by metatron 35 Replies latest jw friends
but does anyone remember an intermission between the school and service meeting. can't remember the total length of meetings back then, but it must have run a little longer to do that.
i personally never had one, but I had friends in more remote cong's that did that even when I was 12/13 years old, so like 20 years ago. I have not heard of this for a very long time..........
Actually it was between the public talk and the WT study, 15 minutes, ended just about when I got out of high school late 60's, early 70's?
It was more of a smoke break rather than a pee break for lots of "brothers". Then they had to be party poopers and make smoking a DF'ing offence.No more need for a break after that. The other reason I heard for the break was it gave all the "worldly people" who had responded to our public discourse invitations a chance to leave without disrupting the meeting.
The highlight of going home after the Thursday meeting ,after being cold and hungry was pestering our Folks to stop off for chips on the way home, we used to stop at a place called Huttons,piping hot chips with plenty of Salt and Vinegar
Was that about the time they stopped having a prayer at the beginning of the WT?
They started doing it again in 1972.
*** km 9/72 p. 8 Question Box ***
When are we to start having prayer before our public meetings?
If your congregation has not yet begun to do so, this week is a good time to start. Since we look to Jehovah as our Instructor for his blessing and guidance, it is appropriate for our meetings to be opened and closed with prayer. (Isa. 54:13; John 6:45) This is true whether the meetings are attended only by regular members of the congregation or are ones to which the public has specially been invited. If two meetings are held, one after the other, then prayer is offered at the beginning and end of the entire program.
A capable brother, generally one of the elders or ministerial servants, should be assigned in advance to be chairman at the public meeting. After he warmly welcomes those in attendance, he will invite the congregation to join in a song of praise to Jehovah, and then he will usually offer the opening prayer. Following this, the chairman should inform the audience of the title of the talk to be given and introduce the speaker. His remarks ought to be very brief. After the talk, the chairman may make whatever announcements are appropriate for those present.
While the material at our public meetings is explained in terms that the public can grasp, it is not directed solely to newly interested ones. The information is also highly informative and upbuilding to the members of the congregation who are regular attenders. It is fitting that all of us, whether baptized Witnesses or persons newly interested, turn our hearts to Jehovah in prayer on such occasions, for truly he is our "Grand Instructor."—Isa. 30:20.
As far back as 1949, they were not doing so.
*** w50 3/15 pp. 95-96 Letters ***MEETINGS! November 17, 1949
Dear Brother:
Answering your query of the 9th instant regarding the absence of prayer in opening and closing our public meetings:
It is certain that the public does not come to our public lectures in our Kingdom Hall or elsewhere to hear us pray, but do come to hear the advertised subject spoken upon by the speaker announced as competent to handle it. Our Exemplar Jesus held many public lectures, but there is no record that he opened or closed any of them with prayer. There is no Bible record that he opened up the sermon on the mount with prayer, or those open-air lectures after which he fed the multitude, first the 5,000 and then the 4,000. But there is a record that when he thus fed the multitudes he did offer prayer of thanksgiving to God before breaking the bread and fish and distributing the pieces to the hungry crowds. And these lectures, mind you, were public gatherings of practically all Jews who already believed in Jehovah God. But in our case today we advertise our public lectures as open to all peoples, whether nominally Catholic, Protestant, Jew, skeptic, atheist, or of the many pagan religions. Surely those of the public who are not of the Christian faith do not turn out to our meetings in order to join with us in prayer to our God, but solely to hear the speech which is the drawing feature. So we give them that and do not think to impose upon them by attaching something else to the lecture which might offend or stumble them before they hear the speech they came for. The apostle Paul, at 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, says Christians should offer prayer at their own meetings in a language to be understood in order that the hearers might be able to say Amen! at its close. But we should not expect any non-Christian public to join in any prayer if offered at a public meeting and then say Amen! with us at the close. Our brethren are offering public lectures in many pagan lands, and if it would be imposing upon the pagan public to offer our prayers before we let them hear our public message, then the same rule ought to apply even in Christendom. Because the message is for the public to tune in on, prayer is likewise not offered over the Society’s radio station WBBR. But this does not mean prayer is never offered in behalf of all such public meetings. It is, privately, by those promoting and supporting the public lecture campaign. That suffices.
Yours faithfully in serving The Theocracy,
WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY
As I remember from my time spent at the Kingdom Hall when I was in my teens and early adult years, the meetings started with the Service Meeting at 7:30, which ran until approximately 8:30.
It was followed by the Theocratic Ministry School which was supposed to be an hour long, so the Thursday night meetings would end at 9:30.
Quite often the meeting(s) ended at around 9:40 in the evening.
There used to be a short intermission between the Service Meeting and the Ministry School as I remember.
I pretty much stopped going in the late 1960s before things really started changing.
Sunday was pretty much the same way. We had the Public Talk which lasted a full hour, then a short break, followed by a song which led into the Watchtower Study, including prayer and ended, most times well past the allotted time of one hour for the Watchtower Study.
Things have certainly changed over the years, including the time spent at Circuit Assemblies and District Assemblies.
When I was a kid, we never got home from a Circuit Assembly any earlier than say 11:00.
ended just about when I got out of high school late 60's, early 70's?
for the most part, but for me to remember this it would have had to still be happening in at least the early to mid 80's in some cong's
metatron:
is too late for many children because they have to study and do homework and, often, get up before dawn to catch the school bus.
just prior to Friday when countless kids have tests in school scheduled!meta, meta, meta...dont you know anything?...you dont need anything but a good ol' U of A (University of Awake!) education. All of that homework and those tests are just mundane worldly pursuits. Get as much of this filling "spiritual food" as you can. Its worth every sacrifice. You probably wont go to high school anyway. Paradise will arrive any minute now....meanwhile, become a U of A alumni and a WindowWashingPionner and donate all of your proceeds to the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund...and don't you worry your pretty little head about 401(k)s and social security......Armageddon will be here long before you retire and money is of no use (but keep sending in your worthless tax-deductible donations to us)
(says one who never expected to graduate high school 25 years ago and just now finishing a second college degree and has no retirement savings whatsoever)
Snakes ()
We used to miss Red Dwarf ... damn, I hated when everyone was still there talking till late !
The highlight of going home after the Thursday meeting ,after being cold and hungry was pestering our Folks to stop off for chips on the way home, we used to stop at a place called Huttons,piping hot chips with plenty of Salt and Vinegar
My kids used to like going for Pizza
"8:45 Pm? That's early. We didnt get home before 10pm on MS-SM Thursdays.... Missed the Waltons and later, Cheers...or whatever good stuff used to be on Thursdays"
You said it....I despised Thursdays growing up, and I still dislike the day somewhat on account of it. I would always get home after 10pm, with the meeting ending at 9:45 or so. Those long meetings sucked so bad.
