I have been reading here for a while but as you may of noticed the Assembly Games Post has flushed me out!
It has been fascinating to read all your experiences and to know that the stuff that I thought was odd, was thought odd by others as well.
Two things made me leave:
1. I found I could not do return visits as I did not want to break up families.
2. The local peadophile elder was not reported to police. Although he was disfellowshipped, probably becasue she had 2 uncles that were elders. The excuse used was that she did not want to press charges (neither does any 12 year old girl) but I think the police would of been quite understanding and just kept an eye on him. I took advantage ot travelling for work and never went back.
No one ever enquired after me, but then I was a single girl in the truth and therefore clearly desperate for a husband so they obviously thought I left to meet a worldly man!
Another thing I found that I hated was that the organisation on a congregatioanl and circuit level was akin to the American South before the civil war, it was all about family connections and who you knew. As someone on my own I had no pedigree therefore I was a loose cannon. Actually I lie, my mother is a witness but as yet has not found a congregation to meet her strict requirements so she is a congregation of 1. Ha ha.
So if you a fellow Aussie lurking, please join.
By the way my congregations were Nunawading, Bayswater and Glen Iris.
Cheers