Former Longtime Elder - Reflections

by James Jackson 51 Replies latest jw friends

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  James Jackson

  The meetings are getting more boring to me. Some of the Elders during their parts just Talk and Talk and Talk about uninteresting things. Boring, Boring. They go overtime it seems to bask in their moment of glory.

  Last night there was this part about young men reaching out. I looked out at the audience, there were only 2 brothers this could apply too. 1 was a loser who at 25 still lives with his parents, the other a 32 years old, single and emotionally troubled. Out of 100 pubs that's it. We have 6 Elders from 50-73 age range and the 6 MS range from 42-83 years old. These next 10 years could be interesting in that there are no people advancing in "Da Truth".
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  Splash

  Same talk for us James.

  Elders getting so old that every item is a struggle for them, and few to pick up the slack.
  We've not had an elder appointed in our cong for 16 or 17 years.

  None of the younger brothers are encouraged or trained, just told to Reach Out. It's not going to work.

  Splash
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  Gayle

  In the U.S. apparently the total number of Elders is 88,500+ as opposed to M Ss 65,000. http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/child-abuse/203961/1/WTBTS-Elder-Ministerial-Servant-Problems (posted a couple yrs ago) Wonder if there's any updates on that.

  Sounds like your cong. is in the avg.
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  sir82

  Same thing at our hall.

  The speaker invited "all the young men under age 30" to sit in the first 2 rows.

  They consisted of:

  A 29 year old ex-MS; A 20 year old unbaptized publisher "raised in the truth"; 3 more unbaptized publishers age 14 & under, all of whom go thru the motions; 1 other guy I didn't know - apparently a visitor.

  We likely won't have any MS appointed for the next 7-10 years, unless the 29 year old ex-MS puts his nose to the wheel.

  Charisma is clearly in short supply.
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  finally awake

  the hall i used to attend has only one ms under the age of 60. theres only one adult brother under 40 who could be made a ms, and only 2 teen males. slim pickings, and i dont see that changing
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  Splash

  There are approximately 2,000 new congregations created every year.

  If a congregation needs 5 elders and 5 servants, that's an extra 20,000 appointed men needed every year.

  It's not happening.

  Splash
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  ABibleStudent

  Hi James Jackson, Considering what you wrote and that the Pew study estimates that JWs are composed of 60% women and 40% men, will the WTBTS change its position of letting women become elders/MS?

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  James Jackson

  A nearby Congregation has a 32year MS but that his father and father in law are both on the B.O.E. A friend from that congregation was visiting us last week and made mention of this MS is a big joke among the young people. His Service consists of going to Laundry Mats and fast food places. The couple even said that he has no RV's and watches "R" rated movies(I was shocked that he would even admit that). The couple would like to change Halls, but "every Hall has their slackers".
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  XBEHERE

  Weird in many of the congregations in my area the elder bodies are pretty young. Many ranging in age from late 20's-80's. I see not too many MS's compared to back in the 80's and 90's. I guess it all depends on where you live.
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  besty

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs#Esteem