2025-01-15-Ages for Ministerial Servants and Elders.
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2025**01**15**Ages For Ministerial Servants and Elders!
by Atlantis 22 Replies latest jw friends
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Beth Sarim
Thanks Petra !!
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blondie
Thanks, Petra. Think of you everyday, and Atlantis.
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Ron.W.
đź‘Ťđź‘Ťđź‘Ť
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Anony Mous
Get em young. I don’t know any “mature” 18 year old, and I work with hundreds of them. Hell, 21 year old and I don’t know if I would’ve considered myself elder material.
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Atlantis
Love you all!
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Journeyman
Eighteen for a Min Serv could be ok I suppose, depending on the individual, since they're really just congregational dogsbodies, assigned to administrative tasks and giving the odd platform item (which is not expected to be "teaching"). Elders are expected to keep an eye on them and "direct" them anyway (although I have seen congregations where they're often just left to themselves with little guidance).
But 21 for an elder - a role that is supposed to be about teaching, reproving, correcting and shepherding all in the flock - is crazy, for reasons that have been well discussed in many other threads.
How any CO or body of elders can really think a brother in a congregation who might be 21 or 22 is ready for that role amazes me. I wonder what the statistics are on how many congregations actually DO appoint men so young? We've had a few reports on here of some, but I would not be surprised if most congregations and COs will be hesitant to do so, even if only for selfish reasons (not wanting to see their choices go wrong if the young man burns out fast, and they get criticised, for example).
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careful
They are so hard up for brothers that this should come as no surprise. It follows "logically" on baptism at 8 years old, right?
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FFGhost
This is a thoroughly weird announcement.
i think the clue for its reason is in the last part, if someone is under those ages but already appointed, they can continue in their role.
My take:
I think with all the recent emphasis on involving young brothers, even unbaptized ones, in congregation activity, and the recent WT article on how a CO could be appointed “even in his mid 20s”…..I think some / many / a lot of congregations went completely overboard and started appointing 14 year old MS and 17 year old elders.
Someone “at the top” with a few remaining firing synapses realized how ridiculous it was to have teenagers giving marital counsel or child-rearing counsel or whatnot to people old enough to be their parents, or even grandparents. So they finally realized, after literally 5,6, 7 decades of repeatedly stating “the scriptures do not set a minimum age”, they decided they had to “go beyond the things written” and….set a minimum age.
That’s the only thing I can think of to prompt this abrupt and clumsily worded pronouncement.
It also occurred to me there might be some legal considerations as the reason for it, but if that were so it seems they wouldn’t allow those child MS and child elders to continue if already appointed.
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ukpimo
Good. As a former elder, I think this is a beautiful slap in the face for the self righteous and pompous twats I used to serve alongside who loved to put lots of good men off being appointed for many years. Now they are gradually being forced to comply. I wonder how many elder bodies will initially resist this change until the Governing Body takes the appointment process power completely away from them and place it solely on the circuit overseer? That's my speculation as to the next organizational change to force more jws to OBEY at all costs.
Edit - Some ridiculous reasons the body I served with put men off being either ms or elder: ties were too colourful, the wife (attractive woman) was "overly modest" (in other words, we want to see her curves to see her as a woman and mother), only been married for 2 years (a big wtf moment for me). Another man was put off for appointment simply because he kept telling us he was doing everything he could for the congregation and was begging to know why he wasn't being appointed as an elder (it was sad, there was nothing spiritully wrong with the man, some others on the body just didn't like his personality and used everything and anything against him behind his back).
Another man was put off for appointment as a ms because he used golfing as a hobby (can't let him avoid putting the Kingdom first), then when he changed his lifestyle and started going to the gym, the Body authorised me and another elders to counsel him as "bodily training is only beneficial for a little" LOL.
I have more which I will eventually share.