I don't really know. I remember, as a good dub kid, talking with my friend during one co's visit and we were wondering why everybody got extra-dressed up during the co's visit. We were quickly put down, told that they respect the co and show how much they value him by dressing up more than usual. I never saw "paper handshakes," but then I was in a poor congregation. I was never close to a co, and it would make me sad that they didn't care about me but seemed to care so much and be so close to others. I know I was always surprised by how much the average co has traveled - I heard of two weeks in France, a month in Hawaii, that sort of thing, all paid for. But you know, not having your own home would really suck. All that traveling, and people who "suck up" aren't true friends you can just hang and vent with. It's not a life I would ever want.
Do Circuit Overseers Give Up Their Lives For Jehovah?
by minimus 58 Replies latest jw friends
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Panda
CO's? Well when we were pioneers we were friends with CO's and had a few assembly parts. I remember Hugh Coller (their son Presley was at Bethel and the WTS made him leave when he got sick). We were friends with Jamie and Susan Herd who eventually went to Bethel, she got a brain tumor and they were asked to leave, oh but they were never CO's just reg Pio forever . Oh but Lyman Pinard and his wife were Co's, I remember it was a time we had some $$$ so I bought her clothes. Oh aand a youngish couple were our co's in Bulverde Tx and they got sent to (I think west Texas) where they had an apartmentand everything bought for them, furniture dishes , I mean stuff the rf's could never have. They also spent a weekend in Paris, I'll never forget the postcard fromthem and I thought "shit" I've never been to Paris. She can buy her own makeup from now on. It was quite awhile before I realized the money gifts from everyone. And it's the congregations that pay for the cars because the cars stayed in the circuit. I've also heard of CO's who stayed in the work long past retirement because they had no income and no SS because they hadn't "worked."
I think that the DO's got more ganxie because they were the most sought after for dinner during assemblies, they would every once in awhile spill some secret beans from mother. They also got the European and Hawaiian vacations.
And I can't rememebr the name of another CO and his wife in SanAntonio who left the borg, I don't know what happened to them?
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yesidid
Minimus,
That heading is unworthy of you.
It was an obvious rabble rousing ploy, and it worked.
From some it elicited the usual response “down with the stupid, rich, pampered CO’s”.
I was delighted to see that some of the thinking ones among us replied in a more reasoned manner.
Of course some of the CO’s would take advantage of their situation. Some are arrogant. Some may give assembly parts to those who help them financially. Some may take overseas vacations; a few may have things not available to the r/f.
But………………………………I KNOW for a certainty that many CO’s and DO’s and their wives do “Give Up Their Lives For Jehovah.”
I also know that it is usually a very, very hard life.
What a strange thing to even suggest that CO’s are better off financially than those in the work force. If you can keep up the schedule of a CO you can hold down a very taxing job, and get a lot, lot more money.
The very least you should have done was put it this way:
Do All Circuit Overseers…………….
I thought we all agreed that generalizations were stupid.
While it is true that some now i n Brooklyn are not doing it “for Jehovah” I think there would be a lot of ex-Bethelites on this board including Steve and Craig, who would be very offended if you suggested that they were in it for the perks, or for the WTS corporation. They sincerely believed they were doing it for their God
As I said bef ore: Unworthy of you Minimus.
What Swan said was closest to the mark .
“On their retirement travels my Mom and Dad ran into an old CO and his wife in . He was no longer in the circuit work due to advanced years and poor health. They basically had no money, savings, or retirement and parked their trailer on some sisters land. They were a bit bitter, which surprised Mom (that's a good thing).”
CO's and DO's are just like anyone else in cult where they use up people who let themselves be used because they fall for the lies, and then are tossed away like Kleenex”.
yesidid
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Prisca
Well, this thread has been quite an eye-opener.
None of the COs that I knew were particularly wealthy. I never saw any of them receiving cash gifts, but then I don't think it would be any different from Christendom's leaders receiving personal gifts for the work they do.
