by AndersonsInfo 44 Replies latest jw friends
Not that it means anything in the long run, but I think it would be cool to see a press release get enough attention to alert the average JW to the changes before the letter was read at the hall.
If for no other reason than to just bug the shit out of the GB and to cause the dubs to wonder how and why such a thing could occur, if it were truly God's channel. Why would he allow a confidential matter to become public...and especially through Satan's media?
While the WT letter states that the message will be able to reach more people via the internet, no where does this letter state explicitly or encourage in any way 'internet witnessing'. The only presentation of their message online is what the WT presents itself on their website. Door to door is not being phased out in any way. The letter says: Based on these changing conditions,
effective with the issues of January 2013, Awake! and the public edition of The Watchtower will be
reduced from 32 pages to 16 pages. These magazines that we distribute to the public will continue
to provide a rich supply of enlightening material to attract people to the truth of God’s Word.
Obviously this means members will still be pushed to go door to door to distribute these reduced size magazines.
Good point isaac. I think that this unexpected overt "championing" of the internet by the GB may have unintended consequences. Currently, despite warnings and in some congregations overt "frowning upon" pro-JW websites administered by rank and file witnesses, these websites continue to exist. Now there may be more of them and the more creative JWs may count time composing articles and administering the sites - as I suspect some already do.
The GB will learn (to its chagrin) that there are intended consequences and...unintended consequences regarding this sort of change. For example, if I were still an active JW, the letter would inadvertently cause me to relax because, hey the internet is so successful at reaching "sheep-like ones" and the door-to-dor work so challenging, I'd slacken up in the ministry even more in the knowledge that the work is still being done. I don't think this kind of welcome passivity would be an unusual one at all, given the ease with which the JWs I know already use any excuse not to go out in the ministry.
Steve, if you are putting money in the box, I don't think "Mother" cares how you count your time. And if you relax a bit, they probably like that it gives the elders an opportunity to counsel you about your service.
Mag. distribution is busy work and that is why the work continues. If it costs them money beyond contributions, they cheapen the product. They still want the busy work, hence the cheaper product. Steps ahead, they can eliminate Awake, and even Watchtower to send people out with flyers then with stuff they print at their own cost then with just a message from WTS, delivered verbally. No need to give up their control tool yet.
Steve, if you are putting money in the box, I don't think "Mother" cares how you count your time. And if you relax a bit, they probably like that it gives the elders an opportunity to counsel you about your service.
Sounds like the proverbial "win-win" to me. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I recall a long-serving pioneer sister in the 1970s early 1980s who preferred working the territory alone (i.e., no other witnesses accompanying her). There were murmurings in the congregation that she was inflating the number of hours spent out in field service. The thing is, no one ever dared openly talk to her about the murmurings because she was officially such a model of dedication to pioneering. It wasn't only me who spied her having long spells in an inner city cafe when she should have been door-knocking (which I frequently passed by because it was near my place of work).
I judged her harshly at the time. In retrospect, I have to admire her gumption and survival skills inside a fairly dull and dreary organization. She'd love the concept of "internet witnessing" - you'd always have an espresso on standby and never leave home
