IS/ WAS YOUR CONGREGATION LIKE MY CURRENT ONE? (page 2)

seek2find

I concur with the thoughts of a youth group. I keep hearing about all this "concern about our youths", but nothing is being done except telling them "more service more meetings more personal study". How about group studies just for the young ones? Where they can honestly share their feelings with one another? seef2find

XJW4EVR

Where they can honestly share their feelings with one another?

How can you share your feelings, when there is the constant reality of a Judicial Committee in the back of your mind? How can you share your doubts about the Bible, the Elders, the Organization when that is there? Sharing your true feelings with someone only comes when there is trust. You can't trust anyone as a JW. SImple as that. This has been the driving force in my own inability to trust people, even now 15 years post-Borg.

Elsewhere

I have personally heard comments like, "When is this thing going to end?" and "I don't know how much longer I can hold on".

Ahhhh yes... the Happiest People on Earth!

Virgochik

In our Hall, and this was twenty years ago, we had:

1) Late 30's, married Ministerial Servant sleeping with 15 year old sister, both reproved

2) Late 50's married elder, whose wife refused to have sex, sleeping with his study's wife. Elder disfellowshipped, whole congregation gossiping about it, and his life ruined. Study couple quits coming to meetings.

3) Elder's family has 2 teenage boys, and a toddler. They hire teenage sister to babysit the little girl after school. Surprise! Blond sister is found in bed with one of the black teenage sons. Who was so blind as to not see the attraction to one another? Both reproved, neither is reinstated and "fall away."

4) Elder runs away with MS's wife, they get an apartment in another town. They get married. MS begins dating elder's ex-wife.

5) Elder's dissatisfied, neglected and pretty wife divorces him, and marries her boyfriend, a lawyer. Congregation is stunned! When did she meet him? Many gossip about how it's not surprising because elder worked 16 hour shifts at his job, then was always doing elder duties. She felt unloved and found someone else who spoiled her with attention. She was disfellowshipped, but do ya think she gave a rat's fanny?

Doubting Bro

Yeah, that's pretty much par for the course. In one congregation, there was very few JC meetings however, it was an older congregation. My current congregation has numerous issues many of them involving the under 30 crowd (that's actually left attending the meetings).

There's always the multi-congregation scandle that comes up from time to time, generally involving the teens to early 20s crowd and usually at a "gathering" (wild party). Also, the occasional elder running off with some's wife. Yet, we're in a spiritual paradise????

TheCoolerKing

Oh yeah, I have to agree that all of these incidents are "normal" congregation behavior. I havent set foot inside a KH in over 20 years, but I see that it hasnt changed. Especially the gossiping! There was always talk of such and such sleeping around with such and such. Or talk of some elder's kid dating a "worldly" person.

I recall that we actually had an entire Sunday morning talk devoted around the theme: "The proper way for us (as JWs) to act when out among wordly people." The congregation elders had determined that this talk was extremely necessary because of an incident at a roller skating ring on a past Saturday evening.

Apparently several witness teenagers from the congregation, including a few elder's kids, started a fist fight with some other non-witness teens. The situation got out of control and the police had to be called. Apparently it all started because a non-witness teen started talking to the girlfriend of one of the JW teens!

DannyHaszard

Rockland Massachusetts Jehovah's Witnesses

Village of the Damned K-Hall Rockland Massachusetts

Circa 1988-92 I had a number of elder meetings about all the malicious bullshit going on against my family and they ignored me.

Ignore me now....

Rotten Rockland Massachusetts Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall

(if ya got any recent dirt on em pm me or post as reply)

Juniper123

It's true youth groups would only work in a church, excuse me organaztion, not built on the the toxic double bill of be humble and loving to one another/but your are the nicest bestest people in the whole world and god loves you bestest of all. The theme I see through so many threads about lack of love in congregations makes me feel not alone. That I saw the carefully posed pictures in WT and Awakes and the books, of people happily conversing with one another, sidebars making a point for "younger one" to seek out the fellowship of "mature ones" in the cong. Pictures of paradise where apparently we'll wander around in our ethnic national costume for enternity. All this love on the page and all the spitting at the evil of Christendom and yet every kingdom hall was an uneasy, unhappy cattle barn of secrets, accusations, silent judgements, snarled lips and ice cold "it's so nice to have you with us today"s. I'm so thankful for this place to melt that guilt that it was my fault I was getting anything out of the meetings or the fellowship.

ot/virgochick, is your avatar from Johanna Pieterman? I love her work/ot

BluesBrother

She says that this congregation is the exception, not the norm...

Don't they all have to believe that? After all, Gods organization is "The best place on earth to be" so it must be just our congregation that is lacking .....I have been in 5 congregations as an active dub and a couple of others as inactive accompanying my wife. None of them lived up to the billing.

The last one in which I served as an elder was a small country town congo, dominated by a couple of families and full of backstabbing and holding grudges - especially the elder body . I was ousted in a coup from the body along with the only other decent elder they had . He still attends and supports it avidly.. I cannot get him to see beyond the blinkers

freyd

Reminds me of my old congregation. You wouldn't believe it. For starters they had three PO's in three years.

IS/ WAS YOUR CONGREGATION LIKE MY CURRENT ONE?

Rockland Massachusetts Jehovah's Witnesses

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