Elder at 21? What a clusterf^ck that's gonna become!
2025**01**15**Ages For Ministerial Servants and Elders!
by Atlantis 39 Replies latest jw friends
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WingCommander
Ya know......WatchTower has become so much like Mormons over the years, that I wonder if they instituted a 2-4 year ministry program like the Mormons, if that would keep the youth out of college while encouraging more reaching out, etc?
Lett's look at what WatchTower has already adopted from the Mormons over the years, shall we?
1. Body of 12 Apostles: AKA, "The Governing Body" in JW-Land
2. Dressing like 1950's vacuum or encyclopedia salesman. Now, somewhat eliminated. Adopted more casual stance, JUST like the Mormons already did a few years back!
3. Allowing beards. Again, Mormons relaxed this.
4. Family Worship Night: Stolen directly from the Mormons.
5. Website. Mormons did it first.
6. Caleb & Sophia cartoon series. Mormons did it first.
7. Real Estate holdings/investments. Mormons (and Scientology) beat them to it, but they're catching on fast!
8. Multimedia bullshit. Scientology was King of this for a good long while, but Mormons and JW's are fast catching on.
9. Investment portfolio's in offshore holdings. (Ireland) Mormons are already the richest religion (CULT) in the world. WT HQ has decided they need to cash in on that pie!
So as we can see, WT has never really had an original idea all of their own, they just look around and see what works and adopt it. Even doctrine. CT Russell didn't come up with a damn original thought of his own - NOTHING! He borrowed from the Adventist Movement, the Freemasons, the Quakers, the Christadelphians, and various occult quackery that was going on all around Pennsylvania at the time. Yes, even the pyramidology and numerology was "borrowed" from other people and sources. He threw in all the ingredients he liked into the pot like soup, and wha-laa! The Bible Students were born. Bum Rutherford mixed up the ingredients and changed the name, but it's still the same basic bullshit, but with a slightly different taste.
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Beth Sarim
8. Multimedia stuff.
You know something. As you drive by Latter Day Saints temples more & more of them seem to have huge satellite dishes erected on their property
You think in the backk of your mind ""what does a church need with satellite dishes".
The way the Borganization has gone in the last 10 years,,,, its understandable. Broadcasting.....what not....
With Ramapo they can become a 24 hr TV evangelist. They need IT people all the time....
The printing era....gone...
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StephaneLaliberte
I know of at least three brothers who do not want to become elders, not due to a lack of capacity or availability, but due to a lack of agreement with the teachings. The problem with JWs is that you are not allowed to disagree with teachings that aren't even central to to the religion. In the meantime, the religious leaders prefer to look down on thousands of brothers which they see as "incapable" rather than seeing things for that they are: These brothers are silently protesting! And what we see today, is that, rather than address the real issue, they turn to younger, more manipulable ones so that they can parrot whatever they want them to.
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Journeyman
I know of at least three brothers who do not want to become elders, not due to a lack of capacity or availability, but due to a lack of agreement with the teachings.
True, and not only that, but also all the additional stuff which brothers are increasingly seeing as internal "admin" or "politics", not necessary spiritual activity. I'm thinking of all the jostling for position between elders, ministerial servants and pioneers; the constant obsession with doing more... more... more... and giving more materially; the other obsession with avoiding anything that looks even slightly of seeking material comfort or stability (better job, promotion, higher education or training) or of allowing personal time for yourself and your family - not to mention all the admin work demanded by the Org for elders to do regarding talks, accounts, congregational reports and activities, cleaning, maintenance, etc.
Few of these things are truly rooted in the Scriptures or essential for a Christian congregation to exist, and so many brothers are understandably seeing them as unnecessarily burdensome and are choosing to opt out.
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Beth Sarim
The eisegesius.
It was pointed out by intelligent youtubers that the Borg can make its believers believe something,,,,,, that is NOT even in scripture.
Things like birthdays,,,Xmas,,, mothers day,,, father's day.....
Perhaps thats why we have many brothers " in disagreement with the teachings".
Its called instinct. And doubts. Or otherwise critical thinking skills opening up perhaps.....
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hoser
I won’t be a ministerial servant or an elder because I don’t like being treated like a piece of shit.
I prefer not to be talked to in a condescending, demeaning manner
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FedUpJW
@ hoser
I wish I could smash the thumb up a thousand times for our comment.
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Balaamsass2
A 21 year old "Elder"...just the person to trust with important life issues.
Most medical journals agree that males don't fully develop their frontal lobe until the age of 25...and some not until 30 years of age. Most insurance company stats back this up noting that risky driving habits wane after the 24th birthday...and their rates usually reflect this. Under 25, young males are easier to manipulate...therefore easy targets for cults, cons, and the military to mold. ( It's easy to see Watchtower's angle here).Quote: "It doesn’t matter how smart teens are or how well they scored on the SAT or ACT. Good judgment isn’t something they can excel in, at least not yet.
The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until age 25 or so.
"In fact, recent research has found that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s rational part. This is the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment and an awareness of long-term consequences. Teens process information with the amygdala. This is the emotional part.
In teens' brains, the connections between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making center are still developing—and not always at the same rate. That’s why when teens have overwhelming emotional input, they can’t explain later what they were thinking. They weren’t thinking as much as they were feeling." end quote. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content?ContentID=3051&ContentTypeID=1
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ukpimo
Here in Britain, we have received our announcement through the elder bodies.
Announcement
January 15, 2025
FOR CONGREGATIONS
1. Minimum Age for Appointment of Ministerial Servants and Elders: Effective immediately, a baptized brother must be at least 18 years of age to be appointed as a ministerial servant. A baptized brother must be at least 21 years of age to be appointed as an elder. If a brother is already serving as a ministerial servant or as an elder but is younger than the minimum age, he can continue to serve.