Truthseeker's fine thread got me thinking. There are plenty of forum members from Europe, Australia, and Latin America here. Did the book study in publishers' homes end a few years ago at the time, or near the time, that it did in America? Let's see if all of Jehovah's sheep are being blessed equally...
Are book studies still going on outside the USA?
by L3G 11 Replies latest jw friends
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blondie
They are still being held in the US, but were renamed "bible study" and moved to the same night as the school and service meeting. The announcement in the 2009 YB seems to indicate that they all changed at the same time, definitely in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the rest of Europe.
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emeth
the bookstudy is now integrated in the service meeting,.. worldwide
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blondie
Actually the CBS, TMS, and SM are held on the same night in this order as 3 separate meetings just like the public talk and WT study are on the same day as 2 separate meetings.
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blondie
*** km 1/12 p. 1 Schedule for Week of January 9 ***
Schedule for Week of January 9
WEEK STARTING JANUARY 9
Song 53 and Prayer
□ Congregation Bible Study:
bt chap. 15 ¶ 8-12, box on p. 118 (25 min.)
□ Theocratic Ministry School:
Bible reading: Isaiah 29-33 (10 min.)
No. 1: Isaiah 30:15-26 (4 min. or less)
No. 2: Were Humans Made to Live Briefly and Then Die?—rs p. 245 ¶ 1–p. 246 ¶ 2 (5 min.)
No. 3: How Can Imperfect Humans Sanctify Jehovah’s Name?—Matt. 6:9 (5 min.)
□ Service Meeting:
Song 61
5 min: Announcements.
10 min: Preach to Those Who Speak Another Language. Talk explaining how to use the booklet Good News for People of All Nations. Have a demonstration.
10 min: Evidence of the Bible’s Inspiration. Discussion based on the Reasoning book, page 60, paragraph 3, to page 64, paragraph 3.
10 min: “Direct Your Blows Wisely.” Questions and answers. When considering paragraph 2, briefly interview the service overseer regarding where people can be found in the local territory during various times of the day and days of the week.
Song 115 and Prayer
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Magnum
emeth - Are you a JW? If so, you really need to be careful with your terminology and learn about the organization. You say that "the bookstudy is now integrated in the service meeting".
The Service Meeting is a separate meeting at the end of the occasion. It is preceeded by the Theocratic Ministry School. The Theocratic Ministry School is preceeded by the Congregation Bible Study. There is no such meeting as "the bookstudy", and nothing has been "integrated in the service meeting".
from page 10 of the brochure "Who Are Doing God's Will Today?":
"We also meet together on a midweek evening for a three-part program. First is the 30-minute Congregation Bible Study, a question-and-answer discussion that deepens our understanding of Scriptural principles and Bible prophecy. Next, the 30-minute Theocratic Ministry School begins with a discussion of a portion of the Bible that the congregation has read in advance. Then students who are enrolled in the school give short presentations. A counselor makes observations in order to help us improve our reading and speaking skills. (1 Timothy 4:13) Lastly, in the 30-minute Service Meeting, by means of talks, presentations, and interviews, we learn how to teach the Bible to others."
edit: Hadn't seen Blondie's post when I posted this. She beat me to it.
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Faithful Witness
Yes, be mindful to use the correct and most current terminology.
You don't want to be accused of apostasy.
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Magnum
Faithful Witness, let me explain why I responded to emeth the way I did. As a JW I have had numerous CO's, DO's, fellow elders, and all manner of JW from 9-year-olds to 99-year-olds point out to me what they thought were errors in my terminology & grammar, in the content of my statements & talks, in my methods in the ministry, in the way I drove, in the way I dressed, etc.... when usually I was right.
Let me give you an example. About twenty-six years ago (around 1987), I was serving as a ministerial servant and because of an elder shortage, I had to conduct the Watchtower Study for a month or so. Well, in one lesson, the Greek word that we transliterate "logos" appeared. It was not the Anglicized version, but it was in italics, referring to the actual Greek word. Well, I know some Greek, definitely including the alphabet and pronunciation. So I pronounced the word as it should be pronounced - with short "o" sounds - as in the English word "log".
As soon as the meeting was over, and elder (who was there but too sickly to conduct the study) approached me and told me the word was pronounced with long vowel sounds. I tried to explain to him, but it was futile. I went home and looked in my huge Webster's dictionary and it showed that even the Anglicized version could be pronounced with short vowels sounds.
Anyway, move forward to about 1995. I'm now an elder conducting the Watchtower Study. The article under consideration was one of the ones having to do with the "celestial phenomena" and the "sign of the son of man". In the article the Greek word that we transliterate"tote” was significant. It should be pronounced with a short “o” sound (as in “log”) and a long “e” sound (as in “they”). However, at the district convention the previous summer the speaker when going over this same matertial (came out at the DC first) wrongly pronounced the word with a long “o” sound. So when it came time for me to conduct the Watchtower Study, I decided I would just pronounce it the way all the other JWs did (knowing that was wrong) so I wouldn’t cause a disturbance.
Well, guess what happened after the study. An elder who literally can half speak English (even though he’s as Amercian as you can get) came up to me as soon as the “amen” in the prayer was said, and said “Magnum, you know, I was listening to the cassette recording of this lesson and the reader pronounced the word “tote” (with a short “o” sound). I swear I just rolled my eyes to myself. You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
I could give many examples of elders who’ve made a stink of org policy. They say I’m wrong, when they’re clueless and can’t even comprehend references I show them.
So I’ve decided that I’m going to give it right back to them. In the grand scheme, it matters not whether JWs know how their meetings work and what the correct terminology is. But it evidently matters to JWs; otherwise, why would they be so quick to “correct” others? Since it matters to them, I will gladly correct them.
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Apognophos
Heh, interesting story, Magnum. Sometimes there's no pleasing them. My first time running a microphone, I was gently counseled by an elder afterwards that I should pick up the pace a little and get to the person faster when they're called on. A few minutes later, another elder took me aside and let me know that I should move a bit slower, that there was no need to rush so much. I happily shrugged to myself, knowing that I could blow off both of their little tidbits of counsel since they canceled each other out!
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Apognophos
As far as the word pronunciations go, when I was reading the Watchtower I often had to fight with myself over the Latin, Greek and Hebrew words, knowing how they were supposed to be said, but also knowing that if I didn't read them the expected way, it would distract the audience and draw attention to myself. Of course, I realize that there are the Anglicized pronunciations, as you said, and then on top of that there are sometimes also quirky Witness pronunciations. For instance, do you say "NIGH-san" or "Nee-SAHN" like the Jews do? I generally wimped out and went with the standard JW pronunciation in those cases.