It's quite ironic having this thread and the one about the latest edition of the Pioneer School manual around at the same time.
The contrast between the oft-stated PS theme scripture “Fully accomplish your ministry” (2 Tim 4:5) and the increasingly dumbed-down introduction ideas at the midweek meeting couldn't be more stark!
And given how often the org used to use the example of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 on how to informally witness, that also makes this current trend for "just making conversation" look silly. Can you imagine Jesus, after saying "Give me a drink", just saying something like "Thanks. Have a nice day!" and walking off, reasoning "Well, I'll just make a friend of her first, maybe I'll mention something spiritual the third or fourth time I see her." Crazy. Defeats the whole point of the supposed purpose and urgency of the Christian ministry.
Life-saving work? Talk illustrations comparing the ministry to warning neighbours about an impending earthquake or tornado and helping them to evacuate a danger zone? Nope - not any more! And yet the end is supposed to be that much closer now. We're allegedly in "the final part of the final part of the last days, shortly before the last day of the last days", so we were told. Doesn't that make the warning work more urgent? There's not even any pretence at logic to any of this anymore.