English ? Spanish ? French ? Perhaps another foreign language ? Rural ? Big City ? Suburban ? Large/small in attendance ?
Did you notice a big difference in views ?
I tasted the whole buffet I guess you can say. I started off in an overcrowded english inner-city congregation in Boston. Moved to Texas and into a large rural english congregation. From there I moved into a suburban congo also english. Towards the end I followed a friend and his wife ( whose native language is spanish ) to the spanish congo where not knowing the language, I faded. There where other reasons why I faded,but the language barrier made it much easier and faster.
I notice in the inner-city, it's very hard for young ones to stay in the organization. In Boston the KH was located in one of the more violent parts of the city. It was all african-american. Hearing gun shots during the meeting where not uncommon. One night we witnesses an all out bar fight that spilled in the street right acros from the hall. Kids ragging on you and clowning you. Up there we would walk 10-15 city blocks to get to the hall in our suits. I would go with my aunt and cousins back then and the kids along the way would be brutal. Calling us church boys,etc. The pressure to fit in in the city,or keep kids off your back is tremendous. I found most people in the congregation in the innercity were more concerned with making it from one day to the other. Over time, I notice most in Boston have fallen away. Drugs,kids, or just stopped going. Boston is not big,you could probably go out and do stuff without getting caught. Yet, small enough that you could be out downtown or on the train and run into brothers or sisters from time to time. Safe to say it was a liberal congregation as far as dress and most other things. Hip hop and some rap would be nothing to hear at a gathering or cookout. Very few young people my age, boys or girls. College ? I don't think most had the money. Being so close to bethel I knew of no brothers who had that in their plans. As far as pioneers. Mostly older sisters and very few in the congregation.
Moved to Texas to a rural congregation and it was rather large 120-140. Night and day difference from Boston. There were 3 cities that made up that area. The largest was probably 28k people. The smallest 10k. I found this congregation to be very conservative. Everyone worked at the local chemical plant which pays pretty good. In such a small town if your parents worked there,then you were 'IN' with most of the other dub kids. As they knew your dad made some good $$$. In my case it took me regular pioneering before I felt accepted. Myself and my good friend were the only two black guys in the congo. Everyone joked he was the whitest black guy they knew. He knew all the country line dancing moves and all. He liked blondes too, and I would get the feeling some older brothers didn't like that. He eventually married a dutch sister from amersterdam. Witht he rest of the congregation he was pretty conservative. I will say when it was us ?? Hahahahahaha we'd cut up,listen to michael jackson 'Dance Machine', 'James Brown, some R&B, a little hip hop and stuff most others in the congregation probably didn't listen to. It was primarily white, followed by a number of hispanic families, and probably 3 black familes out of the 120 publishers. I liked it though. It was were I regular pioneered and probably did most of my progressing in da troof, hahahaha. EVERYONE pioneered. There were probably a good 15 of us boys/girls all young teens. Most everyone aux pioneered during high school. Most all of us regular pioneered after high school. And with the exception of the other black brother and I, every single brother went to Bethel. It was like 6 of a possible 7,8 of us guys. The peer pressure in this congregation was to be UBER J-Dub. I was all for becoming an MS,but had no desires to go to bethel. In this hall you either went to Bethel,pioneered,or got married. What else was there to do around there ? hahahahaha. For such a small area, there were LOTS of other young kids. I will say there was a HUGE group of teens in that area of the circuit. A grad party or gathering could always be counted on. Usually by some getting married. It was here I went through my C&W period in life. George strait,jOHN Michael Montgomery, and a whole bunch of other people I couldn't name now. I got into that because what I really liked,most in the congregation would surely think me to be weak. Thus I had to listen to stuff I didn't like in service. A song I liked would come on and someone would change the channel. I'd have to hide my excitement when it came on. Here I made most of my friends I know now. Some one FB. Some seem very liberal...I dare not ask if they still go,because I actually like them of the ones I have kept in touch with.
Left that hall and moved to suburban houston. A nice area I guess one could say. I found most in the hall to be what witnesses call materialistic. A few with some really nice houses. Most had a great job to match. In this hall unlike the last, 4 year college wasn't bashed much. I think because a few on the elder body had gone to some major universities themselves. And some worked in Oil and Gas. Here I didn't fit in all. Neither did my mom. I think being a reg pioneer in the previous congo, the friends readily accepted my mom more and she too was invited to things. Namely because I wqs doing well in the truth, her being a single mom. Here....we had no money,lived in a small apartment, and def didn't live in one of the nicer subdivisions like others. I felt like furniture here. Someone or thing people in the hall would walk past without a single hello. Friends would ask, "Where do you live ?". Most when they found out,didn't have much else to say when they found out.Shortly after I got their I remember the CO the congregation wasn't even luke warm,but 'cool' I'd say that was about right. People seemed to go through the motions,but to me it seemed all for show. This is where I regressed. I began to see witneses for who and what they really are. Parties / Wild. Music ? Pretty much anything. I remember at my first gathering at that congregation they played a certain song and I asked. 'You all are going to dance to that ?" To me it was so much more liberal and confusing. I thought alot of stuff we weren't supposed to do as JW's. Here a met a brother who at one time became my best friend. He was pretty much the only guy I hung out with. We bothed like aviation and thus thats how we became close. Eventually he moved to the spanish due to his wife wanted to be close to family.
Which brings me to my last hall. The Spaanish Congregation. I thought I could go where the need was great, and EVERYONE says they need brothers ! they need brothers ! I picked it up a little quickly. I gave my first talk in about a month and half, thought I was doing good. I also like dthe the sisters. I thought the spanish sisters dressed alot more provacative than their english counterparts, though I liked them all the same,ahahahahaha. The elders in spanish seemed a bit more serious. Def into the bible. They didn't eem to joke much to me. I will say as a whole, the spanish congregation felt much,much,much warmer. I did feel like I was part of their family. They would try to include you whether you had something or not. I thought their gathering were more lively. They danced to EVERY SINGLE song. But when they aid party over at 10...it was over at 10. In spanish like other cultures outside the US, cursing on TV and in movies didn't seemed to bother them. Family was closer in spanish I think. Lot more kids at home in their late 20's early 30's. Especially sisters. Pretty sisters,but they were waiting for yhe right brother. I can only think of one or two people who came over from english to that hall and were actually commenting,progressing and going foward. I had two brothers ask me if I was there looking for a sister. The last time I got that question I told the brother. 'Yeah...do you have any sisters ?" I hsted that. I had been making one last push to reach out in english before coming to spanish. I had to start all the way over i spanish,so my thinking was I'm not killing myself for a sister. I did meet a sister. She slept with her ex and dumped me. That began my fade. I stopped the book study. I'd miss one or two. Then maybe a week or two. Alot of times missing so many I was ashamed to go back because everyone would give you that look. Then my theorcratic ministry school went next. Followed by missing sunday meetings. Being that I could barely communicate I think most thought I went back to english and vice versa. In the end I realized no one really cared. I felt like I knew who were real friends and weren't. And here I am. My cards are in spanish, and that was the last congregation I ever attended
In all, I feel alot of congregations are a product of the surrounding area more than anything. The witnesses in that local hall take on the personality of their location or territory in my opinion. Some halls are super conservative. Some super liberal. Some moderate. To me it's like they all adhere to watchtower teaching. But in their very own way or ways. It was that fact that made me question things. In a way everything was uniform with the societies way of doing things....yet it was not.