Possible announcement in October....

by Skinnedsheep 27 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  gingerbread

  As long as members think that they'll find interested ones in the territory, the door-to-door practice won't go away.

  The "field ministry" is the single identifiable characteristic that makes Jehovah's Witnesses unique. For the baptized JW, going out in service is a lifelong commitment. The form will change - this organization prides itself on change.

  What a better way to get individuals to stand up for their faith than by putting them next to a cart or table in a highly visible public area.

  If you don't have much money to give they want your time. People with limited incomes gladly trade hours and hours of service instead of 20.00 a month. If you have money, you just write a nice monthly check and you can skip service guilt free. And the elders won't give you any crap about low hours.

  ginger
• 

  leaving_quietly

  we can now say with all confidence that the work of preaching the good news to the entire inhabited earth has been accomplished.

  Meh. They already said this.

  *** w95 9/1 pp. 17-18 par. 17 Christian Witnesses for Divine Sovereignty ***
  Still, that first-century preaching work was merely a foretaste of what would be accomplished during the last days. Looking forward especially to our time, Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10) Has this prophecy been fulfilled? Indeed, it has.
• 

  RubaDub

  Perhaps the One Towel Rule will now be a conscience matter.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  sir82

  Another reason it won't go away:

  The primary litmus test for determining if a dude qualifies to be an MS or elder is "Do he & his family all average 10 hours a month in field service?"

  If field service goes away, there will no longer be any easily quantifiable standard by which to measure the "spirituality" of a potential nominee.
• 

  Londo111

  I like the speculation of the name change to The Christian Congergation of Jehovah's Witnesses, along with a name change to the public magazine from Watchtower, to something else, and the elimination of the Awake magazine. The new public magazine would likely be just a vehicle driving people to JW.ORG. The 144K becoming symbolic wouldn’t be shocking either.

  We shall see what we shall see...Mostly, I wouldn't be surprised for the "big" announcement to be a nonevent and 100% hype.
• 

  RubaDub

  If field service goes away, there will no longer be any easily quantifiable standard by which to measure the "spirituality" of a potential nominee.

  They could assign brothers to follow him and his family into the restrooms during assemblies and see if they adhere to the One Towel Rule.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  Vidiot

  gingerbread - "The field ministry is the single identifiable characteristic that makes Jehovah's Witnesses unique."

  No it's not; other groups do it (with a comparative level of success, which is, to say, not much).

  Say what you will about the Mormons; at least they're officially admitting that D2D preaching doesn't cut it, anymore.

  gingerbread - "...this organization prides itself on change."

  No it doesn't.

  It prides itself on being "God's Earthly Organization", and looking like it's changing whilst not really doing so.

  At its core, it will always be an authoritarian high-control group.
• 

  RubaDub

  The two brothers who did the Sign Language anti-masturbation videos are no longer JW's but have moved on to the Porn industry.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  Vidiot

  RubaDub - "The two brothers who did the Sign Language anti-masturbation videos are no longer JW's but have moved on to the Porn industry."

  Makes perfect sense, actually...

  ...after all, why should the non-deaf have all the fun?

  http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/2f7ed766fb/humor-porn-for-the-deaf-and-hearing-impaired
• 

  steve2

  Never say never.

  Ten years ago, who'd have anticpated the type and scope of the changes that have since occurred?

  While the organization has always been in a state of morphing, in recent years, the morphing has gathered pace and been in the direction of "reducing" aspects of the theocratic "obligations" (closure of bethel offices, fewer meetings, shorter meetings, shorter conventions, fewer hours required to qualify as a pioneer and, in Western countries, merging congregations). Oh, and the one big increase? Advertising JW.org. Telling - very telling - about the direction the organization is taking.

  Never say never.