With the mention of the italian congregation collapsing back in 1988?
Are there other cases of this happening, apart from south africa?
congregation that collapsed or broke away
by badboy 7 Replies latest jw friends
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Amazing
Yes. Bonham, Texas Congregation left the organization together, except for a few the remained JWs. The majority took the Kingdom Hall, which resulted in a lawsuit, wherein the Watchtower Society for the first time declared itself a hierarchal organization rather than congregational ... so that they could lay claim to the Kingdom Hall. The Watchtower Society lost the case and the Kingdom Hall stayed in the hands of those that left. After that time, the Watchtower Society instituted a new policy that upon the dissolution of a congregation, or other such event, the Watchtower Society becomes the beneficiary in trust ... meaning that they get the Kingdom Hall is the congregation defects or is dissolved. The practice is almost universal among all denominations ... and so the Watchtower is now just like her Nemesis in legal matters. You can read about it in Crisis of Conscience by Ray Franz.
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badboy
I AM AWARE OF BONHAM
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donny
Just a quick correction. The Bonham incident is mentioned in Ray Franz's "The Search for Christian Freedom", not "Crisis of Conscience" which had already been released when the Bonham incident occurred in 1985. In fact, the COC book was the major motivating factor for the ones who broke away.
The Bonham incident was very well known in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area and I was part of the Bonham rebuilding team that was assembled after the "apostasy" of the majority of the congregation. It was an event that many saw coming, but I don't think anyone imagined that the majority would jump ship.
Just a month or so before the the break up of the congregation, the main "bad guy", elder Ralph Deal, came to our congregation (Farmers Branch) to give a talk. I was a ministerial servant at the time and was instructed to sit in the front row next to our PO. He told me that if he stood up during the talk, that was our cue to remove him from the platform. I can still remember the tenseness in the air as "Brother Deal" gave his talk.
At one point, he held up the New World Translation and said "This is not the word of God." He paused for a few seconds for effect and then opened it and stated "what's in it is the word of God!" I could almost see the PO getting ready to get out of his seat, but Ralph managed to make it through his talk and was asked to leave after he was done. I still wonder why he was allowed to give a talk if he was already considered such a risk.
About a month later we heard about the great "apostasy" at the Bonham congregation and Ralph Deal was the one leading the breakaway group. His congregation continued to use the hall as well as the few "loyal" ones that remained. If I remember correctly, before the split, there were about 70 publishers and 4 elders and afterwards 1 elder and 21 publishers "remained". They had to ask several elders from nearby areas if they could be reassigned to Bonham as this was a major news item in the area and they wanted to show that they had the situation under control. They also wanted the incident to die down as it was causing a lot of bad press to the Society.
As soon as the Fannin County courts said that both groups could use the hall, the Society abandoned it to the "apostates" and quickly put together a quick build project that placed the new hall on several acres of donated land just east of town on Highway 56. They even placed a small "lake" in front with a lot of landscaping. The dedication talk was given by Governing Body member Lyman Swingle and one of our elders, DFW area heavyweight Jared Hardie, conducted the first Watchtower study in the new facility.
I remember talking to several of the "remaining ones" during and after the quick build and they were really distressed that so many of their bretheren jumped the ship. Several of them commented how the "bad" elders always tried to minimize the importance of the Societys magazines and books and instead focused on the Bible. I remember actually secretly admiring those who stood up for what they saw was non-biblical teachings.
This incident was where the seed of my doubt germinated and slowly grew until I saw the Society for what it was, or more accurately, saw it for it was not.
Don
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slimboyfat
So Don, what happened to the congregation that broke away? Did they keep going? You know the retort that the Witnesses always use is that splinter groups never last, they wither and die. And for the most part that seems to be accurate.
I know in my local congregation it was mentioned from time to time that in the 1920s the congregation split between those who supported Rutherford and those who didn't. Those who didn't support Rutherford were in the majority so they got to keep the meeting place. (I think it was a rented hall at that time) "But where are they today?" Older Witnesses used to say.
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donny
So Don, what happened to the congregation that broke away? Did they keep going?
I am not sure what happened to the break away group. This happened in 1985 and I did not leave until 1992. After I disassociated, I drove to Bonham to see if I could find Mr. Deal, but the old Kingdom hall was locked up and a small sign that read "Bonham Church" was out front. I never went back and do not know what became of those "bad ol' 'postates!"
Don
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badboy
BTTTTT
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BabaYaga
Wow. I had never heard the legend of Bonham before!