What are their stories and backgrounds? Is it true that there are currently only eight of them?
Who are the current members of the GB?
by voodoo lady 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Gayle
GOVERNING BODY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES - (9 - last I heard)
Member - Date of Birth - Appointment
Theodore Jaracz 1925 11/1974
John Edwin Barr 1913 9/1977
Gerrit Lösch 1942 July 1, 1994
Guy H. Pierce 1935 Oct 1, 1999
Samuel F. Herd 1935 Oct 1, 1999
David H. Splane 1944 Oct 1, 1999
M. Stephen Lett 1949 Oct 1, 1999
Anthony Morris III 1950 Sep 1, 2005
Geoffrey W. Jackson 1955 Sep 1, 2005 -
voodoo lady
Thank you Gayle. I'll do a google search on each of them just to see how much info I can find.
Has anyone met them personally? Is the average Bethelite likely to meet them personally? Do they even know where these men are physically housed within Bethel, or what kind of (material) privileges they have?
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besty
wikipedia is your friend
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Broken Promises
Interesting that only one of them was born before 1914…. Once upon a time that would have meant something.
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blondie
Actually Broken Promises that is why ex-jws questioned the 1935 date for anointed. It was no surprise the WTS "adjusted" that.
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blondie
Using "search" on JWN brings up a lot of older threads of this.
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dandingus
Voodoo Lady :
Has anyone met them personally?
Yes. I met Ted Jaracz and his wife (assigned to his breakfast table once at bethel), John Barr, and before he died I also met Carey Barber.
Is the average Bethelite likely to meet them personally?
If you're in Brooklyn. If you're at the farm probably not or at least that's the way it was years ago.
Do they even know where these men are physically housed within Bethel, or what kind of (material) privileges they have?
Some do know where their rooms are and it's not too hard at bethel to ask around. I don't think there's a directory or anything, but if in doubt ask someone in housekeeping. And yes, from what I heard they have the best places bethel has to offer. When they're not in the infirmary. The new guys are pretty young (50s and 60s), but the ones appointed back in the 1970s are now extremelly elderly.
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BluesBrother
From the Bearing Witness book 2009
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Gayle
I met Ted Jaracz and his wife briefly in prior June '74. We left Bethel shortly before he was officially a Governing Body member yet. So all the Governing Body then (about 17) of the early 70s, before '74, are all dead, except Ray Franz, though obviously, no longer a GB member, nor JW.
Steve Lett was my book study conductor at Bethel, Brooklyn Heights congregation, assigned to a book study in Greenwich Village in '69 for six months. He was a partaker already at that time, about 21-22 yrs old. Back then, and probably yet, that was considered odd or rare even then for someone so young being a partaker. Back then, there was often a questionable attitude toward young ones in Bethel that were partakers. Then, to my knowledge, he had no special rank other than a book study conductor. Steve was pleasant, serious for his age, but I didn't think too serious. After my six months, after completing the "primary" course, then, I requested to be re-assigned to where my brother (who has also left the organization) was assigned in Midtown Manhattan. I understand Steve finished his 4-year Bethel agreement and left Bethel.
On a couple of occasions, Knorr expressed like in a 'new boy' talk and a couple morning text comments that ones coming into Bethel, since they were claiming to be partakers, "faithful and discreet slave, thinking they might could just assume they could go up to Knorr and have some special right there with him since they were a partaker. He was clear that they better not think they could have some special right to come up to his office because of it. It became clear to me early on, partakers and "the faithful and discreet class" weren't of itself really in any sort of authority at Bethel, nor in the organization. In '69, it was almost a concern to even ask who really were the governing body. Obviously, Knorr was, Fred was, Swingle and Suiter, probably, after that nothing was that clear until a few years later.
