by Tenacious 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I'm trying to remember if these parties were a direct instruction from HQ or if this was something on a local level.
I remember I attended at least 2 of these parties and we also would bring them gifts. I saw them no different than a bday party (elevating someone to idolatry level).
If anyone else remembers these parties please let me know. If there's a letter out there somewhere from HQ that would be even better. Thanks!!!
There were sporadiic reminders about offering the pioneers help but I never saw a gift-giving party.
The elders would but just for pioneers (and their spouses) and the elders and their spouses. No one else invited. I was married to an elder otherwise I would not have been invited. Like the inner sanctum. No gifts but a turkey dinner and all the fixings; usually the annual meeting of the elders with the regular pioneers to encourage them. Usually around Thanksgiving or Christmas because everyone had the day off.
Yes, our congregation had a party just for pioneers, with gifts etc. Pretty sure it only happened once though.
You had parties for pioneers?! I pioneered for ten years and never saw one. From what posters on here say some pioneers were horrible, expecting handouts, acting superior.
Pioneering seems to have a bad reputation generally on this forum. To me it just meant a lot of hard work door knocking and being very poor. Parties especially for us, in your dreams!
Yes they have parties for pioneers. it's a big bash. The cream of the crop gets invited--all the elders and their wives and of course the pioneers.
Same here, as Xanthippe, I never saw one either.
We did. It it a yearly thing in our case. All publishers were invited, otherwise there would be no money to do it. Gifts were encouraged
There was no official rule for not doing this. In this case, the individual BOE makes the call. I found that out when one congregation allowed sisters to have more than one piercing in each earlobe. I depended on what the BOE in their congregation decided. That went all the way up to the service desk to stop the fighting.
TENACIOUS:
Yes, they did. My landlord even had the nerve to ask me for a donation for such a thing back in the days when I was in...I resented this, since I was criticized for working full time. He was one of the ones who might have imagined I “owed” somebody something because I worked. This would certainly never happen again!
XANTHIPPE:
Unfortunately, there were a few pioneers that had an attitude of entitlement..There may have also been a humble one here and there. I was friendly with an older lady in my first congregation who pointed out a certain older pioneer who as she said “didn’t lord it over anybody”. I guess it depended on your body of elders whether or not there were these types of gatherings.
