Phizzy - "Where is the Holy Spirit when you need it?...
...the old Cognitive Dissonance must be reaching screaming level in their heads."
Clearly, cognitive dissonance is caused by a lack of Holy Spirit. 
Reaction to GDPR / field service letter
by sir82 62 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Vidiot
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slimboyfat
I can think of a way they could turn this around to their advantage.
The fact is that door to door preaching was never very effective anyway. Many converts have tended to come into the religion through extended family, friends, schoolmates, coworkers, and neighbours, rather than door to door work. This is true not only of JWs but for many conversionist religious groups. Informal networks have always produced more converts than formal preaching.
So Watchtower could lay a heavy stress on JWs trying to convert family, friends and acquaintances. They could say the new emphasis has been forced by Caesar’s law and they are obediently changing their method but not decreasing their zeal! They could emphasise inviting people to the meetings to see what it is like for themselves. Don’t just invite people but offer to pick them up and physically bring them along.
If this was part of a deliberate strategy then they could also consider improving the quality and enjoyability of their meetings, especially on the bring a friend day. Maybe even designate the first Sunday of the month “bring a friend” day. Include a practical talk on an interesting topic, allow discussion, and offer food after the meeting.
What door to door ministry remains could have a heavy focus on inviting people to the meetings on the first call, making definite plans, and again offering to pick them up and bring them to the KH.
Of course JWs face the problem that they are not supposed to keep close friendships outside the religion, but it’s a fine line that I am sure Watchtower could navigate to their advantage, if they wished.
This suggestion might not produce the heady growth they once enjoyed, such as the early 70s. It is likely nothing could produce such growth again, because society has changed. But this approach might just about ensure rising numbers rather than decline, if implemented effectively.
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no-zombie
One of the things that really upsets me about the Organization is that, everything they do for a person comes at price. And this spirit filters down to the attitudes of the rank and file. For example, how many of us have turned up to congregational picnic (now technically banned) and have it turned into mini-meeting with a formal intro and pray ... in which, worldly spouses and siblings may or may not be invited.
Or having a simple morning tea ... only after a mornings field service.
Others have made comment about the so-called disaster relief the Society does. Once again, primarily focused on rebuilding the damaged Kingdom halls and then perhaps a brother's property or two.
So if the Governing Body want the publishers to re-engage with so-called worldly people, they has to get out of the 1920's, 'Praise Jesus before you get your soup' mentality and start teaching the congregations how to be genuinely humanistic toward family and friends, because people can see a con miles away and often quote Admiral Ackbar's catch cry.
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sir82
First: I believe it won't reduce the field service but instead it will increase it.
I strongly disagree.
The GDPR affects, what? 10% of the worldwide JW population? 15% tops?
If "stop taking notes" was such a brilliant idea, if it would "increase" time spent in the ministry, why not implement "stop taking notes" everywhere? Why not implement it for all 8 million JWs in the Americas, Asia, Africa, etc.?
Nope - this is crippling to door to door work in general, and absolutely lethal to foreign-language congregations in Europe. Door to door work has always been a waste of time - now it is obviously so even to the most brain-dead loyal JWs.
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Edison Trent
The GDPR affects, what? 10% of the worldwide JW population? 15% tops?
Correct, so that's about 1.5 millions JW.
And if we look what may come in the U.S., soon it will affect around 30% of all JW and especially WHQ: https://www.zdnet.com/article/gdpr-usa-microsoft-says-us-should-match-the-eus-digital-privacy-law/
To order JWs to stop taking notes is a radical step and without a very good reason, it would make lots of JW upset. But this way, when you are forced to change this fundamental things by law, JW will adapt and G.B. can turn it to their advantage.
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sir82
Interesting article.
So it seems likely that sooner than later, pretty much all the world will have some type of GDPR-like law.
So, the door to door work really is on life support after all - not just in Europe, but pretty much everywhere. If you can't record NHs, can't record RVs, you can't do JW-style door to door work.It may exist in some form in the future, but it will be nothing like it currently is.
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inbetween09
surley they will encourage fast return visits ( so the pub wont forget the name and adress, as well as topic of discussion) as seen in this weeks video of the life and ministry part..
But reality, especially in foreign language groups, where people work often unreglar due to their job situation, its increasingly hard to meet them after a short time again.
Sometimes you may try for weeks, in the meantime you forwarded your territory to someone else, who in turn might meet the person, but starts from zero again...
all in all not a pleasant situation, but hey, dont worry, Jehovah will surely fix it
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Room 215
"If this was part of a deliberate strategy then they could also consider improving the quality and enjoyability of their meetings, especially on the bring a friend day."
... except they they're so myopic they fail to see any need for improving them.
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sir82
LOLz - here is another JW take on this:
Check out some of these quotes:
We have some people who become obsessed over records
Most of the suggested field service presentations I don’t like....
many, when implemented by anyone less than an expert, come off as passive-aggressive
We spoon-feed people too much
I wonder if he had the identical viewpoint 5 minutes before the GDPR letter was read?
Expect lots more hand-wringing and tortured attempts at "reasoning" by JWs to get over the fact that (1) the WTS caved in immediately and threw the door to door work under the bus at the first whiff of financial "danger" to themselves and (2) what fragment of the the door to door work that remains is even more useless and wasteful than it was previously.
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Phizzy
I can see them doing what Slimboy says above, but, the Meetings would have normal people slitting their wrists through boredom.
And I bet they never encourage what my local Methodist Church does, simply hold a " Coffee Morning", no Service or Hymn singing, just "come along and enjoy fellowship".
The JW Org is, hopefully, spiraling down fast.