You work 10 20 years to get appointed and its tuff to get off that moving train. I tell you my first Elder's School was such a disappointment, such an eye opener, I wanted to walk out.
why dont more elders leave?
by Crazyguy 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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notsurewheretogo
Like the GB many elders are captive to the concept that it is God's Organisation thus no matter what the evidence points to they cannot see it or act on it...
As a former elder once you begin to doubt that the GB are the FDS then that is when elders start to come out and the house of cards comes tumbling down but until you doubt or remove that concept that the GB are in the hands of Jehoover you ain't coming out...
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steve2
Fact is, elders "leave" by stepping down. Anecdotally, there has been quite a buzz in congregations about the lack of suitable men to appoint to positions of elders, especially younger ones. In many congregations, those on bodies of elders are predominantly on the far side of middle-age.
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The Searcher
Prime reason - as with anyone who has climbed up the Org ladder - they will be looked on as a failure in most people's eyes, ESPECIALLY their wives, who will have to bear the humiliation more than their fallen head-of-household!
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joe134cd
Huh funny you should say that Steve2. I remember hearing in a near by congregation sisters were having to do the microphones because they couldn't get suitable brothers.
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DesirousOfChange
Like the GB many elders are captive to the concept that it is God's Organisation thus no matter what the evidence points to they cannot see it or act on it...
As a former elder once you begin to doubt that the GB are the FDS then that is when elders start to come out and the house of cards comes tumbling down but until you doubt or remove that concept that the GB are in the hands of Jehoover you ain't coming out...
That's my experience. I really, really believed it all. (Amazing, because I'm really a bright guy. Just delusional when it came to the religion of my youth.) I was sure that I "felt" God's Hand leading the Organization/Congregation. Which simply proves that a blind man can see anything he chooses to see.
A guy who was a Bible Student/Study began raising some tough questions. He seemed sincere. I sincerely tried to answer them. We usually hit an impasse. WT explanations didn't make sense to him. They seems the only logical answer to me. My congnitive dissonance was strong. But those were the seeds that later started to grow. When other things began to unravel and I used GOOGLE the house of cards started shaking. I slowly came to realize it had all been a lie. A delusion. It was the Red Pill moment.
Doc
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blondie
My husband didn't know what was going on behind the curtain until he attended his first elders meeting and then he realized that leaving was going to be hard. An elder that was appointed at the same time resigned within months. My husband tried to "fix" things and act as a supportive buffer between the other elders and the "flock." Other elders would say they had his back before the meetings only to sit mute when the wolvish elders would jump on him...telling him the elders manual was their guide not the bible (I kid you not). When the elders lies got more frequent and larger, he knew it was time to go.
Out of maybe ten elders, I found one that was glory hungry. The rest were either tired and beat down, scared of POs who said it was their way or the highway...
When we left there were 5 elders, 8 ex-elders who had stepped down and made it clear they would never "serve" again. They lost 2 more and imported 3 from other congregations. A known wife abuser and alcoholic were reappointed as well. These patterns have been repeated in the congregations in this circuit and perhaps others. There have been only 2 born in male jws that have stayed in and been baptized but have not been made MS (let alone elders) because they do not show up on time or follow through on their assignments. The elders are finding themselves doing more MS work every year. One congregation even secretly had an elder's wife do the accounts and her husband signed off on it. The CO told them that if they can't find qualified brothers to do sound, attendants, read at the meetings, no sisters can be used, the elders must do it.
For every abusive elder I have found there are 2 or more elders on the body who know it and see it but stay silent.
======to add about Elders School
My husband thought here he would find the scriptural help. Instead he saw elders sleeping during the session; other elders would wake them up when lunch was served. No one around him took notes. When it was time for lunch the trainers gave them directions as how to lineup so everyone would get a chance to eat...a third of the group disregarded the directions and went straight to the front of the line or cut in ahead of their first position.
He sat there and was told they were the "mighty men" and that God had blessed them with more holy spirit than the non-elders..and how wonderful that there were no sisters there
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millie210
Jam, I am sorry about the baby that died.
I agree that at some point elders are just so overloaded and busy that they dont take time to nourish themselves spiritually.
It is very similar to what you see among lower ranking law enforcement officers.
A bit of a power trip, hard work and high chance of burnout.
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RubaDub
IMO, 90% would fall into one of the following 3 categories, not in any particular order:
1). Hard-core JW: Would follow any instruction from the GB
2). Family/Friends: Do not want to disrupt or lose the family and social side
3). Power: A window washer or janitor would never have this kind of power anywhere else.
Rub a Dub
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label licker
Why would they step down when: in our first hall the whole body were all related and a bunch of drunkards. And in our last hall the cobe had the young wanabees look after his home while he took an eight week holiday every year in Florida. The other elder has three aging parents and has all the young wanabees taking them shopping, doctors office, coffee shops ect,,, while counting their time. Another elder had all the young pioneers hang out with his fifteen yearold daughter for a year to get her on the right road. Too bad she had a little boy at sixteen, the worldly father was only fifteen years old but hey you had over twenty pioneer wanabees count their time. Today they are all made ms's and two were made elders and most of them stopped pioneering as soon as they got their labels. Now the elders have no one label licking them. It backfired on them. Now these little idiots with labels only put on a show when co comes to town. It's all about cult glorification. You never see these elders out in service yet they have the label of pioneer. They play a good game of snakes and ladders:)