The official term was “Congregation Servant”, although they were commonly referred to as “Overseers”. Whatever, they were the congregation’s “Big Ratu” when it came to most things. The more honest amongst them had to admit that after the elder arrangement came in, they had to “adjust their attitude”. Others had issues. In at least one congregation that I recall, the former Congregation Servant attempted to maintain the status quo by not recommending anybody else as an elder. He got away with that for quite a number of years, before he himself was dumped as an elder.
Elder Arrangement
by vienne 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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waton
To appreciate the impact of a system where each year, personnel is moved through positions regardless of wishes or special aptitudes, consider
the congregation described in post #5. In 1974, the position of " congregation servant " was held by a highly qualified, capable and kind brother that was the operating officer of a company that was tops in its field, serving the state/ federal government contracts. Truly a natural administrator. As the merry go round rotated, he had to vacate his pivotal "theocratic" position to a man , with a loose tongue, who's best skill was with a skilsaw, -really a man working for the country's elite too. but you get it, the contrast could not be greater.
It was a good thing that the congregation paper works could run on autopilot while that arrangement lasted. Nevertheless, A new leadership style was tried, and liked by the members. (It was 1975 after all, ha ha.) --again--. But this went on every year, --for every position/function in the congregation. Great things were actually happening. so, normally
The cream or scum can rise to the top, and stay there, naturally. Rotation minimized the damage, but the good done too.
A boon for true Christianity, ( it was based on the chairman roles in the Jerusalem congregation's special meetings),- a disaster for a the ingrained super ego types***, the "system".
*** they had to watch the congregation bloom during their demotion year.
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stan livedeath
when the new elder "arrangement" was in its gestation period--i made an appointment to see the cong servant ( ex branch servant apparently )--it was a sunday morning--i was down to do the public talk that afternoon. I couldnt make head nor tale of the script. I told him i had decided to step back from all involvement--i really wasnt interested in it anymore. He told me he had me down to be one of the elders ! Spirit appointed--?
a while later--next year i think--i was invited to attend what transpired was a committee meeting--held at the hall. There were some laughable trumped up charges levelled against me--which proved unfounded--and the same cong servant ( elder now?) thanked me for coming--and said there were no further charges to answer. I then thanked him--and said from now on i was no longer brother s***** but to call me Mr--or my first name. I no longer wanted anything more to do with the cult. End of.
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Balaamsass2
Before the big change and for a year after, everyone seemed happy. On the second round of "appointments", a number of brand new converts, illiterate men, and socially inept people were "appointed". The second round of appointees had never read the bible even once and had never supervised anyone or anything in their lives. It created a lot of drama and divisions and seemed a disaster. It began to help me see the entire process had nothing to do with Christianity, the bible, or logic.
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JW GoneBad
Balaamsass2: "...The second round of appointees had never read the bible even once..."
I would say there are a ton/high percentile of JW elders today who to this day have not read the Bible from cover to cover.
I remember a C O. visit where he asked our Servant Body how many among us had read the entire Bible. Of the 15 or so among us only a few raised their hands. The C.O. stated he was asking all congregation Servants in his circuit the same question and related he was getting the same negative results from the other Servant Bodies.
The C.O. went on to admit that when he had first applied to serve as a C.O. one of the questions asked of the applicant was if he had read the entire Bible. He hadn't at the time. So he sets out for the next two months or so to concentrate on reading the Bible. The sole purpose for his reading the Bible was so that he himself could ✔️ (check) that question as yes!
Any wonder why the WTBTS has a bunch of 🤡 clowns serving as elders throughout the borg! :) :) :)
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dropoffyourkeylee
I remember some Bethelites in the ‘70s twlling me that they were required to read the Bible through during their first year at Bethel
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dropoffyourkeylee
I am quite certain my father, who was a elder from the ‘70’s until he wasn’t able to communicate any longer (about 2012) never read the Bible through. I don’t remember him reading any book cover to cover, though he was quite intelligent and had high technical proficiency in his field. He just wasn’t a reader.
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Lost in the fog
I remember that when the rotational elder arrangement came in in the early 70s it caused a lot of frustration for some very organised brothers.
You're the Secretary, as a highly organised person you create a perfect filing system for the congregation paperwork. But, at the end of the year you have to hand it over to a brother who works as a car mechanic, he in turn hands it on next year to a window cleaner, who hands it on to a pig farmer, who hands it back to the highly organised brother. He opens the file, and everything is muddled up, utility bills mixed in with letters or committee meeting minutes. Dirty greasy fingerprints on publishers record cards making some them illegible. It takes him 12 months to get his filing back to perfection. At the end of the year he doesn't want to hand it on, and is verbally critical of the others who can't see what the fuss is about! Nervous breakdown pending.
A circuit overseer I knew well (no longer with us) told me that it was one of the reasons why the WT stopped revolving the Presiding Overseer, the Secretary, and the Field Service Overseer. He said he knew of congregations where the super efficient brother literally came to fisticuffs with others on the body or a shouting match where non-Christian language was used to describe other elders resulting in the CO having to get involved and delete some of them as elders.
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Phizzy
Where was the Holy Spirit in all this ? absent on leave ? Evidently the H.S is even further away from the Org. these days.
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road to nowhere
In fairness to SOME of the congregstion servants before the titles, I knew some who were kind, competent, reasonable, and really cared. Maybe they chose a different paint color, fabric for seats or such but they took a lead even if it turned out to be down a wrong path. There were also a few overbearing jerks too, but they were the first in line for the titles.