I think that all of the really controversial issues will have to be resolved eventually. The Society has shown considerable resiliency over the years (Just look at how many times the leadership has cried wolf and still the sheep come running at the sound of the word!) and so I believe they will be here for a long time to come.
The blood transfusion issue is, as some have already pointed out, well on it’s way out. Unfortunately I suppose many more will die needlessly before it’s finally a thing of the past and just becomes one more embarrassment relegated to a past which will dim with time.
I see the shunning being quietly phased out in the written material but still pushed verbally by the C.O.’s for as long as possible. It’s a powerful control tool that will not be relinquished easily. The door to door work will be maintained for a long time still but with much few hours being put in by the R&F and I see them doing it with less enthusiasm than before and in time it will all but cease except on a very marginal basis.
I see the elder arrangement undergoing a change as well. I see the possibility of the ‘service committee’ (P.O., Sec, F.S.O.) having all the authority. Appointments of new elders will slow down and then stop unless some are being groomed to take over in other congregations. Eventually the old elders will be phased out and you’ll basically have only three elders in the congregation, what is now called the Service Committee. I think the Society is realizing just how many idiots are out there in elderland and how much they are costing them. They will tighten the requirements and concentrate on those three men.
I see women being given more consideration in the future as well. I’m surprised that this has not already begun. It’s only a matter of time before public pressure demands that from them. Remember they are very concerned about their public image now. Who would have thought, twenty years ago, that the Society would have a PR agency?! So look for sisters behind the magazine and literature counters, sisters appointed to handle the accounts (many do now but not officially!). They’ll be something of Ministerial Servantettes! (There are elderettes even now as we speak, but it’s strictly behind the scenes! ) Don’t look for them to open and close meetings with prayer just yet, however.
