So the consensus is: Individuals helped other individuals, but the congregation never once!
Anyone recall a time when your congregation came to the aid of a Brother or sister in need??
by jam 67 Replies latest social entertainment
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Rattigan350
Recently an announcement was made and a resolution was passed that if someone died, then the congregation would provide flowers for the funeral.
And some natural disasters occurred and one was read about helping them, but I don't remember that one.
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piztjw
As stated before, it's usually the sisters who initiate and organize any charity. The spiritual arrogant elders are way too busy and important to mess with details like the flock under their "care".
Very recently a number of sisters initiated and implememted a schedule to care for an elderly handicapped sister's even older invalid mother while the daughter was hospitalized. Strange thing about it was the sisters doing all the work, including overnight care, were also all older woman in their 50's to early 70's and not themselves the pictures of health. The younger women, the healthy son, and every single appointed brother couldn't be bothered with interupting their schedules to help.
I have notice it always seems to be the older, less healthy who do the most for others.
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piztjw
It was always said that family or some social agency had that responsibility.
Just what the WT from last Sunday said. I noticed one person mentioned the picture of the poor woman who had fallen in the rain, broken her umbrella, broke her glasses, spilled her groceries, broken eggs, saying, "While it is good for the congregation to help AFTER the fact, wouldn't it be wonderful if the congregation was pro-active and helped BEFORE she had an accident?" There were many, including the eldurr conducting, who used the next several comments to basically verbally chastise the person who expressed kindness. One comment even was that the woman herself was to blame for not asking for help! So very sad!
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dozy
The elders are told that congregation funds are never to be used for this purpose.
There was an occasion when a congregation I was a member of lent money to a pioneer couple who were struggling financially. The congregation weren't informed , the BOE had to act unofficially & the CO on his subsequent visit told them that the money had to be repaid so a couple of the elders repaid the money to the congregation and took on the loan. One of the elders was my father & the loan was repaid incredibly slowly - the pioneer couple kept missing payments & messed him around. Eventually they moved congregations and we had a standard family joke - "Is Brother X still paying you weekly? Yes - very weakly! " I think my father eventually wrote off the loan eventually as the pioneer couple began to avoid his phone calls.
I don't recall too many occasions when people were really hard up ( I live in the UK which is pretty generous with welfare. ) I do remember a sister approached the PO saying she didn't have enough money to go to the assembly but we discussed it as a body of elders and we decided not to help her.
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piztjw
Saw a hoarder MS and his well fed obese wife receive money several years in a row to go to the convention, even though they had money enough to go camping, to movies, out to eat, buy a new pickup. At the same time the poor sister with no family locally went without and missed the convention, but that was just fine. She could watch the elder's pets while they went.
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designs
dozy- My father made personal loans to several families and individuals in the org.. Only one ever paid him back.
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Watchtower-Free
In my 50+ yrs as a JW never once
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trujw
I know the elders would spend unlimited amounts of time, gas and even neglect of their own families to get someone if they even heard a rumor of wrong doing So they could kick them out of the hall. Does that count?
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JustVisting
yes b/c it's the loving thing to do.