Speculation on special October 7th meeting

by Seeker 35 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Seeker

  We have been discussing the special meeting being held in various locations on October 7th. Note, this is the day AFTER the annual meeting, not part of the annual meeting itself. Reports have come in that certain individual congregations have been invited to attend. So far, no one knows what will be discussed, and I don't know either. But here is what I have learned about who will be attending in the New York area:

  Not only Bethelites above a certain level of seniority (as you would expect), but also individual local congregations. Here's the interesting part: With the local congregations invited, all publishers can attend, even unbaptized publishers.

  If they were inviting only the long-time publishers, you might say they would be given special instructions so they could take the lead in the congregation. But if they are inviting every last struggling member of a chosen congregation, I tend to think the news won't be THAT earthshaking.

  Here's my speculation (and that's all it is): This will be a rah-rah type meeting, with information to prepare them for upcoming bad publicity without actually saying anything about what's coming. The usual keep-em-in-the-dark-while-telling-them-what-to-think approach the WTS loves to use.

  What's your speculation?
• 

  JanH

  Thanks Seeker,

  My speculation, based on what you said, is that this is an experiment. Perhaps they want to see how such a meeting works, by comparing how congregations that go behave compare to those who do not.

  OR, those that are invited may be "trouble" congregations.

  Let me know if there is any new info.

  - Jan
  --
  "Doctor how can you diagnose someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then act like I had some choice about barging in here right now?" -- As Good As It Gets
• 

  MadApostate

  Seeker:

  I know this subject has been discussed in several previous threads, but could you summarize the "facts" that are known about this event.

  For instance, I seem to recall that certain meeting locations have been identified? Also, which Congs (and their Circ) have been id'ed? I believe someone stated that buses were being chartered instead of folks driving?

  I also believe someone indicated that a GB member would be at each location. Is this confirmed? That seem unlikely the day after the annual meeting.

  How long is the meeting? Morning? Afternoon? Taking meals?
  
  Common factors may enlighten us.

  For instance, are "representative" Congs from each Circ being invited?
  Pep rally?

  Do all the selected locations have video facilities? Maybe the US dropoff has forced the GB to reconsider use of television, and they want to preview their first info-commercial???

  Maybe the WTS is releasing a Kingdom News on the abuse issue, which will be distributed prior to the Dateline program?

  With "unbaptised pubs" being invited, that might not indicate necessariy indicate "no big news", but rather that the "big news" is not "doctrinal" in nature, but possibly another type of "big news".

  The fact that the GB has had a full year "of concentrating on spiritual matters", without the burden of overseeing the grunt work, creates an opportunity of introducing "new doctrinal light", since Jah would be blessing the new arrangement!

  Who knows, the meeting could be earthshaddering, or it could just be another ho-hum pep rally???
• 

  Seeker

  I don't really know anything else other than what I've posted and what I've read here. I am hoping others can join in and add details.

  With "unbaptised pubs" being invited, that might not indicate necessariy indicate "no big news", but rather that the "big news" is not "doctrinal" in nature, but possibly another type of "big news".

  Possible. But you'd think they would have announced such at the summer conventions that have just now ended. The fact that they didn't may mean this is a new development that couldn't have been included in the conventions in time. If it's a new development, it probably is related to the coming bad publicity.

  We'll see.
• 

  wasasister

  Question: Do any of you have family members, or friends still in contact with you, who will be invited? Surely somebody knows somebody who knows somebody who....well, you get the idea.
• 

  buffalosrfree

  I have several friends who have been invited, and I sure will be talking with them afterwards too. So any info I get I will be sure and post, what little I know so far is that, its no big deal, publishers only invited, there have been a lot of changes etc etc. So will wait and see what goes on. buff
• 

  MadApostate

  Buff:

  Can you tell us how many different Congs and Circuits you're referring to?

  Where is their meeting location?

  Any other "specifics" available?
• 

  Skimmer

  The WTBTS has to be extra careful if they are planning any changes to the 144,000 doctrine. While it would be consistent with the New Testament to have a heavenly hope for all Christians, the WTBTS relies too much upon the spiritual materialism of living in a planetary Garden of Eden just after surviving the Big A that is coming Real Soon Now.

  A few years ago, Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God dropped most of its peculiar, mostly Second Adventist beliefs in its attempt to go mainstream after its founder's death. They are much more mainstream today, but they lost about three quarters of their members and revenue in the process. The WTBTS has, I'm sure, thought about this very carefully. They see the demographic trends (serious declines in all developed countries, inability to retain younger members born into the religion, more ex-JWs than JWs in some regions, spreading the real truth via the Internet, etc.), and the recognize that they are going to see a three quarters drop themselves over the next ten to fifteen years if nothing changes. Maybe they have a secret mainstreaming plan, and maybe it started with back in 1995 with the elimination of the "generation" doctrine.

  There are some strange things happening. The Africa charitable program, although small in scale, would have been unheard of only a few years ago. The registration as a United Nations NGO would have totally unthinkable a while back; my recollection from the early 1970s is that the UN was taught to be Satan's Organization and was run by demons.
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  Moxy

  i tend to agree. perhaps not many are familiar with the occasional Zone Overseer visits to the branches. typically, a branch will arrange for a special meeting with a few local invited congregations as can be accomodated. ive been told that this is mostly a means of placating the ZO so he has less time to pore over the branches record of service and find all the problems. we had one of these recently at the canada branch. the meeting itself was not really any different from a shortened special assembly day with more experiences and branch stats thrown in. it was really weird getting all these thousands of people to suddenly up and pack and head off to the stadium we usually use for DCs (up to an hour-and-a-half's drive for some) with all the usual problems of arranging travel and parking just for a few hours of nothing particularly noteworthy. i can believe that it was more of an attempt by the canada branch to avoid getting too much attention under the GB's microscope.

  this meeting is probably not the same thing at all but the way random local congs are invited in their entirety reminds me of it. the material at the meeting may be just as innocuous.

  mox
• 

  Pathofthorns

  I'd have to agree with Seeker on the unlikelihood of any kind of earth-shattering news being presented if the occasion is open to unbaptized ones as well.

  Anything major would likely be confined to the elite until the WT could present such in a watered down, simplified way to the general Witness population. (ie. last years GB resignations)

  Most likely is as you suggest, a sort of 'pep rally' with perhaps some propaganda on how the Org protects it's young people and how 'priveleged' we are to be a part of it. As usual, experiences and statistics of growth somewhere on the planet to give the illusion that this is the situation globally when in fact it is the exception.

  Path