Field Service question

by 21stcenturywoman 17 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  21stcenturywoman

  I live in one of the biggest cities in the US. I have not observed as many JWs in Field Service as I did when I was growing up. Within the last 10 years I used to see Spanish speaking Witnesses in my former neighborhood. I live in a better neighborhood now, where there are mostly condos and houses, and I never see Witnesses in my neighborhood (not sure if the types of homes are a factor). There is a Kingdom Hall within about five miles of where I live. Are JWs as active in Field Service nowadays?

  Also, I sometimes see "sisters" walking around in a business district (presumably in Field Service), but I never see them offering the magazines to anyone. Does that actually count as "preaching" if they don't talk to people?
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  leavingwt

  Does that actually count as "preaching" if they don't talk to people?

  I counted it when I did it.
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  undercover

  I guess that's the city style of padding hours.

  Out in the rural areas, we would make one call and then drive 45 minutes to make an RV, come back into town, make one more call and call it a day. Two hours of dedicated service to Jehovah right there...
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  No Room For George

  I think what we're witnessing today is the evolution of field service. It used to be way back when that the message was so important they got on bullhorns, and had placards, and even advertised for special radio presentations. Nowadays field service is largely busybody work to keep the average JW busy. Most JWs aren't looking to debate or even discuss anything at the door. Call me crazy, but I think the WT leadership actually thinks they do the average JW a favor by having the special campaigns with invitations. That way the JW doesn't feel obligated to commit to the householder in conversation or debate. It's a simple, "hey, we're offering invitations to such and so! Here's yours copy!"

  The KM for last week had a part on offering invitations to the District Convention, and one of the points brought out was to make sure the householder can see the picture on the invitation because it will elicit interest. Mind you the invitations haven't arrived yet, but I just found that point to be hilarious. One last thing, the announcements for the Service Meeting mentioned that we need to start offering Bible Studies, and I'm noticing they're emphasizing this more and more. So they know plenty of JWs are simply going through the motions in field service, and they're trying to figure out ways to inject some life into the formality of it all.
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  sir82

  A lot of neighborhoods & buildings have posted "no trespassing / no solicitors / no whatever" signs, and if the HOA or buidling management or whatever gets tough enough & calls the police, the JWs have been instructed to back down & call the WTS legal dept.

  Then after many months or years, WTS legal will tell the JWs how to proceed. In many cases they will tell them to steer clear of certain neighborhoods or buildings & work it as "letter writing" or "telephone" territory.

  I have no idea what criteria WT legal uses in determining where JWs are to enter / not enter certain neighborhoods or buildings. I imagine they are very well aware of various court rulings and know which cases they would likely win & which they would likely lose.
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  outlawwilly

  I wish these numb nuts would listen here in Toronto. We live in a key controlled highrise and these people come around, sneak in somehow, and then bother the piss out of everyone. We have a suspicion that witnesses live here and buzz them in. Every time I catch them, I always yell @ them down the hall and make sure that everyone on our floor hears it. They usually just leave, but around the memorial time, these morons actually had the balls to argue with me from down the hall. When I told them hold on, I put my shoes on and hulked my 225 lb frame down to where they saw me, they apologised over and over, did an about face and went down the steps, not even waiting for the elevator.
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  OnTheWayOut

  21st, on any given morning in your area, there are JW's driving from laundromat to laundromat and to the occasional "return visit" while others are at home taking at least a half hour to write a single letter to someone they've never met in a highrise condominium. Meanwhile, some older JW "sisters" are sitting at a bus or train stop gossiping with magazines on their lap. They are all "counting" their field service.

  Many more JW's are counting 4 hours a month as parents, virtually never actually ringing a bell with Watchtowers in hand. The vast majority of the congregation gets out on one or two Saturdays a month and ring a couple of bells before meeting at the local coffee shop or McDonald's, then going for a ride to catch an interested person who is (once again) not-at-home or at least not answering the bell.
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  21stcenturywoman

  @ OnTheWayOut, that's very interesting. It makes sense. That kind of reminds me of when I was a teenager. I would "work" with an elder. We never knocked on one door. We would just walk up and down the street, while the others would do the work. He seemed more interested in telling me about his recent divorce and wanting to know what was going on in my (boring) teenage life.
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  B_Deserter

  Does that actually count as "preaching" if they don't talk to people?

  Time and placements are counted separately, and yes the vast majority of Witnesses count time even if they're not talking to anybody. I only heard of one person ever who actually used a stopwatch and only counted the time he spend talking at the door. Most JWs start counting time when the first door is knocked on to the time they decide to go back to the Kingdom Hall. Usually there's a "coffee break" in between, and if it runs long some will knock out a half hour or so, but in most cases that entire block of the morning or afternoon counts. The justification I always heard was "well, people see us and they know who we are, and that makes them think about Jehovah, so we're indirectly witnessing to them."

  Interesting story: This sister I was interested in at one time decided to go with a group of her friends to "witness" in the next state over. They spent 3 hours driving from southern Ohio to West Virginia, left a magazine in a gas station or two, drove back, and counted all 6 hours. I thought it was scandalous at the time. Now I think it's awesome!
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  Ténébreux

  I've heard stories about people taking long drives to witness in remote rural areas - but making sure to do one local return visit before and after, so all the travel time can be counted.

  Edit - Never mind... just noticed Undercover beat me to it!