Trick to increase Bible Study totals?

by jws 10 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  jws

  Forgive me if this has been covered before and please redirect me to the topic...

  I was looking over the KM scan for January 2003 at http://jsefton.users1.50megs.com/kmscans.htm and noticed this on page 4:

  An approach that has proved to be effective with busy people is to conduct a brief Bible study right on their doorstep. (km5/02 p.1) Have you tried this? When you are preparing to make a return visit, select from the January 2002 Our Kingdom Ministry insert a presentation that fits the householder. Many of the presentations in this insert are designed to lead directly into a discussion of the Require brochure or the Knowledge book. Practise the presentation so that you can move smoothly from the introduction to a discussion of one of the paragraphs. Select one or two scriptures from the paragraph to read and discuss, and formulate a question with which to conclude. That will help lead into the paragraph you plan to cover on the next visit.

  To me, this seems as though any return visit householder who gives them the time of day and listens to their little presentation can be called a Bible Study - if they play by a few simple rules. Is this right? The householder may not even know they are being counted as such and may have never formally agreed to a "Bible Study".

  It might not add up to a lot of hours, but if I remember right, the time sheet has a slot for bible studies. I forget if it's counting people or number of times conducted. So that number can be upped for the reports and can show increase on next year's report.

  I think there's another form too where you actually list out the person's name and address and keep a more detailed record. I forget all the details. Luckily I only conducted one bible study for a short time and from what I hear, he fell away - thank goodness. But this other report, if it still exists, would reflect that no more hours are being put in, just more studies because they're easier to count. They may all be 5 minutes long, but you can conduct 1/2 dozen of them in a couple of hours. What a blessing!
• 

  foreword

  Wow,

  ----"They may all be 5 minutes long, but you can conduct 1/2 dozen of them in a couple of hours. What a blessing! "

  I remember the days when you had to pray to get one of these, and only if god thought your service deserved it.

  And now....there is no reason that the doors to paradise wouldn't be opened to all. It only takes five minutes, and eithout their knowledge they will be saved.

  The light is definitely getting brighter
• 

  blondie

  Actually, it has been pretty much standard practice to study with those who have been reinstated or inactive for awhile to bring them up to speed on "new light" and to make sure they remember what is moral and right. Supposedly, the one who studies with them is to help them get back in the saddle regarding preaching. This arrangement is set up by the service overseer, is not more than a year, and the overseer selects what is studied. Only 4 hours monthly, 4 RVs and1 Bible study can be recorded on the time slip each month.

  Blondie
• 

  larc

  I remember the days when a study with your own children did not count. In fact, in my home there was no study with the kids. We got enough study from the meetings. So, I reckon that today, about one half of the studies are with the children, which means the number of studies with others is highly inflated compared to past years.
• 

  blondie

  Yes, larc, at least 50% of the studies "conducted" in my area are with minor unbaptized children. I say conducted because it is that phantom entry again. It is an easy 4 hours, 4 rvs and 1 BS for a parent. If 2 parents, the mother can only count 4 hours. With the national average hovering around 9.3, that means all the parents have to do is get in 5 hours and be looking good. That means the elders with children have an advantage over the childless ones.

  Blondie
• 

  jws

  Guess I'm not questioning the counting of time with inactive ones or kids. The thing here is it seems you can make a return visit, cover a paragraph from your book and read a few scriptures and bang! You can call it a Bible Study.

  Back when I was a JW, a Bible Study was a rare thing. But return visits, reading scriptures and talking about literature was quite common.

  Now it seems like if you play it right, all of your return visits could count as Bible Studies.
• 

  cruzanheart

  I remember in the old days [getting out my knitting while I rock in my rocking chair], you couldn't count a Bible study until you'd been there three times. Anybody else remember that rule?

  Nina (of the Feeling-Like-A-Grandma class)
• 

  RubaDub

  I wonder if you invited the rest of the people in the car up to the door that it could be considered a circuit assembly?

  *****Rub a Dub

  Edited by - RubaDub on 29 January 2003 11:45:38
• 

  blacksheep

  Hah, only a JW could count a discussion of their own self-made books as a "bible study." More like a "JW propaganda-study". Maybe they should make a little slot for *that* on their timesheets.
• 

  NewYork44M

  I remember in the old days [getting out my knitting while I rock in my rocking chair], you couldn't count a Bible study until you'd been there three times.

  Cruzan,

  I am pretty close in age to you and I also remember that rule. I remember, as a kid, my mother would comment about the need to get that third study so she could count it. That rule has not been in effect for at least 25 years, probably a lot longer.