by highdose 7 Replies latest jw friends
i knew some JW's who loved to get their teeth into the local church guy. Thought they'd show him just how much more they knew than he did. i think the vicars just humoured them.
they used to come away saying " you could tell he was really impressed about how well we knew our bible!" ... never heard of one converting though did you?
Tee hee hee.
Nope.
I remember a very kind one who tried to show me that JW's don't do any charitable work.
Syl
I spoke to a few preachers. One Mexican minister was very good at destroying our arguments.
We weren't allowed to talk with them. A special super-duper brother was assigned. I thought the big bad wolf lived at these places. What surprises me when clergy talk about the Witnesses is how genial they are towards the Witnesses, laughing at them - but not in a vicicous way.
A vicar in the Anglican or Episcopal Church is going to be very easy going with a JW and mostly just let them talk. They are very careful to live and let live as they recognize that each human being is on his/her own unique spiritual journey. I have several friends who are vicars/priests. They are very cool and not so full of themselves as your typical JW.
I was never worried about talking to them, hence i got shoved forward to call on the Vicarage most times. I never felt I knew more than them, I just felt we had the "Bible truth" and they had a different view.
I usually had a good chat with them. One vicar we used to place the mags with in street work, back in the days when we charged for the mags, we used to give him a "trade" discount, which he laughed about.
Our little joke was nearer to the truth than we thought !
We had a number of Evangelical pastors in our territory...they were always pleasant, but had absolutely no problem talking about the "tough" question such as Jesus' deity, trinity, etc. with us. We always had a couple of "mature" brothers make these calls. Anytime the discussions started to go "sideways" from our perspective, we would stop the conversation and arrange for a "return visit". Then more research before we came back. We never seemed to make any real progress, but then the pastors didn't either...everyone was convinced they were right!
FlyingHighNow,
We should join together and establish an auxillary group for besotted Episcoplians. The church is not perfect! IMO, it comes close. I parish shop. The whole Catholic notion of being assigned a parish no matter how much you hate its beyond me. Manhattan, esp. downtown, seems to have a major Anglican church every two blocks. And I parished shopped quite a few. You are the first Episcoplian I've ever encountered that was a Witness, too.
The Anglican communion is the antiWitness in so many ways. I don't mean doctrine but the whole culture, ambience, guiding ethics. I am also an English history buff from law school and Robin Hood as a child. The Church emerged from such a foul, authorititative,, dominating system on both sides. They both were antiChrists. So far I haven't an explanation for the present church.
The free to think and broad umbrella existed at the time of the Founding of the US. An inordinate number of founders were Episcopalian. Other denominations feared a power grab so it was one of the reasons for the Estabishment Clause of the First Amendment. Commentatey suors can't find any doctrinal basis why this is so. They suppose that the culture of the church encouraged people willing to negotiate or wheel and deal.
NY is very High Church with several strong Anglo Catholics. The Bishop of NY was a major force in the Oxford Movement and somehow it stuck. When I visit outside the NY area, it has a different feel. I feel there must be some influence besides the bishop, in the culture of NY that I can't figure it out. So Iove Rite I. The early bird service here in exile. Incense- oh how I miss it. I loved the majesty of the Catholic inheirted ritual but the progress theology. And I don't think you can more progressive than CAthedral Church of St. John the Divine, next to Columbia. I'm used to elephants being blessed in church. Rock stars doing benefit concerts. It is the very place I would have run like hell to get into on 9/11 if I were not in the hospital.
May I ask how you found it and what Rite you prefer? Oh, I almost went to seminary. They suggested I go free to become a canonical lawyer so I started going to General but I was too ill to continue. The seminary students were extraordinarily immature so something must happen on the way.
