They made a mistake when they lumped the book study to the service meeting. It must have been a burden to prepare for three segments in one meeting. I think they're just streamlining the meeting as well as making it shorter.
Any thoughts on the real reasons for droppng the 'school"
by sparrowdown 71 Replies latest jw friends
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prologos
Village Idiot
They made a mistake when they lumped the book study . true---, it eliminated the one person to person commenting opportunity, and substituted instead the same blabberers to monopolize the microphones and made the whole meeting feel like a slaughterhouse assembly line. and
now they plan to take even more personal initiative out of the mix,
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Simon
Why drop the school?
Very few people enjoyed it and it was of zero value preparing people to preach.
We should be disappointed if they are dropping it. It's probably something that helped put many off going to meetings.
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watson
It hasn't been anywhere near a school in years. -
steve2
The mid-week meeting has been problematic for years. Quite apart from poor attendance, in smaller congregations there was much pressure on individual brothers and sisters to prepare talks and presentations. Thst was/is burdensome. Small wonder there were often instsnces of no shows.
Now, congregations will get a complete break once a month as meetings will thrn draw heavily upon officially prepared videos.
My prediction: Congregations will look forward to the slick videos from jw.org broadcasting as they will undoubtedly be livelier than local "productions" which were often lame to the point of utter tedium. And best of all: No preparation will be needed!
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konceptual99
I echo all the comments in noshows, reliance on men, burden of preparation. They are are making the pill easier to swallow and, most concerning, more appealing to kids and parents through videos and a workbook. My worry is this will make the meeting seem more interesting for kids and get them hooked earlier. -
LongHairGal
I don't blame people for hating the Theocratic School. I could never stand it because I hated having to get together with "sisters" (I hate that word). I hated the stupid skits.
I also was angry at the idea (in somebody's mind) that people had nothing better to do than read the bible and the religion's literature. What about people who work full-time? Also, it was a major production to get together with a "sister" to prepare the talk. I just felt it showed how out-of-touch the religion is with how people live in the real world!
I will admit, however, that the school was good for teaching public speaking and you would tend to remember any bible story you worked on. So, in this regard, it is somewhat of a shame.
I think maybe they are giving up on the school possibly because there are fewer people who want to put themselves through this.
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Lieu
Cost cutting. One less meeting = less electricity consumption. Whenever the WTBTS cuts something, it's about money not people. -
Tornintwo
I alsways thought the school was the 'weirdest' part of the meeting, when I first went I was like 'what on earth!'. Disjointed talks from odd people who are then given very patronizing 'counsel' publicly by another odd person. All very weird and cultish to an outsider.
Some very impractical ridiculous talks as well, especially the sister talks on bible characters, I always tried not to laugh when I had to do a talk saying something like 'oh, sister, your situation reminds me so much of Hezekiah, let's look at the account together because I'm sure his (ancient biblical) life could really help you with your (21st century) problems!" NOT hahahahaha
i really think they've got some new marketing and financial people in to try to reverse the decline and make meetings more enjoyable.
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Syme
I see it as part of a general dumbing-down scheme. Drop the quality so much, that only non-thinking puppets in a vegetable state, completely stripped off of all their mental capabilities, remain there. It reminds me of the scene in Matrix, with the vast 'crops' of human 'batteries'.
Keep them in a vegetable state, extract their money. Simple as that.
For how long? Maybe for longer than we'd wish. Religions and cults are stronger than a rational man would wish, anyway. Maybe we should focus on enjoying our (not eternal) lives instead of waiting for something that will probably not come during our lifetimes (i.e. the "End" of the WTS)