maybe some of them do not like particular people in other congregations, so they refuse to give the talk there. Do you know of any experiences like that?
Have you ever heard of brothers refusing to give public talks in other congregation(s)?
by asilentone 11 Replies latest jw experiences
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Mattieu
My old hall had 4 congregations meeting in a twin hall complex. Heaps of personality conflicts and internal politics amongst the 4 bodies of elders. And yes, some went on the record as saying they would never give a talk in certain congo’s whilst so and so was still an elder there.
When they had big working bees at the complex, it was always fun to pretend to be pulling out weeds whilst watching the goings on between some of those elders & elderettes.
Mattieu.
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leavingwt
Yes, this is quite common. I was the talk coordinator for three years. (The PO delegated it to me.)
The reasons vary, but generally they are practical (distance, etc) or personality-related (negative hospitality experience, etc).
I didn't question the speakers, I complied with their wishes. Outgoing talks can be a real hassle. I wasn't going to insist that they go where they didn't WANT to go.
-LWT
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Gregor
When I was a new elder the Society sent out some new public talk outlines. I got the outline for "The Godly View of Sex and Marriage". It was quite explicit and I gave it my all. Other cong. bodies of elders past it around like a hot potato and there were some brothers who tried to deliver it and it was painful to watch. The word got around that I did a pretty good job and the invitations started to pour in from a 50 mi radius. I think I finally gave the talk over 25 times. By then they could of charged admission, I had it down cold. Never considered refusing an invite except for schedule. In fact I once gave it twice in one day.
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chickpea
there were a few we endured
who i wouldnt have minded
putting the KH i attended on a
DNC list -
verystupid77
My husband and two other elders were black listed in other halls for different reasons.
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zarco
As LeavingWT mentioned, it is a practical matter. It takes an entire day to give a talk at another congregation. If the brother is even trying, he prepares on Saturday and then travels on to the KHall and gives the talk. After the talk it is common that the congregation feed the speaker, so then you have a lunch that lasts a couple of hours. Adding up the preparation time, the talk, the lunch and the drive home a weekend is gone. So from a practical point of view, a lot of speakers decide not to go outside their home congregation.
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jookbeard
The prospect of a public talk? for me never in a million years, and I saw plenty of M/S's who were possibly better public speakers then me make total fools of themselves ohoooooooo, painful even the thought!
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yknot
When Nazi PO was in charge...... all the time. He had a list, and from what I learned the only reasons we had those few speakers (and sent a few out) was due to CO orders.
Of course now Brothers are lining up to come here and most of ours jockey for invites too!....... MP3s have really assisted in auditions!
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cattails
Yknot, do you mean that some PO/other elders are actually listening to MP3
recordings of brothers to see which one's they invite to talk locally? Wow!
I know there was a CO request to have a form returned to him with a letter
grade, no kidding, a letter grade on the ability of local brothers to give talks
and this was used for deciding who to have do Circuit Assembly talks. This
just in the past couple of years. Can you believe the stress and the pressure
to do well on a "Public" talk knowing that they are grading you A,B,C,D,F!!!