any takers?
Were there any elder's quarrels in your congreegation?
by badboy 10 Replies latest jw friends
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stillajwexelder
I once screamed at the PO
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blondie
From reports from family who were elders and friends who were, yelling was a typical event. There was always at least one yeller and those that were cowards.
Can you imagine a PO saying, "it's my way or the highway"?
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stillajwexelder
he went against what he said in a previous meeting so I pulled the elders meeting minutes to prove it
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stillajwexelder
it was regarding the appointment of a brother to be a MS
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Bonnie_Clyde
My father told me this. (He is now deceased). A few years ago one of his fellow elders' son was counselled for the use of drugs. Shortly after this, my father had a talk on the service meeting on a subject not related to drug use, but somehow brought up the subject of drugs anyway in a way that completely offended the other elder. After the meeting the other elder literally slammed the Kingdom Hall door as we went out.
My dad had a way of offending people, he always felt they had it coming.
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undercover
The biggest elder argument I saw was during a softball game during a congregation picnic. One elder said a runner was safe and scored the run, the elder who was pitching said he was out...
They stood toe to toe at the pithcer's mound and started screaming at each other. I kept waiting for one of them to kick dirt on the other's shoes...
Another elder had to remind them that it was a game and that they were embarrasing not only themselves but everyone in attendance.
I did know of several elder disagreements. On more than one occassion, there were divisions in the elder body. I never saw them argue in person, but as an MS it was interesting to be around elders from the different factions. They would push their agenda and speak ill of the elders who wouldn't join them in their way of thinking.
It got so bad at one hall, that most everyone in the hall had taken sides with one elder group or the other. The Society ended up sending in new elders from out of town to straighten things out. Only it didn't work, the new elders ended up taking sides as well and each side got braver and more obnoxious because they thought that since they had one of the Society's hand-picked men take their side, they were right.
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SnakesInTheTower
I have probably told parts of this before. There are more details in this telling with a recent (this week) update.
On the first body of elders that I ever "served" on, we had a mixed group. PO was black. SO was a retired white guy. Secretary was a older (not retired) white guy. There were a couple of other white elders, including myself. Secretary was known to be a closet racist. He is (was) a member of an exclusive sportsman type club that until recent years excluded (unofficially in later years, officially early on) black members. To get in, one had to be recommended by a current member and voted on by the membership. Self-fulfilling... white guys NOT recommending black guys or if they did, not voted in by the all-white membership. More recently they now have black members..but only because of declining/aging membership of the old white boys.
This was all kept on the down low. As time wore on, there were appointed a couple of other black elders (one before me, the youngest at the same time as I). The middle age one was not happy about the attitude of the racist secretary. Although the secretary and his wife claimed to have black friends as "close friends", in reality the two pioneer sisters were his housekeepers. As long as they "kept their place" (not my feeling, his attitude), he could carry on being friendly to them. If a black tried to make himself better, then he made an issue of it. This happened and caused a big blow up.
It came to a head when we had a young black MS in the congo that the secretary didnt like. The MS had been hired by the city fire department. Anyone who knows about fire fighters know they have unique scheduling...usually 24 hours on 2 or more days in a row off. This elder thought that since he had so much time on his hands that he should be more visible in the field circus. (though the racist bugger himself was not too visible). This was brought up in an elders meeting. One of the other black elders raised some "concerns" about the white elder's attitude toward blacks in the congo.... this conversation escalated until the black elder dropped a couple of F bombs! Surprsingly, the black elder was not disciplined. I think we all realized that he was pushed into a corner. There was literally screaming and yelling going on...so much for a "united" body ...LOL ... if I recall correctly, the black elder stormed out.
This elder has been a problem for many years...he went from being inactive to an elder in a short time, without regard to his actual qualifications. He was buddies with a prominent elder and was very generous with the CO green handshakes.
While still an elder, I challenged his qualifications as secretary (not as an elder, though I could have)...he was replaced along with the secretary by a new CO. (They were later put back after a new CO came through). He caused me trouble for more years after that....not a man who is used to being crossed.
UPDATE: Apparently, this racist elder has caused so much grief that just this week I heard that new CO and the recent DO are coming through this week ("work with" week during CA week) to remove the racist as an elder! We will see what happens. The MS (who is now inactive and very much against the Society) is meeting with the CO/DO with a letter. My name will come up because I told the MS about things in the background about his case. The ex-MS called me today to make sure it is still OK for him to bring my name up..I told him to bring it on... :)
I have another quick story...will tell it momentarily...
Snakes ()
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Tired of the Hypocrisy
One had to do with disciplining my wife. This took place years before she and I met, but they got into an argument about her dress right in front of her. She was a rebel and she liked to push it. So she whould wear short skirts, halter tops, or those BIG fishnet stockings to the meetings. They called her to the back and started in on her. She drove them nuts clapping her high heel shoe against her foot and popping her gum.
One of them was about her age and he told her that she needed to dress more like his wife. Who never wore make-up, or even seemed to comb her hair....Well this set it off. Because she said that she remembered his wife before they got married and she dressed a lot like her. It was he who destroyed her will to even try to look decent. Then she said how he instead of looking after the family at meetings, she would see him staring at her legs in the piano mirror.
Another elder laughed and that started the fight, because he had seen him staring at her too!
She got up and left....her work was done!
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badboy
KEEP THOSE STORIES COMING!