How can elders find someone.. And how long would it take?

Randy notmarsh

Let's throw a hypothetical. Let's say that a body of elders is looking for someone in a different congregation, but don't know what KH he attends, how do they go on about it? How long do you guys think it'll take? And how long do you think they'll take before they throw in the towel?

stillin

If everybody is playing by the rules, it shouldn't take very long. The "new" person in a congregation will be expected to inform the local elders exactly where he came from. They will want to receive a letter from his old congregation. This letter may or may not be informative or damning. It will inform the new elder body as to whether the new brother is usable, or has restrictions, or is a paragon of virtue. Or it may be completely neutral. " Brother Randy was here. We hope he will continue to make progress under Jehovah's direction, blah blah."

If the old body of elders is "looking" for this brother, that is probably not a good sign. Unfinished business can get ugly.

Randy notmarsh

OK.. But I mean like for example let's say that a body of elders df someone for something not too serious but not that minor, the person who got df told on a brother /sister about it, but didn't know what was his or her KH is... How do they look for him? How long would it take? When do they throw in the towel?

careful

All they have to do is pay a fee to (or hack into) an online finding service to get your current home address and info. You would have go live off the grid to make that not possible for them, or anyone else today. They hunted me down after over 10 years of being inactive and I'm sure they must have used that method. For someone who is still active, as your OP indicates, it would be even easier, for they could complement the online service with the local BOE.

Listener

If he's already Dfd, I doubt the Bro. or Sis. would report it to the Elders, besides, they'd probably get into trouble themselves for talking to a Dfd person.

LostGeneration

Way too many variables. How far away is it, to start?

Any local city the elders just lob a few phone calls to the elders they know and sniff around. Generally its an hours work at most in that situation.

Give up would all depend if the elder is a hardass or lazy.

smiddy

Its really not that hard to find anybody you are looking for : telephone books ,Electoral roles ,to name just two in OZ

The law in Australia is that all over the age of 18 are to register to vote even if they choose not to for a variety of reasons , so JW`s do so obeying Rom.13

I have found old associates using the telephone book also .

I dont know what the situation is in other countrys.

schnell

I'll throw in a complication.

What if an elder gets butthurt and destroys the cards of a few young men?

That happened, and it would have been a blessing if my brother weren't so indoctrinated.

dubstepped

It depends on how bad the elders want it. When my brother moved he didn't tell any of us where. He just wanted to go live his life. I wanted to find him myself because he's my brother and I was concerned. I found out the street from friends and knocked doors until I found him. We started hanging out again. Poor guy was in a really weird place mentally and emotionally and I didn't blame him.

Anyway, the elders found out from my dad, a fellow elder, that I knew where he lived. One confronted me in the auditorium of the KH and wanted me to spill the beans. I told him he should leave the 99 and go find his sheep like I did if he truly cared about him, or was this purely a punitive hunt for him? He got enraged and it got loud and another elder stepped in or it may have come to blows.

I believe they ended up finding out where he worked and essentially served him outside when he went to his car with a summons to attend their judicial hearing. So yeah, they have their ways if they're determined. They aren't technically supposed to hunt people down anymore, but I'm sure it still happens. My brother's experience was 16 years or so ago.

blondie

It is not that hard if they have your complete name and your previous address and phone number. It might be hard if your name is John Smith. No fee to pay on WhitePages.com. If you live in the same town/city they can ask around too, family etc. They can check with congregations in the area. It is hard to hide in the same area you were a jw.

How can elders find someone.. And how long would it take?

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