what was the reason for canceling the book study in private homes

by reds 48 Replies latest jw friends

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  reds
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  Outaservice

  I suspect that many home owners were sick of a crowd coming over every week. The house would have to be cleaned before the study each week, and in winter climate it was hard to keep things clean too.

  I was at a home book study once and when I walked into the living room there was a big banner hanging behind the couch that said, "Please don't let your kids piss on the couch during the study"! I was the conductor, yikes.

  Outaservice
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  wha happened?

  doubt it. Any inconvenience on our part is irrelevent to the GB. The trail likely leads back to the legal dept
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  Frozenout

  Those little groups meeting at homes could start to get their own ideas about things.
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  OnTheWayOut

  We kicked it around and brainstormed it here on JWN. Several things could have been factors- lowest attended meeting, paying for the gas for "Bethelites" to commute from rural NY state, too much work for elders, cutting back on new books so people tiring of going over the same old same old, but legal tended to be the biggest guess. Some lawyers might have seen lawsuits coming to WTS for sanctioning these meetings in private homes where people could get hurt in folding chairs or tripping on a rug.

  Sure, WTS discourages lawsuits against "brothers" and "Mother" Watchtower, but lawyers are lawyers.

  Edited to add: Controlling the small groups was probably a factor also. One big happy flock following one big set of instructions from the platform is much easier to control.
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  out4good3

  YOu mean......

  it really w asn't because of the high price of gas?
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  Quarterback

  No, it was because the end was really, really, really near.
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  Band on the Run

  The lack of education and sophistication of most Witnesses bothers me. The WT Legal Department answers to the WTBTS. Their work can be adverse to normal Witnesses. If they would disclose their conflicted interest, regular Witnesses would know where they stand. I am Episcopal and would believe that official Episcopal lawyers are there for the church, not me. The church as a legal entity, separate from its mission.

  Most Witnesses prob. believe the Legal Department is doing a valuable service for them. The ethical issues are clear.

  This crossing of lines is very troubling. Since I started posting here, I am shocked by all the references to the Legal Department. It reminds me of a Stalinist regime.

  I can't recall the reference and I love it. Shakepeare wrote in one of his historical plays that the first thing the conspiracy of nobles will do once the king is gone is to kill all the lawyers.

  The Legal Department is not the Department of Justice. I can perfectly understand that a large legal dept. may be necessary for a large business or organization. I don't see what they do with regular Witnesses. Overreaching yet again. Minions of a govt. they reject and yet very much part of the govt.
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  tootired2care

  IMHO - it was because they wanted to shift burden from them to the already over burdened family heads, by making them prepare their own meetings for their families. It was interesting how this started out as more of a free night, then over the course of several months they turned the screws in, and really made us feel "impelled" to work hard and prepare meaningful family worship evenings. After working 50 hours a weekand preparing talks for meetings, what family head has time for that?
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  Lady Lee

  here is my take on it

  CONTROL

  I recall some groups always had tea and conversation after the group. It was a social affair. Over the years the WTS has cracked down on anything that smacks of fun.

  Meetings have always been highly structured affairs. In a Hall people don't talk a lot about the content of a meeting other than "Good talk" before they go on to other things.

  But I recall people staying and talking about a point in the books especially when two version of the same books were being used (someone didn't want to buy the new books so were bringing their old ones) The more people could sit in the privacy of a home and actually talk about what they read there were bound to be questions. and often those questions either led to more questions or real thinking on the part of those whoi stayed to talk.

  People could also compare what they had been taught with one another and some of those things that people had been taught to forget sometimes came up and people realized they weren't as crazy for remembering things a certain way as they thought. - like remembering something that was published but never being able to find it in the bound volume. Always good to know that you weren't the only one who remembered it

  With many elders stepping down and not a lot of people moving up the ladder another reason could be a lack of enough elders to spread around the various book study groups