A Clearness Committee is a process for discernment within the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) generally used when someone seeks to reach clarity on how to respond to an important life decision. Clearness committees are considered a form of meeting for worship and are rooted on the principle that the inner light is present in all people.
Using Clearness Committees in discernment is a conscious exercise of moving beyond the rational, problem-solving mind. Interspersed with prayerful silence, the goal of a Clearness Committee is to be present, not to fix! Silence is welcomed and celebrated in this practice, countering our tendency to fill all pauses with words. In a culture dominated by “problem solving,” Clearness Committees affirm that our task is not to judge, analyze, “fix it,” or give advice. Our prayerful presence is our most important contribution to the “Focus person.” In a time for making comments and asking questions, the purpose is to help the focus person go deeper spiritually, get in touch with their own deep wisdom, and listen to God.
For further exploration:
Spiritual Discernment: The Context and Goal of Clearness Committees by Patricia Loring. The easiest way to find this is to ask for it as “Pendle Hill Pamphlet #305.”
Listening Hearts by Suzanne Farnham et al. This little book about discernment has a nice appendix on “Discernment Groups,” which are clearness committees by another name.
Soul at Work by Margaret Benefiel. This book gives language for and examples of discernment in decision-making in secular settings (whereas most other resources focus on religious settings), especially Chapters 4 and 8.