meetings in insane situations

by highdose 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  highdose

  my cong was very keen on having the meeting no matter what. I remember one occasion when we had a power cut in the middle of winter. Due to the fact that there was no windows to the hall (!) they opened the fire exit doors and the speaker stood with his back to the doors that were letting in the freezing cold wind, he read the talk with the aid of a torch, and everyone sat there getting more and more blue.

  Another time the air con packed up in the middle of summer, it was like a sauna in the hall! we had about 5 people faint due to the heat, but the meeting went on...!
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  Newborn

  Anything for the good news!!!!

  Gee...
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  babygirl30

  I always felt it was 'crazy' to see JW's out in the ministry in the freezing cold, snow, or pouring rain. I mean COME ON...people think JW's are nuts anyways, and that type of behavior only perpetuates thos thoughts.
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  WTWizard

  I remember being out in field circus in a snowstorm. There was a foot that day, and it kept clogging the windshield wipers. It also made finding a parking spot more difficult while out in the territory.
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  Satanus

  Fs w the the ground totally covered w ice, and raining. We slid our feet. The bro and i were 'friends' after that experience. Well, until i got dffed.

  On a long canoe trip w 10 of us, we did the wt around the campfire.

  S
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  drew sagan

  I remember one time the power went out. There was a battery powered emergency light on the wall near an exit door to the left of the stage. The watchtower study conductor stood by in and asked questions while people shouted the answers. They finished the meeting by having the WT conductor play the piano while everybody sang along.
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  wobble

  Don't the Dubs just love that siege mentality ?

  After a meeting like that they say things like "I guess we'll get a lot of this in the run-up to the big A !"

  and then they all go home,very smug, and looking down on those (sensible ones) who didn't make it that night.

  I know, coz to my shame, I dunnit !

  Love

  Wobble
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  blondie

  The funny thing was seeing congregations within 10 miles of each other doing the opposite on the same night of snow and cold both in town. The congregations I were in were sensible. There was one circuit assembly where it started snowing and blowing towards the end of Sunday afternoon and the talks were cancelled after the public talk and people were encouraged to go home or stay with friends in the area.

  Blondie
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  OnTheWayOut

  The cong. I faded from is very reasonable with weather and conditions. They will cancel the meeting for more than slight snow.
  It's probably a safety violation to have the meeting when the lights are out. Emergency backup lights are used to get people out safely. If they don't leave, then they are staying in an unsafe environment. While I never had to say something, I would have insisted that the members need to leave. Imagine lawyers informing Headquarters lawyers that meetings in the dark could result in lawsuits- Bethel would not approve of them.
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  JeffT

  May 18, 1980 the ash cloud from Mt. St. Helens arrived in Pullman shortly after the Sunday meeting ended. Among other things the authorities closed the roads to non essential traffic. Monday night or Tuesday afternoon I got a call from an elder to tell me that meetings had been canceled for the week. He told me that the elders had called Brooklyn to get the decision approved! Makes me wonder if they would have tried to make us drive to the hall if they'd gotten a different answer from somebody 2800 miles away.