Did you ever volunteer at or visit Bethel? What were your impressions when you were in the WBTS vs. now (looking back)?

by Poindexter Lionel Humperdique 27 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Poindexter Lionel Humperdique

  Did you ever Volunteer/Visit Bethel back when you were in the borg? I did. At the time, it opended my eyes as I saw a lot of red flags. For instance, Volunteers were kept so busy without reasonable accomodations that everyone became in a robotic-zombie state of compliance with an unreasonably strict fast pased schedule. In fact, it was not uncommon to see a 60 year old brother or sister jogging to make it to the cafeteria for the short lunch period. If she did not make it in time, "No Soup for her!"

  From my experience, an average Bethel schedule including Bethel responsibilities, meetings (typical commute for Bethelites in New York State is about a 60-120 minutes round trip to the their assigned Kingdom Hall), field service, and all other responsibilities ended up in approximately 60+ hour weeks! This is grossly contrary to what the WBTS proclaims for it's servants. For instance, Christ's refreshing remarks at Mt 11: 28-30 state, “My yoke is kindly and my load is light.” In contarast, Bethel's (and the WBTS's) yoke is extreme, difficult, oppressive, and cruel.

  What are some of the things you observed in your Bethel experiences?

  I would appreciate hearing your experiences as Bethel really stood out to me as being way off par. Thanks in advance for sharing.
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  LoisLane looking for Superman

  Hi PLH,

  Using the Search engine for JWN you will come across a lot of Bethel aka Beth-hell stories. Just type in Bethel.

  You will find many, many heart wrenching stories.

  The last personal story, I recalled recently is from the poster named "BackseatDevil".

  He has written an unpublished, as of yet, book , which he has made available to us on this Board for free to read.

  Yes, he was a Bethelite. You have to read his book. Once I started, I couldn't put it down, until I had finished reading it.

  BackseatDevil is a remarkable person.

  I feel honored to have the pleasure to "meet" him on this Board.

  LoisLane
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  dozy

  My parents took me to the London Bethel when I was about 12 - I think they wanted me to see it as a career - to "implant a seed" in me , as it were. It had exactly the opposite effect.

  We turned up in our meeting attire & it was all a bit boring to be honest - it just seemed like a collection of offices & factories - people were friendly superficially but were bustling around. It certainly wasn't a "spiritual" experience by any means - just rather corporate. I remember thinking that it was like touring a very clean travelodge with a large warehouse and factory facility attached.

  We had the "privilege" of having lunch in the cafeteria - my father knew a few people who worked in Bethel & managed to secure an invitation - and it seemed like an exercise in cramming as much food down in 20 minutes as possible. Very little time for any chit chat. One guy on our table arrived late , wolfed down some food and scooped up the leftovers into a tupperware container and cleared off without saying a word. It was all a bit surreal. We were allowed to stay at our table after all the Bethelites had gone back to work but by then everyone was tidying up & you got the impression that they really wanted you to go so they could clean the table.

  We were supposed to go back to one of the Bethelites rooms for a coffee with a Bethel "heavy" who was an old friend of my father but he told us during lunch that he was busy so that was cancelled. My father was slightly miffed but we were pleased to be going & get changed out of our meeting clothes on what was a hot sunny day.

  I remember leaving feeling rather unimpressed - my sister felt the same. My parents were disappointed at our reaction but felt that a tour of Brooklyn would be a lot more beneficial. Thankfully we never went. For the rest of my JW career one thing I never wanted to do was be a Bethelite. I always felt that it would be ok for people who liked a very regimented way of life , but it was never my cup of tea.
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  designs

  My brother was in Bethel, I visited Brooklyn Bethel when he was there in 1970. The factory was a cold warehouse with people working fast and hard. The landscape in front of the Bethel home seemed poorly cared for. The group of Californians liked to blow off steam afterhours and had the local liquor stores mapped out. Some of the Bethelites worked at these liquor stores, my brother included. Most of the Californians (aka Californications) didn't make it through their four year committment and got sent home early. Best part of that trip was spending time one night walking through Spanish Harlem with my brother, probably the best time we ever spent together. After he came home he was different, some entitlement had taken over in his mind and in the mind of the local JWs, the golden boy had arrived.
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  Ucantnome

  i only visited the Bethel in England and New York. a relative applied to go and got turned down. I couldn't understand the motivation to put yourself in such a place. There was no way I would ever have gone I didn't even like visiting.

  (A brother I was friendly with in California said that he went to Bethel and all the parents in the congregation want you to meet their daughter he liked that.)
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  James Jackson

  Went to Patterson for Kingdom Ministry School for Elders in 2008. Had a BLAST! Studied so so, drank wine, had wifi, nice room, good food and a great room mate.
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  Ucantnome

  it seemed strange to me to call it Bethel. in the Insight book it mentions that the city in northern kingdom under Jeroboam became 'renowned as a center for false worship'

  (with all the changes that get made maybe it could be renamed Babylon (confusion))
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  L3G

  PLH – a nice thread, thx. I visted there several times an also realized it was not for me. You're spot on about the maniacal pace there, absolutely frantic. Especially good was your quotation of Matt. 11.

  I had a bro. who'd just left Bethel once live with me for a few months. The poor guy could not slow down and enjoy a meal. He was still wolfing down everything and then rushing off, even it was just to the living room or bedroom---go figure! The thought of slowing down and actually preparing a meal also was completely absent. I either provided him with food or he wanted to go out. Only at a restaurant did he slow down. I figure that was the only time he'd have slowed down to eat when he was at Bethel.

  Otherwise, he was a nice enough guy, though not very bright. I'm sure that last quality was and still is what is looked for in Bethelites.

  Another experience comes to mind due to Ucantnome's share and the notion of non-intelligent bros. I knew this one very attractive new sister who'd fallen for the pressure put on her by other sisters to hurry up and marry a Bethelite. After she did, she discovered what a dork the guy was, an absolute duhhh! brother. Of course, she was then stuck in that situation we all must have seen repeatedly while in, a far more intelligent sister married to a dumb brother. She was absolutely miserable, even more so as she couldn't respect the guy, failed to provide the marriage due, and then had to go thru the humiliation of those public service meeting parts of "reproving before all on lookers those practicing sin" when her goofy "head" went out to a whore for some relief. You know, those parts where "no one is named," but everybody listening knows full well the parties involved and hangs on every word to scoop up as many of the juicy details of the sin as possible. The "innermost parts of the belly" to be sure! (Prov. 18:8).

  So Ucantnome, was your friend motivated to go the Bethel to look at all the available sisters or was that just a by-product he learned of once there? Also, I loved the application of the Reasoning book observation regarding the biblical Bethel. How fitting! It must be prophetic!!

  Thx, again PLH.
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  Ucantnome

  Only the Lord knows his motivation i can't say but my relative got turned down so maybe it was his motivation.

  What page is that in the reasoning book?
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  turtleturtle

  Classic true story.

  Traveled to London to stay with friend when I was 18. We go to one of the Bethel buildings where the Bethelites live to pick out of a movie from this Bethelites collection. What is the first one I see when he pulls the drawer open? The Exorcist!!!

  LOL