seeker accordingly.
If
the Oversight Committee believes that a clearness committee is
appropriate, it will, in consultation with the seeker, appoint
a
committee, and designate a convener from among its members. A
clearness committee should be composed of persons who, because
of gifts and background, seem particularly suitable to help with
the
problem. A clearness committee normally includes three to five
members of varied ages and experience. If, in the judgment of the
Oversight Committee, the Meeting is too emotionally involved in
the problem to be helpful, members of the clearness committee may
be selected from outside the immediate Meeting community, for
example, from the Ministry and Oversight Committee of the
Quarterly or Yearly Meeting.
A
clearness committee meets with the seeker neither as professional
counselors nor as colleagues discussing a problem
and
giving advice, but rather as caring Friends, drawing on the same
resources that bind the Meeting together in worship. Listening
and
patience are essential. All must listen not only to the person
in need,
but also to the movement of the Spirit.
Friends
seek clearness in the Light. Committee members seek to help an individual
become clear about a problem or impending
decision by maintaining a spirit of openness and prayerful worship
procedures
and by serving as channels for Divine guidance. Their purpose is
not to criticize, or to offer their collective wisdom. They are
there to
listen without prejudice or judgment, to help clarify alternatives,
to
help communication, to provide spiritual and emotional support,
to find God’s will.
In
a clearness committee, as in a Meeting for Business, all parties
seek “truth and the right course of action.” Some clearness
committees are formed to help a seeker see a problem more clearly
or to make a decision in the Light. There is no need to find
unity:
only the seeker’s clearness is being sought, and
once this is
accomplished, the committee may stand aside. However, when the
individual has a strong leading toward a specific action and
wants
the Meeting to affirm it, the clearness committee seeks unity
on
whether this is indeed a leading of the Spirit <See
Concerns and
Leadings p. 44>.When forming the committee, it is important to
be
clear about which type of committee is being formed.
Friends
who are asked to undertake the ministry of spiritual clearness and
support should not be deterred from accepting this
responsibility because of their own human weaknesses. They will
learn from their mistakes, from one another, and especially from
the
ones they are called upon to help, when they reach out to each
other
with an attitude of prayer. Asking for help requires personal
discernment and trust in the Spirit. Similarly, being asked to
help
invites Friends to seek inner guidance about how best to respond.
Thus, asking for help and responding to such requests creates
the opportunities for us to invite spiritual guidance into our
everyday lives..