Last Letter to The Congregation Committee

by Marvin Shilmer 11 Replies latest jw friends

  • Marvin Shilmer
    Marvin Shilmer

    Last Letter to The Congregation Committee

    Today I uploaded a new article to my blog addressing a bit of Watchtower history. It shows the last letter sent to “the congregation committee” of congregations with instruction on how to go about forming their replacement congregational governing structure. This process alienated many longtime "congregation servants" and introduced a whole new genre of congregational power struggles.

    My article is titled Last Letter to The Congregation Committee and is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/07/last-letter-to-congregation-committee.html

    Marvin Shilmer

    http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com

  • sizemik
    sizemik

    So now brothers . . . let battle commence!

  • St George of England
    St George of England

    When the new elder arrangement was introduced all the positions used to rotate on an annual basis. A few years later however the system was dropped and we have returned to the old ways of long term elders defending their position just like the old 'servants'.

    Like many on here I know of elders who have been PO (COBE) for about 30 years and have no plans for relinquishing their power.

    George

  • willyloman
    willyloman

    When the decision was made to rotate elders through the permanent positions, the result was near chaos.

    You had secretaries who couldn't spell and didn't know how to write a letter and had no clue what a filing system was.

    There were Field Service Overseers who loathed field service and were far removed from the cheerleader mentality that the position required.

    You had school overseers who couldn't speak, teach, had no command of the English language, and misapplied the information and speaking tips so carefully articulated in the School Guidebook.

    There were Presiding Overseers with no ability to preside, were afraid to delegate, and let the position go to their heads.

    And the Watchtower conductor was likely to be a doofus who didn't prepare, didn't study, didn't engage the congregation and get folks involved, and who couldn't teach.

    Of course, we were told this was god's "spirit annointed arrangement." But if this were god's idea, didn't he foresee these flaws in advance? Why didn't he skip directly to the way the arrangement was revised shortly after it began? Looking back, this was a huge clue that there were too many chefs in the kitchen and that the master chef had left the building (if, in fact, he was ever there).

  • Pams girl
    Pams girl

    Willyloman

  • Quendi
    Quendi

    My understanding is that the practice of rotating elders through the various positions ceased in 1983. That was about twelve years after the elder arrangement was put in place. The real problem with the setup is the insistence on the part of the Governing Body that it appoints all elders amd ministerial servants. That is not how it was done in the first century Church. So there is nothing scriptural about the procedure now. It is no wonder that there are problems, and these will only continue. I like willyloman's point that the master chef was never in the building overseeing this in the first place.

    Quendi

  • watson
    watson
    You had secretaries who couldn't spell and didn't know how to write a letter and had no clue what a filing system was.
    There were Field Service Overseers who loathed field service and were far removed from the cheerleader mentality that the position required.
    You had school overseers who couldn't speak, teach, had no command of the English language, and misapplied the information and speaking tips so carefully articulated in the School Guidebook.
    There were Presiding Overseers with no ability to preside, were afraid to delegate, and let the position go to their heads.
    And the Watchtower conductor was likely to be a doofus who didn't prepare, didn't study, didn't engage the congregation and get folks involved, and who couldn't teach.

    Willy: Funny, it's still that way!

  • Violia
    Violia

    Just wondering, aren't the elder bodies set up more or less like the average Christian congregation anywhere? I know some churches call them deacons. Same function as elder.

  • Glander
    Glander

    Couldn't have expressed it better, Willy.

    In my case, I was to supposed to rotate off the Judicial Committee after three years. Somehow I ended up on the JC for 5 years. Looking back, I think the reason was because of the unbelievable load of heavy cases involving the new WT sex rules and definitions, grounds for divorce, etc that brought JC cases out of the woodwork. Nobody wanted to be on the JC.

    It all worked out well for me because it gave me insight into the "make it up as you go" WT bullshit.

  • wha happened?
    wha happened?

    I've heard groans from elders as well. I knew one elder that often openely stated that it never fails that the society appoints the least qualified to oversee the flock.

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