There was an expansion of what sacred service mean in the 70's.
for example
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w76 10/1 pp. 599-600 Rendering Sacred Service Night and Day ***15
Housewives have a fine opportunity to perform acceptable "sacred service" to God. Their fine works that others can see would certainly include keeping a neat, clean house, taking care of the cooking and the clothing needs of the family. For what is more on display to others than one’s home? A wife’s hospitality, her readiness to help her neighbors, particularly her willingness to ‘put herself out’ to assist other sisters in the congregation in whatever their needs may be—these are sacrifices in which God is well pleased. When people know these things about her, then her public declaration of the good news in the congregation territory will have a more powerful influence.—Acts 9:36-41; Titus 2:4, 5.But this was all retracted in 1980
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w80 12/15 p. 29 Do You Remember? ***Does
"sacred service" include everyday activities of life, such as caring for our families, maintaining good morals and the like?No. "Sacred service" applies to that which directly involves our worship of God. It includes formal and informal witnessing, sharing in worship at Kingdom Halls, caring for our meeting places, all activity related to providing Bibles and Bible literature, as well as sacrifices that we may make in encouraging and aiding our brothers, spiritually and materially, to keep active in Jehovah’s work.—8/15, pp. 30, 31.
Blondie
Thank you Seeker4 for the topic and Blondie for documenting the flip-flop. The 1970's was heady time to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same summer district conventions that announced the new "elder" arrangement (1971), there was a talk strongly hinting at the cessation of counting field service time. Then came the expansion of sacred service. It made so much sense because many of us knew we neglected real obligations to "count time". After the elder arrangement was fully installed, the circuit overseer became simply a "visiting elder". His words and observations about appointments and other matters carried no more weight than that of the local elders. That policy lasted for about a minute, but the ramifications were felt for several years after that. Some of us were accused of being "disrespectful to Jehovah's representative" when we saw things differently. The new hardlining caught some of us by surprise, but we quickly acquiesced. I was thinking after Hurricane Katrina how JW's could mainstream so easily if they could "count time" helping their neighbor in lieu of field service. I could see JW's getting behind all kinds of local charitable projects as long as it "made Jehovah's name known". Overnight, JW's could change from non-charitable scrooges into something every community would want more of. Brooklyn would not be enriched, but the reputation of the religion would skyrocket. tms