Gramps must've had some serious money to be allowed to have all of THAT in a Kingdumb Hell!!!
Consider yourself LUCKY AS HELL!
Sorry for your loss.
I attended my JWs Grandfathers funeral
by joe134cd 16 Replies latest jw experiences
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WingCommander
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StephaneLaliberte
joe134cd: I am glad you could attend such a funeral. While this is certainly not the experience shared by the majority, I can only rejoice for you and your family in that everything went well and that you could find comfort.
It doesn't happen often, but when JWs do things right, we can certainly appreciate the moment without going out of our ways to find what was or could have been wrong.
While this was certainly a sad event, it is now, odly a good memory during which things went well. We can all rejoice in that.
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StephaneLaliberte
Is this change going on world wide or was this just a one off example.
It largely depends on the congregation. Most will follow the funeral guidline which invites the brothers to limit the personal experience and focus on the spiritual aspect of things. I'd say that in average, I have seen about 20% personal, 80% religious preaching.
There has also been two instances at which a member of the family steped up on the platform, without being invited, and started to talk about their father/mother. This shows that some family members were shocked by the lack of personal content and decided to take the matter in their own hands.
As for me, should I need to prepare my parents funeral, I will make sure to host a small catering event where friends and family will be invited to talk about them. I will not rely on the JW talk.
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redvip2000
I can see that happening at a rented facility, but when it comes to a 'memorial' at the Hall...
Yeah i suspect that most of the niceties seen at the reception were part of the package suggested by the mortuary. These days they offer packages such as day with TV screens, memoirs, picture boards, etc.
If the Org had their way, it would be a bland service with a speech to promote the Watchtower.
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Theonlyoneleft
Is nice to hear( under the circumstances) that your grandfathers funeral was all about him and not the heavy watchtower lectures.
im sorry for your loss. Jws funerals are usually so clinical that most just “cruise” through it.
i know of a sister that died, but had planned her whole service, to detail of the songs she wanted, the orator etc.
i was told such a lovely service, so personal and so different.
i just thought... most normal funerals are like that...jws don’t know the difference because they are used to only it one way only, and they don’t attend others funerals either.
Where I live on the uk, it’s normal to have a wake after burial. But in my country of birth no. (Unless that has changed recently).
When I explained once what was it like to my jws family, some were shocked, how terrible to go eat and drink after burying your loved one. But that’s not what’s like, it’s a chance to commemorate the life of the person that has passed, it’s a loving way to show support to the family too.
conclusion: witnesses need to learn more from the worldly people and better their way of performing funerals.
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sir82
I've noticed a trend of JW funerals "loosening up" a bit, allowing the service to be more personal, less JW sermonizing.
A lot depends on how popular / prominent the deceased was. Your "average rank & file" JW funeral will probably follow the JW-approved script/sermon pretty closely, while a very popular, well-connected, and/or wealthy JW's funeral will most likely be quite different.
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iwantoutnow
The outline has changed to allow for more "eulogizing", but most Elders won't even know how to do that.
Its all about the elder body.