A circle makes sense to me. Yes, a slightly informal atmosphere, everybody can see everybody,. After all, Christ is supposed to be in the room, right? So it seems like for a person to sit in a dominant position would detract from the spiritual significance of the meeting. These guys are going to try to read body language, facial expressions and try to see whether you are recording the session. So, sure, a circle makes sense.
The Judicial Committee is a Circle of Elders in a Room?
by Shanagirl 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
blondie
1) just 3 unless you are really "bad"; in an unusual situation not JC, my family questioned 5 elders on a body, all in a row across from us
2) no circle here, usually in a row across from you, in some cases with a table between you and them
Info from elders in my family and other elders I have known
The WTS has over 100,000 congregations and they are not uniform in this
-
Da.Furious
In my experience, had couple JCs, there was not specific setting and it was always 3 elders with notes.
As long as you know how the system works, you can 80% of times get out of it with just either public reprove or few months of restrictions.
Or throw the whole case out of the window due to insufficient or contradicting evidence and the person reporting you gets in trouble!
-
millie210
Witches do things in circles too.
-
undercover
Yes. It has happened. I have seen it.
Of the three JC meetings I was privileged to attend, two were standard JC setups. Three elders at a conference table in the KH library. They were toward one end. The 'accused' sat either at one end, or along the other side. Nothing too drastic about it at all.
However, I did attend one JC meeting where the entire elder body was present, and they sat in a semi-circle of 6 or 7, facing a lone chair for the accused, or the witness to the 'sin' that the accused was being charged with. And it was not a pleasant meeting. It was an inquisition from the git-go. From the badgering of so-called witnesses, to downright harrassment of the accused, this group of men were relentless and cruel to everyone who sat in the chair facing them. Sitting in that chair was akin to Taylor standing naked in front of Ape Council...
-
Vidiot
Zordino - "Yes this is more commonly known as a Circle Jerk."
Damn; beat me to it.
undercover - "Of the three JC meetings I was privileged to attend..."
"Priveliged"? You're being sarcastic, right?
-
sparky1
"Yes, this is more commonly known as a Circle Jerk."-Zordino
Or...............A CIRCLE OF JERKS!
-
AndDontCallMeShirley
"Of the three JC meetings I was privileged to attend..."
This is on the same level as, "it's your privilege to scrub the KH toilets today".
-
leaving_quietly
Having served on a number of judicial committees when I was an elder, I can tell you there usually is no forethought to this. A lot depends on the size of the room being used and whether a conference table exists or not. Our KH had a small elders' room, so placement of chairs was kind of haphazard. I wouldn't read much into it.
-
undercover
I'd rather scrub KH toilets than sit in on a Judicial Committee meeting. I mean, the shit's piled so high in those meetings (along with the rest of the meetings) that the toilets are pristine in comparison...