30 minute public talks???

by jws 6 Replies latest jw friends

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  jws

  Forgive me if this has been posted, but my dad just told me they announced they'd shorten the Sunday public talks to 30 minutes. Apparently there are so many congregations at some halls that the extra half hour will help ease the scheduling.

  He says it's not just his hall, it's all over. I suppose it would have to be. The outlines would all have to be shortened accordingly. You can't expect JWs to think for themselves which material to keep and which to cut.

  It seems a bit retarded. The public talk was often the only meeting I ever found reason to enjoy. You'd think they could shorten the Watchtower or something mind-numbingly boring.

  And why so many congregations in the first place? Maybe I haven't been paying attention for a few years, but I kind of thought the US was in a bit of a decline. I would think there would be less congregations? Or are they closing up halls and sending them to other halls to save costs? I suppose that also means a bit less air-conditioning time in the summer too.

  Any clues as to what this strategy really means? There's always something more than meets the eye. Like when they decided to go to "contribution-based" literature, it was really because they were in fear of having to pay taxes on it.

  Again, maybe this has already been covered and I'm sorry for reposting it. It supposedly was announced today and I didn't see anything else about it. And I haven't been on here in a while...
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  stillajwexelder

  yes this is old news - I will post some links in a minute
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  stillajwexelder

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/138244/1.ashx
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  Seeker4

  Yeah, there have been several posts on this for a week or two.

  Not exactly sure what the reasons are, but a few guesses. In halls where several congregations meet, it will help with the transition between congregations, giving a few more minutes.

  It will cut down on what can be either the most interesting or most boring meeting of the week.

  Brothers are to use the same outlines, but cut out some 10 minutes or so. Much less time for individual ideas, teachings, outside sources.

  S4
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  stillajwexelder

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/138534/2473363/post.ashx#2473363
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  WTWizard

  No, it's not the first post and it probably won't be the last. However, every congregation is going to have different reactions to the new arrangements. You can have 1,000 people hearing the same announcements and have 1,000 different experiences, predictions of how it's going to work out, and different integrations.

  I bet that this will amount to little more than the short version of the original talk. I remember those old disco records where they had a 9-minute version on a 12" single, with a short 3 minute version on the radio. Typically people would hear the short version and get to know that, and then buy the long version. However, I don't think you will hear the long version in the Hell. You will probably hear the long versions out in the car groups when they discuss it among themselves while in service (so far, they haven't found a way to ban that and enforce it).

  I still think it's a waste. As with a song I don't like, I don't care if it's the short version or the long one. It will still get the song in my head, and that is bad either way. What they really need to do is cut the other 30 minutes out, and then the public talks will be zero minutes long. Then the Puketower studies can be zero minutes (unless Blondie is the conductor; she can take as long as she feels like).
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  drew sagan

  No, it's not the first post and it probably won't be the last. However, every congregation is going to have different reactions to the new arrangements. You can have 1,000 people hearing the same announcements and have 1,000 different experiences, predictions of how it's going to work out, and different integrations.

  So true!