In the congregation I used to go to two or three families and some others decided to continue to meet once a week for study and fellowship. The group included at least two elders and some MS's. The rest of the body ?? it, wrote to the society, the group was promptly shut down. Borg is afraid of splinter groups starting up. Imagine that, in Watchtower Land it's wrong to meet for bible discussion and fellowship unless it is scantioned by the Org.
what was the reason for canceling the book study in private homes
by reds 48 Replies latest jw friends
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baltar447
I think Pontoon has stated the most likely reason...
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wha happened?
well it made it easier to fade. Remaining invisible in a room with 15 people is fairly difficult
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blond-moment
I'm with Lady Lee, control. They can't have JWs bonding with each other, they may actually start to care and think. Too much "unsupervised" time to talk. They had to shut it down, information is everywhere, can't give them a chance to connect with anyone to talk about it.
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wha happened?
yea I think Pontoon is on the right trail. In fact, I beleive it came out in the KM about studying on your own. They definately discouraged it and instead, encouraged publishers to study WT publications only
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LostGeneration
One thing I have learned after leaving the WT is that they basically change things for two reasons only...money and legal.
This one probably falls into legal, with the side benefit of money saved. Pedophiles probably loved having the book study in their homes, easier to target kids and build trust in the home.
Too many lawsuits from pedophile activity in private homes=No more book study!
Truly a loving provision from Jah!
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tootired2care
I've love how they pretend to play the considerate card for the poor brothers with jobs and cong responsibilities. To be fair though they aren't really discouraging private get togethers for study, if i'm reading this last WT article right.
"The elders need to take care to maintain balance between shepherding responsibilities and obligations to their own family. (1 Tim. 5:8) The time that elders spend with the congregation is precious time away from their family. One way to balance the two responsibilities is to invite others to their Family Worship evening on occasion. Over the years, Masanao, an elder in Japan, invited single ones and spiritually fatherless families to his family’s study" - WT 2011 6/15 p.22.
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pontoon
Probably a number of reasons as mentioned all contributed to the end of private home book studies. What we know for a fact is that they will never tell the truth, so much of what comes out of the society now is all "spin"
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tootired2care
Good point pontoon - the lesson to remember from WTS is that truth is ever changing and gets ever brighter Prov 4:18... that is until it's so bright that you're burned out to a crisp
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pontoon
tootired---what they won't allow is a regular (weekly) study group. They are OK with the occasional widow or "fatherless boy" showing up at your family study. What they don't want is to have two or three THINKING MEN put their minds together in a less than formal situation.