Christmas Decorations at the Kingdom hall

by Simon 19 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  Simon

  I can't remember if I've told this story before ...

  But back in the day, in Irlam Congregation (Northwest England, UK, Cheshire #1 Circuit I think) we used to rent a Kingdom Hall for many years before we eventually built our own.

  Preston Hall. ah, the memories ...

  It was primarily used as a community hall for old folks, but we had it Friday night and Sunday morning.

  There was a loft and fold-out ladder and we used to store the chairs up their. Every meeting, there would be an assembly line of all the "lads" to pass the chairs down and set them up, then collect them up and pass them back up at the end of the meeting. Christ, I may have built up some muscles from passing up 100 chairs every week!

  The things you do that you think are normal when you have no other clue, eh?

  But that isn't the craziest part ...

  Remember the "community hall for old folks" part? Well, of course those pagan old bastards did the whole "Christmas" thing.

  That meant that around November time we'd walk into the hall one day and there would be Xmas decorations everywhere.

  No, way more than you're picturing. Let me clarify: there was a huge fucking Christmas tree, with baubles, tinsel and a big star or angel on top ON THE PLATFORM.

  We couldn't take anything down, so we just ignored it. Well, we pretended to ignore it. After a while you kind of just got used to it - everywhere just looked kind of "sparkly" and festive.

  The best part? Well, there were two:

  1. The face on visiting speakers when they walked in on a Sunday morning. They literally stopped in the foyer with a "WTF?!?!" expression. I'm pretty sure some probably muttered it. Looking back I wonder, did no one warn them? seems kind of bizarre to arrange someone to come and give a talk and not mention "oh, BTW, we should tell you ..."

  2. Around mid-to-late Jan or Feb they took all the decorations down and the Christmas tree was no more. Then you'd see everyone else in the congregation enter the hall and give a very disappointed "aw ..." when they walked in because suddenly everything looked drab again. We'd gotten used to the Xmas decorations!!!

  So that was Irlam congregation and our Christmas Decoration at the Kingdom Hall ... did anyone else have those or was it just us?
• 

  Las Malvinas son Argentinas

  Can’t say that we did but there was this old church the WTS bought and was converting into a KH. There was this huge stained glass rendering of the transfiguration which was behind the podium and very visible. And it was absolutely beautiful and there were even whispers that maybe they shouldn’t take it down, or perhaps alter it slightly to make it more JW appropriate. They ended up reconfiguring the inside and placing the podium at what was the side of the church to avoid people looking at it directly.

  This stained glass stayed up for 2 or 3 years though. It actually made for a better overall experience and as the boring and monotonous talks became too much, I would zone in on the stained glass and was the closest I came to an out of body “spiritual” experience.
• 

  LV101

  ^^^ These hall decor stories are great!!
• 

  slimboyfat

  A story I heard was that there was congregation in England that put up Christmas decorations because they had “turned apostate” and the circuit overseer had to go in bust it up and set them straight. Maybe that was a distorted Chinese-whisper version of this case, or another congregation somewhere else.

  What I’ve discovered over the years, though, from reading stories of others’ experiences, is that my initial sceptical reaction of “Jehovah’s Witnesses would never do that” whenever I hear about some whacky going’s on, doesn’t take fully into account just how many congregations and individual JWs there are across the world and the scope for outlier unusual and whacky behaviour across the “whole association of brothers”.
• 

  St George of England

  Back in the 1950's we met in a room attached to the local Public Library. This was similarly rented out to various other groups and clubs who put up Christmas decorations every year. It was in the days when the "Chart" was hung in KH's and it was so funny to see this surrounded by all the Christmas glitter.

  George
• 

  stan livedeath

  Irlam Congregation (Northwest England, UK, Cheshire #1 Circuit I think.

  i think i mentioned this before: back in 1971 i moved from Brum down to the Isle of Wight, Some weeks before--there was another family moved down from Irlam. I got to know them well, even working for the bro one winter.
  
  
• 

  BluesBrother

  Yes , there were some funny things to put up with in the days when we used to rent halls. I can’t match Simon’s story but....

  I remember a Circuit Assembly in my childhood that was held in what seemed to be an army drill hall. At the back of the audience there stood a large field gun of some sort, just there at the hall while we talked of peace on Earth.

  When I was giving Public Talks one place had a portrait of The Queen up behind the platform. As the congregation arrived though, someone turned up with a Yeartext board , made to fit and covered it up completely..

  A lot of things happened in the past that would not be done now, congregations were more independent and sometimes did their own thing.
• 

  WingCommander

  I don't have a "decorations" story, but I kind of have a District Convention experience I guess?

  Early 80's. My family would attend District Conventions at the old Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. This is because my father couldn't stand going to the old Veteran's Stadium in Philly. It was hotter than hell and miserable. The Capital Centre was inside and air conditioned. Unbeknownst to a very young me, it also was the venue for many a historic basketball game, hockey, concerts, and even Presidential Inaugurations. (1980's)
  

  It also had a claim to a couple very unique features:

  1. Upon driving up on it, it kind of looked like a "nest" or something. The roof was curved in. It was just a sight to see.

  2. It had the first "Telscreen", a 4-sided center-hung projection screen + scoreboard. Had the first sports replay as well.
  

  The screen meant that loooong before the 2010's projecting of GB Members and dramas onto large venue screens, we had this back in the early 80's. A cameraman would zoom right in on the podium or on the dramas, and anyone from any seat could easily see and hear the events by watching this huge screen.

  4. Fun story: Once during a lunch break as a kid of 4-6, I somehow managed to get access up to the top of that Jumbo-Tron, and was running around up there!

  5. I found out just a few years ago that "The Who's" music video for the song "Eminence Front" was filmed at the Capital Centre during rehearsals for a concert there.

  What I wouldn't have done to have been there for those basketball, hockey, and concerts during the 1980's instead of being bored to tears at stupid JW District Conventions. Ugh!

  The Who video:

  Eminence Front
  
• 

  Chevelle

  In the 70s and 80s, we had our circuit assemblies in a Jewish Synagogue in New York City. It eventually became Watchtower property but it practically remained a full on Jewish Synagogue with nearly everything (interior and exterior) still in tact. I remember thinking "why are we sitting inside this pagan church having an assembly"?
• 

  Slidin Fast

  I went to a cong that met in a community hall. Come Christmas the decorations were hung every where. We would take them down then re-hang the when we left.

  That felt like a compromise but we got quite good at it.