DECEPTIVE JW ELDERS – CASE#2
Appointing Spiritually qualified men to take the lead and serve as Elders and Overseers has been a feature of Watch Tower congregational organization since about 1972. JWs were told in talks at conventions, in literature, and finally in the two versions of the Organization book that the Biblical criteria is used when Elders meet to consider some men for appointment as an Elder. JWs are also told that these qualified men are already appointed first by holy spirit, and then as the congregation is lead by that spirit to recognize them, the Elders meeting is a confirmation of what God has done. Okay, so far – sort of – but that is the gist of the procedure.
The Organization book provides a detailed discussion about what constitutes qualification to be an Elder. It quotes and cites various verses from Titus, Timothy, etc. and relates these to how JW men are functioning in the congregation, and how they meet these qualifications.
Reality of how JW men are appointed to be Elders: Bear in mind that not all Elders in every congregation operate the same way. Some are more conscientious and try to apply the bible standard, but many other do not. I bas the following on my experiences in 9 congregations spread across 3 states, and the comments made by other Elders I have discussed this topic from as many more congregations. The following is, I believe, a fairly representative example of the appointment process:
Elder meeting opens with pray for Jehovah’s direction on our meeting, minds and hearts. The PO chairs the meeting by announcing what we all know, and that is the CO is visiting next week. We usually discussed other business, and then saved the appointment of Elders and MS’s for last. The order is meaningless, except that when saved to last it may not get the time it deserves because everyone wants to get home to watch TV.
During the appointment considerations, Brother Crusty opens by saying that he wants to recommend old Hank. Hank has been in the truth for 40 years, and has served as an MS for 10 years. Hank is always there when you need him. Brother Concerned notes that Hank is a little low in field service hours, and is not a good speaker. Brother Crusty says that we cannot expect perfection. Brother Balanced says that maybe we need to give Hank a little more time, maybe he will be ready by next CO visit in 6 months. Brother Crusty is not happy, but accepts the inevitable. Brother Hank is never told what is lacking in his qualifications.
The PO suggests Timmy as a possible candidate. He gives good talks, has been an MS for 2 years, and was raised in the Truth. Brother Concerned says that Timmy’s hours in service are above average, but he seems a little young yet. We decide that 28 years old is still a little young, so we will discuss him again in 6 months. (as though somehow magical emotional growth will happen for Timmy at age 28 ½ .)
Brother Concerned now recommends Brother Chuck. He says that Chuck is good in Field Service, has several Bible Studies, gives good talks, and everyone seems to think highly of him. Brother Chuck moved here to help us and has much exposure with Circuit and District Conventions. A highly qualified and experienced brother well known by Jehovah's organization. The gatherings at his new home are fun, and he always has lots of good food. He’s real hospitable. (The closest thing to a spiritual qualification mentioned at all – but it really focuses on the fun time and not the genuine hospitality, such as whether Brother Chuck invites the poor and elderly to visit. Actually, Brother Chuck primarily invites the popular ones, and this is not even thought about much less discussed.) The PO concurs.
Brother Secretary is asked to type up the recommendation sheet, noting the date of baptism, whether Brother Chuck is of the Anointed or Other Sheep. Included are Brother Chuck’s Publisher Record Cards along with his wife’s and children to be sure that he is getting them out in Field Service.
Next, the PO says that we have to now market Brother Chuck. We want him to be seen by the CO as having a major role in Congregation activities. The PO says the best politics would mean that we are sure to have brother Chuck assigned to as many activities as possible where the CO will be there. Brother School Overseer says he will reassign the Instruction Talk to Brother Chuck. The PO says he will be sure Brother Chuck is given a major part in the Service Meeting and gets to introduce the CO for his special talk. The Field Service Overseer says that he will talk to Chuck about working in Service with the CO at least one day during his visit. Brother Secretary says he will coordinate the meal assignments and be sure that the Chuck family gets to host the CO for a noon or evening meal. We also discuss how when we are talking with the CO to mention how good and useful Brother Chuck has been.
