worn out ministerial servant! (page 3)

Most Noble

Welcome

A big hug from a worn out and scattered elder.

since they obviously have no interest with your general well being, but would rather give u a laundry list of responsibilities to be accountable for, it may be time to fade. Once u drop your duties you won't hear much

Honesty

El_Guapo - a very warm welcome to you!

Unfortunately, I remember all too well the always worn out feeling and the constant hounding.

The best medicine is take the following dosage:

1. Turn cell phone off or let all incoming calls go to voice mail.

2. Take a 6 month break from all things JW and see how much better you feel.

3. Don't answer the door under any circumstances.

4. If by chance you encounter a member of the BOE while out in public start coughing and tell him you are too sick to talk.

5. Tell JW family that you are too depressed and overworked to get out of bed on Saturday morning.

nochoice

Welcome!

It's absolutely no excuse, but the elders in your congregation are probably just as worn out as you. And the problem is that if you don't do these things, they have to. It gets to the point where all the elders and servants involved are just trying to survive and have even a little life outside the religion.

All of the priveledges before becoming an MS are you being "tested as to fitness." But it's also helping to take work away from some other burnt out servant or elder. And when you become an MS and are given more and more, giving anything up means someone else will have to do it, so you always do more.

The work never goes away! It's just a matter of who has to do it. So if you can't take out the group on Saturday, your group overseer cares more about whether he has to do it than if you're feeling ok.

As much as I was "in" just for show and didn't believe anything taught, I became the same way! When I had to confirm students for parts on the school and some gave me long stories about why they couldn't fulfill the assignment, in my mind I was thinking, "whatever, I don't care, now I have more work to do to get the part filled!" And although I hated being that person, I couldn't help it because what was important was getting the tasks done not the people!

The very organizational style of the kingdom hall arragements makes it impossible, after a while, to truly care about you or me or any of the friends because of all the work that needs to be done, no matter how loving a particular elder or servant might be in thier heart of hearts.

I am glad you've been reading and can see you're not alone!

straightshooter

Welcome.

I remember when I was worn out. When I said no to a request, they would look at me like a non-team player. A little too late, I learned that one should never start on the path of being a servant in the cong.

Ding

But still that was never enough. And never good enough.

That describes the WT's works system perfectly...

Finkelstein

Welcome to JWN El_Guapo , it seems your starting to awaken to the fact that most of the WTS/JWS doctrines have been created and established

intensionally to proliferate the WTS's own published goods and to establish a semblance of power toward its top editorial leaders.

A commercialized fraud built around a religious publishing house.

People have been exploited and manipulated in the worst possible ways by this organization, causing u nparalleled problems and even death.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Just a suggestion, have you thought about using your medical condition as an excuse to step down? Once you've had a chance to get a break, let them know how much better, happier, and healthier you are since stepping down... and that Jehovah has clearly blessed your decision. That's similar to the direction out that I chose.

El_Guapo

WOW! Thanks everyone for the encourgement. I have spoken to one of the elders (we were out in field service) about the fact that sometimes I am just SICK. My medical condition is known and accepted at work (Dr's note) IF I am feeling really sick I take off from work and go straight to bed. No problems. The elder said "trust in Jah" he will give you the strenght you need to continue. I started questioning if it was the truth when I started to read the bible with out the watchtower filter. (Just straight NWT) Now, I am no means a scholar, but I see that the cong. is lacking that essential factor. TRUE LOVE, and not just to me, but to the rest of the brothers and sisters. One elder told me, I noticed you missed a lot of meetings. You know that is a requirement for brothers who are M.S.'s or Elders to be regular. unless you are in the hospital or dying we shouldn't miss meetings. My meeting is Friday night, and I am planning on speaking to a few elders and letting them know that I am stepping down. I'm not exactly sure how to do this. Do I just verbally say it, or write a letter?

james_woods

I would just tell them verbally, and like Billy said - blame it totally on your physical ailments.

worn out ministerial servant!