What a New C.O. Arrangement Might Do

by metatron 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  Firstly, laying off C.O.'s would not solve the problem of appointing elders by agreement of the Governing Body. As long as they are appointed remotely, these elders could be looked upon as agents of the Watchtower Society. The liability chain might not be completely severed.

  Secondly, I recall to your attention what happened years ago to the elder arrangement. The Society had to re-assert authority over congregations thru the Circuit Overseers. Brothers started to refer to the Circuit Overseer as 'just another elder'. They had to be re-taught that although all elders are equal, some are more equal than others ( to quote '1984').

  It took years of confusion to straighten out the elder arrangement in local congregations because, basically, this organization only functions in a tightly centralized manner. They have to have a strong chain of command or things fall apart. This is why they now have a P.O. who often knows everything and other elders who know ( or do) nothing about what's going on.

  The Society tried to have a rotating chairmanship in congregations and it was a mess, as so many elders were incompetent in leading anything ( and often, can only 'manage' things when their wives tell them what to do!).

  Consider then, what circuits might be like if they had transient, part-time or rotating leadership. Also consider the surprizing animosity or rivalry that exists between bodies of elders - who would then produce a local C.O. from among their ranks. And what do you think might happen to circuit accounting? ($)

  They already have a stunning problem with retaining elders and particularily, getting many elders to volunteer to do anything! Wiser Circuit Overseers know that you need to be careful if you remove a Secretary, P.O., School Servant or Accounts Servant hastily. You may get embarrassed to find that NO ONE wants the job that was vacated.

  Would local C.O.'s get a leased car? Health insurance? A place to live? Would they be expected to be unpaid employees of the Watchtower, Inc.? I can imagine a few might want to 'move up' to a position of authority locally, but that can get old quick!

  This is getting interesting.....

  metatron
• 

  daniel-p

  I think you can be certain that if local elders replace the COs, they will NOT be getting free cars, health insurance, etc. The Society isn't generous when they're downsizing.
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  Doubting Bro

  Also, remember that many cities have "City Overseers" already - unless this has changed in the last year & a half. In a few cases that I know about, this particular elder has more pull than many of the COs because they develop a good relationship with the branch office. I know one city overseer and I have a pretty limited knowledge of what the job entails. This person is also chair of the HLC but I'm not sure if that's because he's the city overseer or if he just wanted to do it. Not all areas are covered by this arrangement but they could easily expand it. These guys receive no money or other support from the WTS just like someone on the HLC or working in administration at the convention (which this guy does as well).Meta has a good point, since the WTS approves all elders, getting rid of the COs doesn't severe their liability. Sorry about the formatting, I'm using Firefox.
• 

  CaptainSchmideo

  They had to be re-taught that although all elders are equal, some are more equal than others ( to quote '1984').

  Right author, wrong book. That's actually a quote from "Animal Farm". This book is much closer to how the WTBS operates than the situation in "1984" (though the parallels of both are very striking...)
• 

  metatron

  If the job pays nothing, I think they will get exactly what the position is worth....

  metatron
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  james_woods

  I don't think they are worried about the liability of directly appointing the PO in each congregation...I think the liability they are worried about is that the law might eventually force the issue that the traveling CO is in actuality a full time employee of the WTS, and as such is subject to full labor-law regulations and protections.

  This was what made them quit selling the magazines a while back - fear of regulation and taxation.
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  daniel-p

  James: Good point. There was a sister who was injured while serving at Bethel, but they refused to pay for her medical care. She sued, and won. The judge found that she was, at the time, in a full-time employee capacity, and as such, deserving of a sort of workers compensation. (forgive me if I have some details wrong - this is from memory). This only happened a couple years ago, I believe. So yes, while COs and Bethelites may be construed as full-time "employees" (even though the WT calls them "volunteers") and thus presenting added liability, local elders who step up to fill in the role of COs, having no financial connection to HQ, would not be.
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  wha happened?

  Eliminating CO's would eliminate the agency issue. Elders would then go to the legal dept rather than contacting a CO. This was discussed on another thread how the use of the legal department then creates an Attorney client relationship which is not privy to anyone except the Attorney and his client. (Legal dept and the PO calling them.)
  
  The Catholic church has no traveling overseer looking over the individual churches. So the churches in an area are in a Parish and each individual Parish is it's own entity. So legal action only extends to the individual parish. Imagine an individual congregation who's funds have been solicited and collected by the WT to earn them interest. The congregation then is basically broke. What attorney would agree to take on a case again if the deep pocket were only the individual congregation? This would then place the financial burden on the accuser or an Attorney willing to work Pro Bono.
  
  Setting up stop gap measures is another way a corporation successfully continues it's existence.
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  AK - Jeff

  But isn't the Catholic church divided into diocese's with overseeing Bishops or the same? Sorry not a Catholic, but I have seen many reports on the local news of the Bishop in South Bend being responsible for a large number of churches in this area, extending 100 miles or so.

  Jeff
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  wha happened?

  Exactly, and the Los Angeles Parish is one of the largest. But it shows that there is a division between other Parishes and Rome itself