Despite placing such much importance on attending all meetings for more than a hundred years, the length of meetings has recently been halved. Presumable the membership can now survive on half the spiritual food that was deemed essential before. In addition the group study meeting has also been axed. For most of the Society’s existence an hour long, weekly group study took place in homes of approved members. These group meetings were said to be in preparation for a time of persecution against Jehovah's Witnesses during the coming Great Tribulation. If Kingdom Hall’s were shut down by the authorities, under the direction of Satan, the member were to become an underground movement and meet only in these small secret groups.
The official reason given for canceling these study groups is that the change allows the membership more free time; also petrol/gasoline is saved. The introduction by town councils of Special Use Permits for homes being used as places of worship is a contributing factor. The new requirement for accident liability insurance in private homes used for worship may also have been a factor. The practice of reading a Bible based text before field ministry has also been stopped, as it could fall foul of these requirements.
It has been suggested that the society has stopped the group study arrangement in order to centralize control and prevent these smaller groups from developing ideas of their own. In my experience these small groups were less formal than the Kingdom Hall meetings in both style and dress code. Often tea and coffee would be served afterwards, allowing informal conversation to develop where members could share their own ideas with each other and talk more intimately than in a Kingdom Hall. Members of each group met at a home close to their own. The small, intimate local setting allowed for a more liberal discussion than the main meetings. Strong bonds were formed in this more social environment. Each group had its own flavor, depending on the personality and personal views of the elder taking the group.
In a congregation that I was part of, I recall members attending a more popular group of their own choice instead of the group they had been assigned to. One unpopular elder who held a group at home, found himself with just his wife and children for company. This was a deliberate protest by his group. Strong Arm tactics were used to bully the errant members into returning to their own group. Holding all meetings at the Kingdom Hall with the whole congregation and many elders present, has brought to an end those wandering days and made forming a bond with a particular group more difficult. It has given the elders more control over the congregations. Short of leaving their religion, the only way members can protest at the way a congregation is run, is by upping stakes and moving to a different congregation.
Groups have been a central part of member’s lives for many decades. Part of the purpose of meeting in small groups was to meet undercover should Witnesses face persecution. The much quoted scripture quoted at the beginning of this chapter urges members to gather together all the more so as they behold the day drawing near. Yet, this previously vital meeting has been cancelled. Many members are wondering why group centers have been abolished when the ‘great tribulation leading to Armageddon’ is believed to be closer than ever.
Taken from: Can Jehovah's Witnesses Survive? Trevor Willis
