What is this project?
This is an international listening project that will provide tools to help local Quaker communities discern responses to abuse inside their community…
In Quaker theology, the divine resides within each person, and it is through the act of "waiting worship" that we come together to listen and discern the divine will for our community. This practice of corporate discernment is at the heart of Quakerism, and it is in this spirit that we approach the issue of abuse within our communities.
While it is important to consider policy solutions to address the problem of abuse, we believe that discernment offers a unique and valuable perspective. By listening deeply to one another and to the divine within us, we can gain a deeper understanding of the root causes of abuse and how we can most effectively address them. This may involve implementing policy solutions, but it may also involve other interventions that are more holistic and relational in nature.
Furthermore, discernment allows us to consider the issue of abuse from a moral and spiritual perspective, rather than simply a legal or practical one. By bringing our collective wisdom and discernment to bear on the issue, we can strive to create solutions that are not only effective, but also align with our values and beliefs as Quakers.
Our discernment technique is both based on traditional Quaker discernment practices and is an innovative approach created specifically to go deeper on taboo topics in Quaker community…
The process consists of three stages: individual listening sessions, a worship sharing session, and a refinement of queries.
In the first stage, individuals from the community are invited to participate in one-on-one listening sessions with trained listeners. During these sessions, the listener asks the focus person a simple query.
In the second stage, the community gathers in worship sharing and the listener reads snippets of testimony from the one-on-one sessions as one collective testimony. Participants are invited to share what they heard in the testimony, without commenting, asking questions, or expressing opinions. The listener takes notes of what is shared during this session.
In the third stage, the community gathers again and the listener reads back the notes from the previous session. Participants are invited to identify what they are curious about in worship sharing, without arguing or expressing opinions. The listener takes notes and the queries are refined into a handful of key questions.
No decisions are made during this process, but it has proven to be a valuable preparation for decision-making spaces. The overall goal of the project is to address the root causes of abuse and create solutions that align with Quaker values.
What can I expect if I want to explore giving testimony?
First, please get in touch with us through the “be in touch” form on this website. Then our convener Windy Cooler will connect with you and invite you to talk with her about your testimony and what you might expect, as well as offer the opportunity to say if you have a preference about who your listener may be. Every step of this process is confidential, supportive, and intentional.
When you offer testimony your listener will ask this query:
Do we live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of child abuse, as well as intimate partner abuse and all forms of violence within the family and community?
The listener then allows the focus person to speak without interruption for one hour. The listener takes verbatim notes during the session and shares them with the participant afterwards. The reason for this is so that the focus person hears their own testimony, in much the same way as through a clearness committee.
These sessions will take place in January-March of 2022.
What will happen with the testimony after it is collected?
The notes taken during the listening session are typed and returned to the focus person. These are themsleves confidential to the listener, to the focus person, and to the convener, Windy Cooler.
The listener will select portions of testimony that do not, in content or in any other way, potentially identify the focus person. These selections will then be read from a space of worship sharing by the listeners. This worship sharing will be recorded.
The recording of this worship sharing will be sent to every local meeting in the US and UK with instructions on how to use this testimony as part of a disciplined process of discernment.
In this process Friends in local Quaker communities are asked to hear the testimony. They are asked in session one of this process, from a space of worship, to repeat something they heard in the testimony. These reflections are recorded in writing. In session two they are asked, from a space of worship, to say what they are curious about. These queries are recorded in writing. In session three the queries are then labored over until only a few deeply grounded queries remain. These are the queries your community will have to keep as you continue in whatever way you are led to discern the presence of abuse in your meeting.
Other opportunities to connect…
Life and Power is also leading a series of viewings and discussions of a film series on domestic violence produced by the international non-profit Odyssey Impact. These are scheduled for 2nd Mondays and Wednesdays every month through March of 2022. To sign up for a viewing and discussion please see this link.
Each film in the series is about 30mins long. With discussion, please plan on viewings to be 90mins in length.
We are also open to coming to your community via Zoom to lead a viewing and discsussion of any film in this series or to talk more about this project. Please be in touch with us through this link.