What was covered up in your congregation?? (page 2)

FragrantAddendum

And the most popular one:
5. Elders being so busy with the congregation and their regular full time job that they are absentee fathers.

...and absentee husbands

Ron.W.

Gosh, we had loads.

Our well thought of watchtower conductor suddenly disappeared from the hall.

I asked a well informed friend where he was. He said rather snottily, "We are wise not to speculate."

I said "Speculate!" "We are supposed to love and be concerned about our brothers. Is he ill, has he emigrated, has he been kidnapped?"

But he stubbornly wouldn't budge.

I found out soon enough it was a cover up.

He was shepherding and shagging a fellow elder's wife.

The P/O Elder who dominated the elder body had sent him off to another hall without any discipline, and a glowing recommendation.

As you can imagine, the spoilt non disciplined former wt conductor soon started shagging the elders wife again and was very grudgingly disfellowshipped by his buddy P/O elder.

I went back to my friend and said, "I know you hate speculation, but I must inform you that our former wt conductor who is missing from our hall just has been disfellowshipped for shagging elder Brian's wife."

He just glared at me and looked mutinous.

That P/O elder handled fornication by three or four other elders in his congregation exactly same way - even threatening witnesses who came forward to report the wrongdoing they saw.

He was eventually removed from his role and he moved out of the country in a great sulk, complaining about how badly the org had treated him.

He covered over three or four elders fornicating and gave them no discipline, and yet was extremely petty and hardline, withholding privileges from many brothers who had done nothing wrong, except not be as educated or as well spoken as he thought they should be.

KerryKing

I just remember the gossip, it was endless, when I was a child it caused my parents, and us kids didn't have a great life during that time either, so much stress and grief. My Dad is and always has been a rule follower, that didn't go down in the elder bodies.

We moved countries and the letter of non recommendation sent about him was so awful that the elders in the new cong laughed and said it told them more about the guys who wrote it than about my Dad. They ignored it.

There was lots of issues with gossiping teenagers, and bullying. The elders kids were the worst of course.

I remember leaving mid meeting one time with my mum because I wasn't feeling well, in the carpark we witnessed an elders wife literally swinging her daughter around by her long hair whilst screaming at her. We were both shaking, my mum reported it to my Dad but I don't know if it went any further.

Mid teens and my best friend confided in me how her single mum 'home schooled' her but actually made her work, cleaning hotel rooms, where she was raped, she was 14 or 15 at the time. The mum ended up being a lesbian and left the org.

She also used to punish my friend by burning her with a hot iron.

Field service car sharing and coffee drinking was so often used for gossip mongering, although one or two (and they're the people I miss now) were great for deep conversations and critical thinking. I wonder how they're doing nowadays, are they even still in the org.

My parents are good people, and I love them very much, but I remember the times where the stress caused by other 'brothers and sisters ' caused them horrendous grief, which did trickle down to us. I was the more rebellious child, I was home schooled and enjoyed a lot of freedom so I never became as indoctrinated by the school system either. I did pioneer eventually, but never reached the yearly hour requirements 😂.

Pioneers are not very happy people, constantly stressed, they don't sleep well generally or get enough down time. It's secular work, house work, family responsibilities, meeting prep (there's an unspoken rule I think that they're expected to be uber prepared for all meetings), service hours and they're expected to be the encouraging ones for the elderly and spiritually 'weak' ones. Far more so than ms and elders. And yet, especially the single sis pioneers, are expected to do all the above, and clean the hall/clean toilets at assemblies etc.

In the org it's 65% women. What would happen if they all woke up 😍

peacefulpete

I feel no desire to air all the things I've seen between adults but, like KerryKing, I saw too much child abuse being dismissed as 'strict' parenting.

Biahi

CSA got covered up in my congregation. Also, part of that scandal included an elder, with 2 teenagers, was seen in a ‘ritual’ in somebody’s basement, sacrificing chickens and scaring preschoolers with this crap. The sister did home day care, only for other witnesses. It was her basement.

pale.emperor

Kirkby congregation, UK:

Elder physically abusing his wife for years. He's an alcoholic. Has a new shower installed, balks at the electrician's price quote so decides to do it himself. His adult daughter ends up getting electrocuted in the shower due to his neglegence. His wife leaves him. The police investigate, he claims an electrician in the congregation who had since died did the work. His wife exposes him - she's regarded as an apostate so no one listens to her.

Years later he had the gall to get up on the platform in the convention giving a tale of woe, claiming his wife left him because he chose the org over his own wife.

He got an applause.

[To any JWs in Liverpool, UK (and particularly Kirkby congregation), even if you dont believe the story - you know who I'm talking about... which in itself speaks volumes].

Rivergang

Both child molestation, and abuse of the sherry bottle by prominent persons in the congregation. (Actually it wasn’t the sherry “bottle” - more like half gallon jars of the stuff which this certain elder used to demolish in a single sitting. The problem only intensified after the disappointment of 1975).

karter

Rivergang, The half gallon flagon of sherry or port , We had 5 Elders that would buy them and go to a bros farm and go down by the river and drink themselves stupid while us kids swim in the creek, Those were the days you couldnt see alcohol on a sunday but the Croation guy that owned the vineyard didnt mind if you turned up with cash on a sunday.

Karter.

Vidiot

I didn’t see a lot of the kind of experiences described here. Maybe it’s ‘cause I was young and my parents were able to shield me somewhat.

I don’t doubt them, though…

…and I think a big reason for it is the Org’s hardline stances increasingly alienate the majority of decent, conscientious folks, to the point where only the assholes were left with any authority.

Then it’s too late.

Scully

We had a few pedophiles (male and female) in the congregation where I grew up. One was Disfellowshipped™ and Reinstated™ *twice*, and later targeted me, at the Book Study™ that was held in *my own home*. Another was a Sister™ who liked grabbing little boys' bottoms and squealed with delight in so doing. The third was an Elder™ (50+ yrs old) who got away with crap like sitting with an older teenaged unbaptized girl in the back seat of a car doing Return Visits™, explaining to her how to put a condom on a man while the other half of the Car Group™ were at the RV, and also corralling her into her bedroom after the Book Study™ at her home and trying to French kiss her. She was intimidated because #1, he was an Elder™ and thought nobody would believe her, and #2 because he had gotten away with it before.

Also my own dad bent over backwards to help anyone in the congregation, and gave them his full attention, and we got the cranky leftovers.

What was covered up in your congregation??

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