by minimus 22 Replies latest jw friends
I think we need to ask ourselves , given that there are so many ex-elders and MS's still attending meetings, why doesn't the Society attempt any program to get them active again?
I speculate that there is a real malaise in the upper branches of this organization and they are 'just phoning it in'. They conclude that it's all in Jehovah's hands and whatever...
This may be related to the surprizing disappearance of the book study.
metatron
given that there are so many ex-elders and MS's still attending meetings, why doesn't the Society attempt any program to get them active again?
probably best not to push the envelope and push them totally out. there are probably alot of ex-elders and ex-ms sitting on heaps of information damaging to the WT, that are not apostate.
But, could be swayed that way easily if push came to shove.
purps
At one point in London Penge we had our four best speakers all 'no longer serving as an elder' concurrently. Here's a quick rundown:
Elder 1 - PO, perfect JW family with two teenage boys who were exemplary, and he was senior manager in a large business. When WTS was running a distributed PR team to make better impression in the media he was one of a few London elders selected to talk to the press. You get the idea. So one Tuesday night BOOM - announced as no longer an elder, CBS out of his house announced at the same time. Big shock. REASON: (rumourmill) - shepeherding of single sister alone. Oh dear. CURRENT STATUS - back on as elder. Was in charge of our JC and is a liar - thinks he's smart but he's not, just a liar. Needs the self-verification of the position. Never truly got over being mixed race.
Elder 2 - Regular pioneer with wife, no kids, great guy, good sense of humour, involved with all cong social activities etc, interraccial marriage so bridged the black/white divide. Perfect. REASON: (no secret) - nervous breakdown. CURRENT STATUS - possible MS and occasional aux. pioneer. Suspect he is too smart to want to be an elder again.
Elder 3 - Married with 2 young children. Outwardly prosperous and successful in senior management job in consumer finance. 3 young children. Great speaker with lots of illustrations and relevant additional info from his work experience. REASON: (rumourmill) - alcohol abuse. Despite being our best friends we never found out firsthand what was troubling them but his wife told my wife they were at 'rockbottom'. CURRENT STATUS - senior MS, suspect he is too smart to want to be an elder again.
and my favourite reason for being deleted:
Elder 4 - Married, no kids, both regular pioneers for many decades. Member of HLC. Involved in everything and was everybodys friend. You need a toilet unblocked? No worries - he'd be there for you - and he was also authorised to conduct JW weddings :-) REASON : (fact) a DF'd former elder from another KH was making steps towards reinstatement and had expressed a wish to attend the CA at Hayesbridge Assembly Hall. Our elder was asked to 'look after him' ie make sure nobody spoke to him. So during lunchbreak everyone in attendance disappeared through the back to large communal seating areas to eat lunch, leaving DF man + elder in the empty assembly hall. Have you figured this out yet? Lunch time.....both eating their sandwiches.....together......yep - the CO walks by and sees them 'sharing a meal'. Can you spell p-h-a-r-i-s-e-e? So despite being asked to 'look after him' he was deleted as elder, HLC, (but not pioneer as far as I know). Very humiliating for him as his life was completely wrapped up in the organisation - one of the good guys to boot, if somewhat spineless. CURRENT STATUS: back on as elder. Needs the title for self-worth reasons.
Can you imagine our meetings with our best and brightest sitting in the audience leaving the taxi drivers and window washers to run the show?
