What steps did you take to stop your association with the congregation? (page 4)

undercover

I was already irregular in service and meeting attendance when I allowed the doubts to surface.

By the time I figured that something was bad wrong, I quite field service and the book study. Then I started leaving at the break between the School and the Service Meeting. A bar down the street was more appealing at that time. Then I started skipping the WT study. Pretty soon, I wasn't going at all.

I got very few phone calls and two sheparding calls.

sspo

Once i relized that the watchtower was just another religion with its own interpretation of the bible

Moved to a Spanish Congregation

Not speaking spanish i did not go out in service

Did not answer at the meetings or join the school

Two months later i stopped going to the meetings and never heard from anyone in a year and half

Most of the elders could not speak english so the fade worked beautifully

flipper

Like some others here - I just stopped going to meetings. I had an awakening after talking to some elders before a meeting - then went to my seat, picked up my books and walked out the door - never going back. That was over 5 years ago . The elders tried chasing after me a couple years ago to bust me on false charges of " circumstancial fornication " with no evidence - I refused to attend the initial JC meeting , then fought them in an appeal committee meeting and I won ! The society overturned the DF decision on insufficient evidence, and I threatened them with a lawsuit if they DFed me on false grounds and slandered my name. Why did I bother to fight it ? So I could control whether I talked to my 83 and 81 year old witness parents. It felt good grabbing the power stick back out of the hands of the elders , winning the appeal, then declining any future invitation to come to meetings. I said, " No thanks. I've been way too hurt by this 9 month long chase . " They have never bothered me again

OBVES

To be a such you must have a basis using the Bible to see how God Yahweh had set up the salvation plan .

Luke 9.49-50 is a clue.

Great servants of God Yahweh can be as a small united group of servants who lead others to the Truth or exceptionally it can be one seperate servant who is not associated with any organized religion. But note he must be a servant from the class of 144000 .So he teaches others as well but not through an organization.

The fact someone left the church and is now a single christian independent doesn't necessarily mean God approves of him .

Heard of Harold Camping from Family Radio ? He teaches that those who are in the churches and are or want to be saved must leave theid churches. Must get out of the churches and be on their own.

So , he opposes Jehovah's Witnesses while I am standing behind them using Luke 9.49-50 .We both understand that the year 2011 AD will be the year of the end of the world . In my view God Yahweh will end of the present evil world order while he claims God will destroy the whole universe on October,21 ,2011 AD.

sooner7nc

I had been "Spiritually Weak" for quite a while, so I wasn't commenting, service, talks, etc. anyway. The only steps I took to completely stop my association was (A) Called crapola and told her I didn't beleive this shit anymore. (B) Told my lovely wife I didn't beleive this shit anymore. (C) Stopped attending. Voila! Done and done.

sooner

Bumble Bee

Actually, in my case it was the actions of the "elders" on a so called Shepherding visit that did it for me. I was so upset and disgusted after that visit that I couldn't set foot in the KH after that. I tried a few times, but everytime I saw the PO that came to my house I'd feel physically ill, and as I was getting ready to go, would have panic attacks.

Thanks to them, I am free now.

SnakesInTheTower

willyloman..

Your fade had a lot in common with my fade. I have had doubts going back pre-1995 Generation change. Had ups and downs, eventually appointed as an elder... went to MTS.... knew it was a bunch of BS about halfway through that class...stuck it out for another 4 years. One particular local elder in the congo (not where I had been assigned but where I moved after leaving the assignment) hated me for years ...opposed my initial recommendation, delayed my reappointment for 10 months.... tried unsuccessfully to delay it again....4 years later he finally "proved" I was "unreasonable" (aka, I didnt do what he said...he runs the show even though his son is the PO). At first I gave a verbal resignation but then changed my mind and decided to make them look like fools in front of the CO and forced them to remove me. This accomplished two things. 1) Got me off the elder treadmill and 2) kept the next congo from being able to look at me as an elder for 3 years, and even then I would have to be an MS first. They knew me and wanted me to be an elder in their congo....their interest in me fizzled like a wet firecracker once they got the letter saying I had been removed not resigned.

What did I do? As soon as I was told in the meeting with the CO that I was no longer an elder, the plan unfolded...

1. The Sunday of the CO visit was my last meeting with my old congregation.

2. I had my publisher card sent to a nearby congo....but in another state and another circuit.

3. I didnt show up for about a month. A friend of mine that was an elder called me and I started attending Sunday and Thursday for about a month.

4. Skipped all booked studies and field service (easy since no one knew where they wanted to assign me...large congregation) but turned in phantom time for the first 8 months I was at the new place..just enough to call it "informal witnessing" without raising red flags..started decreasing the quantity each month...stopped reporting before the new service year so as to not generate a new Publisher Card for the file.

5. Purposely chose a large (over 150 publisher) congregation so I could get lost easier (even though I was a white in a majority black congo).

6. Started missing more and more Thursdays. Started leaving after the Public Talk on Sunday...then started missing Sunday. (made easier when the congo had to meet in another KH for about 6 weeks during a remodel...I didn't go at all then...no one missed me.)

7. Went to one last meeting in Sept 2007 (to see how the remodel went)....left after the Talk and decided as I walked out to my car that I had attended my last meeting at a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. I have not been back since...not even for a Memorial.

My fade worked because I not only changed congos, but changed circuits. Thankfully none of my previous CO's were moved to the other circuit as had happened in the past. I live in one territory that I havent attended since 1991. My card is at another. I got a couple of calls but then nothing. Now I only have to worry about an occasional call from former friends who are elders in my town. This year will probably be the defining moment. Miss one Memorial, might be a phase... miss two in a row...must be apostate...lol. I think purps hit it on the head... moving away from this region will work wonders....

Snakes ()

minimus

I made myself very very very unavailable. I worked more and made myself scarce,

sir82

2. I had my publisher card sent to a nearby congo....but in another state and another circuit.

3. I didnt show up for about a month. A friend of mine that was an elder called me and I started attending Sunday and Thursday for about a month.

An even sneakier thing to do would be to have a friend - doesn't have to be an elder, heck, doesn't even have to be a Witness - call your secretary and request your cards. As long as the friend is far enough away from your original congregation (ideally a state or 2 away) that no one would know him, the secretary of your congregation will just accept at face value that he is talking to another secretary and send off the cards. Then you are officially "off the books" - no congregation will have responsibility for you, making it extremely difficult for you to be DF.

This is so remarkably easy to do, I'm quite astounded that the Society apprently hasn't caught on yet. I would expect at least a BOE letter outlining some procedure to verify that the parties on both ends are really congregation secretaries. Technically, the new congregation is supposed to request the cards in writing, but 99% of the time it's handled via a phone call requesting the cards.

Based on threads like this one, it sounds like it happens quite often.

What steps did you take to stop your association with the congregation?

purplesofa