A. THE RE-EVALUATION COUNSELING COMMUNITY
A.4. The Membership of the Community
It is helpful to distinguish between “Co-Counselors,” “members of the RC Community,” and “RC leaders”:
- As Co-Counselors we seek to regain access to our full intelligence and assist others to do the same.
- As Co-Counselors who are also RC Community members, we assume responsibility for helping the Community to function. We do this by participating in and contributing to RC activities, supporting leadership, and assisting in the growth and the work of the Community. Community members also make a commitment to follow the Guidelines and support their use.
- As Co-Counselors who are also RC leaders, we assume responsibility for everything going well in the RC Community. We do this by teaching and leading RC classes, support groups,[12] and/or workshops and/or serving as a Reference Person[13] or in other special roles.
The RC Community organizes and sponsors introductory talks, fundamentals classes,[14] special classes, ongoing classes, support groups, topic (discussion) groups, leaders’ groups (Wygelian[15] or other) (see Note I. Leaders’ Groups, page 99 [print version]), publications, and other means for sharing RC insights. Participation in RC classes and other activities does not in itself entitle a Co-Counselor to membership in the RC Community nor to attendance at other RC Community activities.
As Co-Counselors we are considered members of the Community and given broader access to its resources when we take responsibility for assisting in the functioning of the Community. Strong RC Communities are the result of the combined efforts of many people. Community members function as organizers, editors, translators, interpreters, treasurers, librarians, website designers and administrators, RC teachers,[16] Reference Persons, and more.
Each local RC Community shall define the expectations for membership in their Community, in accordance with this Guideline and in consultation with the Regional Reference Person.[17] Expectations for Community membership shall include:
- Reading the Introduction to the Guidelines and agreeing to follow and act in accordance with the Guidelines while participating in RC
- Agreeing to the One-Point Program (see Guideline A.3. The One-Point Program), Confidentiality (see Guideline A.5. Confidentiality), and the No-Socializing Policy (see Guideline M.1. No-Socializing Policy)
- Being willing to join in taking responsibility for the functioning of the Community.
These expectations for membership should be made available to class members in writing.
Each Co-Counselor who has completed a fundamentals class, who meets these expectations, and who has the recommendation of their teacher should be offered the opportunity to decide if they want to become a member of the RC Community. If not offered the opportunity at that point, they should be informed of the reasons for that decision.
Leaders are encouraged to think flexibly about applying membership expectations. They can set days, hours, locations, and cost of events in a manner that increases access to RC activities. Doing so ensures we don’t exclude or negatively affect potential Community members who are experiencing certain kinds of oppression. We seek to make RC available and workable for people who currently and historically have been denied access to material resources and full participation in society because of membership in oppressed groups. Overly rigid membership requirements can make it unnecessarily challenging for some people to participate in RC. We want to clearly welcome them.
This can include people who are poor, people with disabilities, Native and Indigenous people, Global Majority people[18], young people[19], parents of young children and other caregivers, and direct production workers.[20]
REASON
To preserve the essential peer nature of our work, RC Community members need to take similar levels of responsibility for the Community’s functioning and flourishing. Community membership leads to stronger Communities and assists individual re-emergence. Participating in a weekly RC class is usually expected for RC Community membership. Weekly contact with other Community members is desirable when possible. Regular contact creates more opportunities for individual re-emergence and building the Community. Simply making the effort to participate regularly (a very large effort for some) can remind us that each of us and our RC Community are important.
The structure and material conditions of people’s lives vary greatly due to oppression. This affects people’s ability to participate regularly in RC activities. This should be taken into account when a local Community defines and applies membership expectations. We want every Co-Counselor to have access to clear information on the expectations for Community membership—expectations that are flexible and inclusive. Thoughtful expectations can help strengthen people’s Co-Counseling, Community membership, and leadership development.
[12] A support group is a group of three to eight people who take equal turns being listened to by one another, with encouragement to discharge. The group can consist of a specific constituency (such as African heritage people, women, or young people), or people interested in a particular issue (such as educational change or care of the environment), or it can be a diverse gathering.
[13] A Reference Person is an RC leader who has agreed to play the role of exercising judgment about a Community, Region, constituency, or group in ways that are consistent with RC theory and the Guidelines. Members of a Reference Person’s Community, Region, constituency, or group can consult with the Reference Person about RC theory and practice.
[14] A fundamentals class is one that introduces the theory and practice of RC.
[15] Wygelian is an RC-invented term for any of the many constituencies—Native and Indigenous people, Global Majority people, women, LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, gender non-conforming, and non-binary) people, young people, elders, people with disabilities, and so on.
[16] A Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) teacher is an RC leader who is currently certified to teach RC.
[17] A Regional Reference Person (RRP) is appointed by and responsible to the International Reference Person (IRP). The RRP acts as the IRP’s deputy in developing and supporting leadership. An RRP holds this position at the discretion of the IRP, in consultation with the leaders of the Region. The primary responsibility of the RRP is the continued re-emergence of both existing and new leaders in the Region.
[18] The peoples of Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, and Latin America, and those descended from them are over eighty percent of the global population. These people also occupy most of the global land mass.
Using the term “Global Majority (GM)” for these people acknowledges their majority status in the world and interrupts how the dominant (U.S. and European) culture assigns them a minority status.
Many Global Majority people living in dominant-culture countries have been assimilated into the dominant culture—by force, in order to survive, in seeking a better life for themselves and their families, or in pursuing the economic, political, or other inclusion of their communities. Calling these people “Global Majority” contradicts the assimilation.
[19] Young people in RC are people who are twenty-one (21) years of age or younger. If young people under the legal age of adulthood (the age a person is considered legally to be an adult, which may differ from place to place) choose to participate in an RC class series, ongoing support group, or workshop without a parent or guardian, they need the written, informed consent of a parent or guardian in support of the young person’s decision. Young people’s participation, as with people of all other ages, is voluntary. The consent form can be found here: rc.org/consentform.
[20] For more thinking on the participation of oppressed groups in the RC Community see: rc.org/liberationtheory.