The CO Visit: Now we finally meet with the CO to discuss congregation business, status of Field Service hours, studies, books, magazines, and Return Visits. We discuss the spiritual health of the congregation by noting how service hour averages are up, inactive and irregulars are down, that meeting attendance is up, and several disfellowshippings have cleaned out the bad spirit that was there 6 months ago.
We then get to appointments of Elders and MS’s. We recommend Brother Chuck. The CO has indeed noted that we are using Brother Chuck, and he and his family are regular in Service. He felt that Brother Chuck did a fine job on that talk last Tuesday. He asks is there are any objections. We all say no and that we agree with the appointment. So the CO signs takes the recommendation and completes the sheet for the Society. He uses all of Brother Secretary’s carefully maintained data. He then writes a glowing paragraph or two about how Brother Chuck meets all the qualifications of a spiritual man and comes highly recommended. Brother CO signs the form and give us a copy for our files.
When the Society gets the form, we are led to believe that they carefully pray over the matters and give all due consideration to Brother Chuck’s qualifications. In the meantime, after the CO visit, Brother Chuck is back to his normal routine and not used any more than he was before the CO visit. We, of course, keep all this ‘confidential’ so that Brother Chuck will not be hurt if the holy spirit directs the Society to not make the appointment.
A few weeks later, Brother Secretary gets an envelop from the Society with the returned form. He notes a special stamp on it which seems to indicate that the Society has reviewed the form. Beside Brother Chuck’s name a box is checked with a green check mark indicating that Brother Chuck is approved to serve as an Elder. Also, beside his name is the position he will be serving in – as a Book Study Conductor.
My thoughts now – 9 years after walking away from the organization and 6 years after my Disassociation: What a farce! Not once did we ever crack open the Bible or even use the Organization book as guidance to carefully a man. All of the criteria used was that he can spin a good talk, he is out selling magazines more than the average Publisher, his family does likewise, and he host fun parties.
Brother too young Timmy (lacking 6 months to mature) and Brother Hank (to old and feeble) are never reviewed for how they help the poor, console the depressed, and faithfully serve when asked. They are never Marketed to the CO or are not savvy enough to play politics and get the needed attention, and go unnoticed.
I have never seen an Elder really stand up and pull for someone against the group mentality of the Elders as a whole. Only on one occasion did I ever see a CO break with the Elders, and that was because at the meeting I pulled out a letter from a previous congregation that highly recommended a brother that moved in to our hall. I earlier recommended in the Elders meeting before the CO visit, but he was shot down because his wife was week in service. I made the end-run to try and get Brother Move-In considered. The CO loved the letter of recommendation, and noted that even though the letter came from 2,000 miles away, he knew one of the Elders there and the CO in that Circuit. But, the Elders recommended that we wait 6 months to give Brother Move-In more time. To CO reluctantly caved in.
Only on a rare occasion have I seen a Society form returned with a red-line though a recommendation, indicating they reject the appointment. This was in a case where the Brother was under 25 years old, or some other minor defect. Never was there any rationale mentioned by the Society at the their reasons based on spiritual qualifications lacking. Age, filed service average, and sometimes an old disfellowshipping record was noted. If we caught this before the CO visit, we could plead the Brother’s case, and the Disfellowshipping would be ignored by the Society resulting in an appointment.
Where is the deception? JWs believe that these appointments are serious considerations of Biblical qualifications and that Jehovah guides and directs the Elders via holy spirit to select such men to serve. The truth is, if you spend lots of time selling magazine (or placing for free now) you get to meeting, give a half-way decent talk, and stay in the Elders faces with nice fun parties ... your chances are much better than if you merely console the depressed, teach the meek, and assist the poor and elderly. That is that sad deception ... and ...
... by the way: Brother Chuck who was appointed – well – he was one of the child molesters who was later removed as an Elder. He had a child molesting record that went back years - as this was determined by talking with Elders from previous congregations. He was never turned over to the authorities. Only when he molested a non-JW child did the law get involved. Yes, real fine job the Elders did in making this recommendation. It is, as always, - Simply Amazing