Being a CO in the JW world is looked up to being a spiritual giant. It was something that some pioneers/Bethelites aspired to. Their lifestyle is like one of a travelling salesman, although instead of being accomodated in hotels the CO and his wife have a caravan or stay with other bros & sisters. Some have their own home, bought and paid for before they went on the Circuit work.
Never heard of them going on overseas trips either. If someone wants to shout them to a overseas trip, good luck to them. At the end of their circuit "career", they're not going to be left with much, so they might as well enjoy what they can get while they can.
I am curious about some of the attitudes expressed towards COs. Is it because of personal run-ins with them? Most of the COs I knew were good people, some were even good friends of my parents. COs were regarded as being like travelling shepherds of the congregation. A spiritual guide who had more oomph than the congregation's elders. Of course, as I became more disenchanted with the JWs my reverance for them dwindled, and I came to see them as mere men with no more special enlightenment than Joe Nobody in the cong. Now, I feel pity for them, because they think that they are serving God and that what they are doing is a special work.
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berylblue
For a C.O. to qualify to become a C.O. he had already given up his life long before that. He probably didn't go to college, he probably was a cleaner, he had already given himself wholly to the organization.
That's not always true. The one CO whom I actually liked had come in to the "truth" later in life, leaving his career as a stockbroker behind. I really liked him.His wife was an adorable woman; when they met, she wasn't even baptized (though he was). They were married later on in life (maybe mid 30s? My memory is failing.)
I think ours was the first congregation (or one of the first) he hit right after being appointed. He was like a breath of fresh air. He could be very frank at times, but it was a tactful kind of frank. He wasn't syrupy or fawning. You knew he wouldn't lie to you. At least, I didn't think so.
They didn't last very long. Last I heard, they were removed from the Circuit work very soon after being appointed. I am not surprised. This was not your average yes-man.
They were re-assigned to Bethel. I did run into the wife at a meeting after they'd been removed (I was visiting my old cong) and had brought with her a cake to bring to someone up at Bethel in the writing dept. (Long story, won't bore you.)
Anyway, she looked at the initials and said, "This is one of the few decent ones up there."
She made a few comments about things "not being what they seemed" at Bethel.
At the time, I was surprised.
I am no longer surprised.
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berylblue
Just remembered another one. Wish I could remember his name. His big thing was that he had been from big money, and had given it all up, counted it as a lot of refuse, to be part of Jehovah's people while his brother remained "with the world".
In light of what's happened recently, I have to wonder who is having the last laugh?
Damn what was his name. ???Either Italian or Greek, I'm pretty sure.
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berylblue
I've heard for years how we should really appreciate the Circuit Overseers and their wives for all that they give up to enter the Circuit work... Do you think that's true??
While I respect your views, yesidid, I fail to see where the above question, as well as the thread title question, is offensive.
It was an obvious rabble rousing ploy, and it worked. From some it elicited the usual response “down with the stupid, rich, pampered CO’s”. I was delighted to see that some of the thinking ones among us replied in a more reasoned manner.
It that is how they feel, are they not permitted to post that???? So any who have some issues with COs are not "thinking persons"? Give me a break.
I truly don't understand your animosity. Unless.... (feel free to finish the elipsis yourselves, readers.) -
minimus
Yesidid, This thread was "vintage Minimus". Thankyou!.....Let the reader use discernment.....I think that in areas where there is wealth, you will AUTOMATICALLY see a CO landing cash, vacations and gifts. I don't know what it's like in North Dakota but I do know what the whole northeast is like. I do not speak out of ignorance.
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berylblue
Minimus, you're from North Dakota?
Oh, my.
You have just totally blown my entire image of you.
First off, I didn't think anyone actually LIVED there.
And second....
NORTH DAKOTA?
Rosemarie
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minimus
Rosemarie, Get your GLASSES ON!!!