WTBTS Elder & Ministerial Servant Problems (page 10)

VM44

I have to say that I do not like this picture:

This is something that should not be made light of!

sir82

It is a puzzlement...

On the one hand, they are fretting over the lack of people "reaching out"....

On the other hand, they threaten to remove any and all "appointed men" who have children (or wives!) who attend a university, and also those who have "unnecessary association" with DF relatives.

In addition, during his last visit, our CO giving a very UNsubtle hint that if the field serve-us numbers of elders & MS (and their wives!) did not improve by the time of his next visit, he WOULD definitely be removing more than one.

Ya can't have it both ways.....chuckleheads.

doinmypart

Last month in my wife's congregation 2 were appointed MS and 1 was appointed Elder.

When I was still on the BOE, we recommended the 2 for MS, but they would always come back rejected by WTS. The reasons for rejection have not changed, yet they were still appointed.

The 1 appointed Elder was never recommended by the BOE in the past because of missing too many meetings (in fact the BOE considered removing him as a MS on a couple of CO visits). According to my wife he still misses congregation meetings and is rarely at the meetings for field service, he simply shows up in the territory.

It is obvious the WTS is in need of appointed brothers. These appointments would never have been made just a few years ago. I think the WTS wants the publishers to think there is still growth and brothers are reaching out and qualifying for greater "privileges". When the truth of the matter is that the WTS is desperate and they are lowering the bar.

blondie

doinmypart, that is what we see around here, lowering the bar. The 2 most recent elders appointed were a practicing alcoholic and a brother who abused his wife and children.

steve2

Meanwhile, the organization ignores a potential gold-mine of suitable elders: Sisters.

Oh, sorry: because they try to adhere to an ancient, patriarchal set of misogynistic writings (i.e., the so-called "Holy Bible") , they won't appoint women to these positions of power.

Vidiot

sir82 - “On the one hand, they are fretting over the lack of people "reaching out"....On the other hand, they threaten to remove any and all "appointed men" who have children (or wives!) who attend a university, and also those who have "unnecessary association" with DF relatives.”

Hell of a quandry, I gotta say...

Blondie - “that is what we see around here, lowering the bar.”

Law of unintended consequences; culling for ideological purity always causes a brain drain in the long run, because the intellectuals, creative-types, and out-of-the-box thinkers inevitably get purged one way or another. But then, other than financial holdings, the WTS has never really planned long-term. One could argue that they can't; if they did, they'd undermine a key defining characteristic of the WT; that of being the predominant (in their perceptions, anyway) End Times religion.

BTW, do you actually look like Debbie Harry? Just curious.

Juan Viejo2

After a family funeral (don't get me started on funerals!!!), I had a brief conversation with a shirt-tail relative who was a JW over a plate of Mexican food and a couple of beers. He asked me if I would ever come back as a JW? I told him no, and told him that I would never join any religion or church, with the possible exception of a Universalist-Unitarian if I felt the need to mix with people.

He admitted that he was burned out. "Believe it or not, I'm an elder now. Me? An elder? What were they thinking? But they told me that they really needed help and maybe my strength as a JW would improve if I accepted the position."

As I sat there in disbelief, I told him that I thought he was sincere and had a good heart - and maybe that's why they chose him. "I doubt it. I really hate being involved at that level. I don't want to have to counsel the brothers. I don't ever want to sit on a committee and judge someone. But they told me that they had no one else - and they couldn't appoint a sister!"

He told me that when the DO came through about three years earlier, he directed that about half the congregation of just under 100 members should transfer to another Kingdom Hall about 20 miles east. When asked how the split would be determined, the existing elders were told that anyone in the KH who spoke Spanish - whether naturally or acquired - should be transferred there. The exceptions would be the very elderly and disabled ones who could not move. "They even wanted us to move the younger JWs who had only taken Spanish in high school."

He explained that 2/3 of the local elders were Spanish speaking and the move effectively destroyed the existing KH organization. Some elders would have to travel to both KHs for a while to support the move. Because this was a rather remote area near the Ozarks, this process would be a hardship on everyone. But the DO had made up his mind and the split was going to happen.

That's when they basically forced him to become an elder. "When I initially refused, they questioned my spirituality and dedication to Jehovah's service. They told me that if I refused then I would be considered 'spiritually weak' and might have to be counseled. They basically blackmailed me into becoming an elder. Can you believe that?"

"No. Not really. But I know the WT leaders have done stranger things. How can you believe they are guided by holy spirit when they pull boners like that?"

He told me that they were so desperate for males to take any leadership or responsible position in local KHs that they had even talked a disfellowshipped brother into asking for reinstatement so they could appoint him as an elder. Then he hit me with the big bat when he said, "Hey. I bet if you wanted to be an elder, even after all of your years out of the Truth, I bet you could be one in less than a year. You are bright, present yourself well, and can give a great speech. All you really have to do it keep your hair cut, wear a nice suit, white shirt, and a nice tie to the Kingdom Hall for a few weeks. Smile at everyone. Romance the sisters (figuratively). Answer the questions at the meetings. Act like you really believe the Governing Body has the ear of Jehovah. I bet you could be an MS in six months - and probably an elder in less than a year. I've seen it happen!"

I made it clear that I had no desire to ever attend a Kingdom Hall again in any capacity - except maybe as an arsonist. But my conscience wouldn't let me commit that kind of atrocity.

I think he was serious. He eventually faded, I think, and moved to a nearby state so that he would become invisible. I've had no communication with him since that time. But I've often wondered if he was on to something.

Has anyone else here heard of such a possibility? Has anyone else seen something like that really happen?

Pitchess Co-Gen

Elders are carrying mics.

I've seen this in my new congregation ! I saw man near 70 years old ( The C.O.T.B.E ) carrying the mics . I'm telling everybody they need a training progams to turn the trouble makers to M.S's or Elders. I think too many years of '' carrot on the string'' has caught up the Jehovah Witnesses.

DesirousOfChange

BUT - Soon, the JW's won't need Elders or MS's; because Armageddon is just around the corner, any minute now!

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Soon they will truly be princes in all the [new Paradise] earth! (Ps 45:16)

Aussie Oz

Typical large corporation.

out of touch with reality, out of touch with its own people.

A corporation is a psychopath in every sense of the word.

It consumes others, it consumes its young, but cannot stop. Even as it implodes, a corporation keeps feasting.

Especially the watchtower corporation.

Chewing through its available 'men', looking for more to use to its own end. And when the well is dry, it will reinvent itself and begin feeding its lusts on women. It may change its coat and hat but it will still be the monster corporation.

I loath it. It has all the legal rights of a person, but has no soul.

oz

WTBTS Elder & Ministerial Servant Problems

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