Jehovah's Witnesses and their Elders

by AllTimeJeff 33 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  besty

  As I grew up I watched my Dad strive with all his might to 'qualify' as an elder. Unfortunately he simply wasn;t good enough for the good ole boys club - he wasn't one of them and never would be. (He was more than good enough in my eyes - a decent man if ever there was one)

  Later that entire BOE was removed and the congregation disbanded due to infighting.

  PERTH KINNOULL 1995 elders - you were a sad excuse for men .

  I made my mind up I would never be interested in religious hierarchy, soon that developed into a desire not to be part of a religion.
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  excito-are

  Perth Kinnoull 1995. I forgot that story. Everyone it seemed was talking about that scandal in our hall. So much for a spiritual paradise! I was only about 17 when it happened and anout that time an MS in our hall had just punched me after a football match. ( my skill was truly brillant, hehe) I was told by elders to drop the matter and forget about it, as this was not good for the unity of the hall and could escalate into divisions e.c.t. Of course I obeyed. I truly thought all these stories and happenings were a sign that Satan was raging a war against us witnesses to break us. Doh!

  Excito
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  DaCheech

  I agree with all your comments 100%, but why do they strong arm elders/ms/pioneers today with threat of dismissal if they do things like let disfellowshipped family members stay at home..... or stupid thinks like going to a party where there might be a df'd person there...... or like when of their kids leaves the truth (they do not qualify)?

  they are doing it to themselves, it serves them right!
• 

  flipper

  ALL TIME JEFF- Good thread. My dad has been an elder since 1953 and my older brother is too since 1972. I never wanted to serve as an elder even though I was a ministerial servant 6 years in the 1980's. Had all the same duties- gave public talks, meeting parts , etc. - but I was always an individualist , an independent thinker - and the " good old boys " didn't like that about me. Plus - I've never brown - nosed anyone in my life for anything - so theycould see I wouldn't play the game to just get appointed. I saw way too much hypocrisy and elders giving their " personal opinions " as counsel instead of sticking to the governing bodies publications or even the Bible.

  When I left the org. 5 years ago in part it was the unjust treatment of me and others by elders that caused me to see the " real truth " about the alleged " truth ". Now that I'm out - never been happier
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  passwordprotected

  Re. the number of elders increasing/decreasing; in our old congregation they lost 3 elders in 2 years, including me. They currently have no MS moving towards appointment.
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  passwordprotected

  Re. Perth Kinnoul - can anyone give me more info?
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  besty

  @PP

  The facts as I understand them were that one of the elders sons aged about 7 got kicked in the crotch by a 14 year old boy whose Mum was JW but Dad wasnt. I believe the incident happened one meeting night in or around the KH. So the elder and his wife take the kid to hospital as he was suffering somewhat and of course the hospital staff are kinda interested as to the cause of the injury.

  One thing leads to another and the 14 year old ends up on the Sex Offenders Register or with a juvenile criminal record or something out of all proportion to the actual incident.

  Of course that makes the elder and his wife about as welcome as a pork sandwich at a Jews wedding and the congregation start to form into rival factions depending on who you felt had been wronged etc. It ended up with crowds of JW's waiting outside the hall if that elder got up to give a talk - basically an untenable bad atmosphere. My Mum told me one time there was only 20 at the main Sunday meeting - this from a cong that had about 80 publishers.

  So the CO showed up - removed the entire body of elders and closed the congregation. I think what happend was they took the opportunity to reshape the territories for all of Perth and made a 'new' congregation.

  Anybody else knows better feel free to correct me on the details - but thats the substance.
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  passwordprotected

  Thanks besty. I remember hearing about a congregation being disbanded back in the 90s, but at the time a lot of people poo-poo'd whether it had actually happened.

  I remember saying to my mum a couple of months ago that you won't find a more judgmental group of people than a KH full of JWs. I think Perth Kinnoul proves that truism.
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  besty

  I think the judgmentalism was largely a factor of a small rural town mentality that didnt have many incomers so everybody knew everything about everybody else - there was no line in the sand for personal privacy.

  I didn't experience that in London - the exact opposite in fact.
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  DaCheech

  verona, NJ in the ealy 90's was sent special bethel people to cleanse it from materialism