I'm I in the dark here? I don't remember a title called Bethel Elders. It was Elders, in each congregation, and that was about it. Did something go by unnoticed here.
End of August, no more bethel elders
by thecarpenter 14 Replies latest jw friends
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VM44
Was EVERY male that worked at Bethel supposed to be an elder, or working to become appointed one? --VM44
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thecarpenter
the bethel family has its own elder arrangement. Even though someone is appointed a elder in their regular congregation, it apparently doesn't count in bethel. (sort of like being appointed a elder in one congregation doesn't give you authority in another congregation.) So bethel came up with its own arrangement where a brother is appointed a elder in the bethel family arrangement. This has been the arrangement for decades and it was posted here several months ago that bethel was getting rid of that arrangement and I was wondering if it happened already. Does anyone know?
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garybuss
--VM44, you wrote: "What advantage does it bring to The Watchtower in doing away with the title "Bethel Elder"? I don't see how it costs them anything whether some men are called "Bethel Elders" or not."This Bethel elder group was the target profile group to benefit from the upcoming layoffs. The Bethel elders had a higher standing than the non-elders. They couldn't lay off a large percentage of their Bethel elders and keep the elder's underlings . . . but that was what was about to happen. The way to deal with the conflict was to eliminate the whole management level of Bethel elders.
There was a perceptual cost to the Society in not eliminating the positions of prestige before laying off the people holding those positions. -
moshe
You know, these older Bethel elders have 30 or more years of time there- they have seen a lot. Perhaps these old guys have been an impediment to the changes that the GB wants to implement. They don't need anybody around reminding them of the "old days" or "stay the course" on 1914, etc.