What Was Your Reputation In The Congregation? (page 7)

willyloman

People like Mulan and Simplesally would have come to me with any problems and felt relieved that I was so understanding and helpful, if not a bit surprised that I didn't diagnose spiritual weakness and prescribe the "do more" pill. People were in awe, or said they were, of my prowess on the platform and my "teaching ability," which simply means I translated from Watchtowerese into every day language and made it make sense (for which I will almost certainly burn in hell forever, unless they got one thing right). Perfect family, everybody settin' the example, our house was Hospitality Central. Still got the perfect family. I'm now setting a much better example for my kids. House is pretty quiet.

ikhandi

overzealous pioneer

zev

pretty much as the same person i am now, a person you dont mess with.

only now i'm out of the cult.

so now i'm normal.

my only question, whats "normal"?

thats a thought for another thread.

orangefatcat

I was in several congregations as a young person. I was not raised in early yrs as a jw, I was almost 13, My dad was not such a good man and a so called recovering alcoholic, I was very helpful to my mother. When my dad and mom became involved with the witnesses, right away my father was looked upon as a strong minded man and was growing spiritually leaps and bounds. We were at all the meetings at all the service arrangments. So we were strong children in the truth. My father quickly was a member of the old judical committee, long before the elders arrangemant. My father made sure our conduct was the best it could be and never were we to cause any problems for him and also Jehovah. My father went to South America Paraquay, we were going to go as a family of missionaries. My father had purchased land and made all the arrangements for our family to go. He came back home and was in a bad auto accident and the money he had saved was spend on medical expenses. It was an unspoken law in our home that I was going to pioneer. I was well respected in the hall and was liked by many. I went to Montreal to pioneer, and did that for 5 yrs and the cong. I was in was great, but this one elder was always on my case. For what reasons I will never know to this day. I just guess our personalities didn't jive. I went to an english congregation in montreal and it was great, I had an impecable record and was looked upon as a strong christian. Everyone was my friends, and the elders respected me and how I was a good example in the KH. I moved further to another hall it was not a good for me as I had had several surgeries and I just didn't get to know really anyone in the cong. I moved here to Ontario. the congregation was okay and my father and mother were there and my father expected alot from me and I guess I didn't live up to what he wanted me to do. I was not good. Then I went to one other hall and it was great, the elders were good friends and loving and understanding. The friends in the hall were really wonderful. I studied my watchtower well, and I have the savvy to parlay. and people in the cong. looked upon me as a strong christian and well educated.

When for years I pretended my marriage was okay, I could not longer pretend and the elders knew what kind of man I was married to and I was at the end of my wits. So one day without telling a single soul i packed it all in and left the organization and my marriage. I left the congregation in a state of shock and apperantly several were just unable to understand. I mean I had strong friends. But the elders were shocked , they pleaded through letters, as I refused to speak to them and they were shed to tears I was told. I loved them too, they did nothing wrong to me, it was everything else. So yes I did have a great reputation in my congregations........Ofc......

Panda

Brilliant, stellar and could explain the 2520 years off the top of my head

The last year inactive, troublemaker, spiritually something wrong with the Panda

SanFranciscoJim

Sanfancis!!!! have you read the book "JIM" By June Caldwell. He suffered also same as you -he was a JW. Bit ranchy in spots -but very good reading inmo

Hi Mouthy. I own a copy of the book (very hard to find, by the way - I got my copy on eBay). Thanks for the heads-up.

Since we're talking about books, have you ever read The Orion Chronicles by Renee Evans? To quote the review:

In this amazing odyssey, we see what happens when an innocent little girl grows up, trained to be afraid. Genevieve?s home life, by outward appearances seems odd but not threatening. Most people, however, are unaware of the level of fear and intimidation motivating the lives of the people inside her group who look to the elders for guidance through strict rules. It could be any number of religious groups. Hers happens to be the sect called Jehovah?s Witnesses. It is drummed into her that if she is bad and does not adhere to ?The Truth,? she will be killed by God at Armageddon--by Jehovah, god of vengeance. At the same time, her parents accuse her of being bad, a spoiled brat. There seems to be no hope. She is doomed to die. On any given day. Yet somehow, deep inside Genevieve dwells a mysterious inner voice that whispers to her that something is not right.

This is a remarkable novel about a girl who grows to womanhood realizing that to live in fear is worse than dying. She courageously risks all and loses everything?home, husband, family and community--to move out of religious oppression to discover her own truth?and freedom. After the arduous trials of a lifetime, she is rewarded. Her quest for understanding is expanded by something she could never have imagined--a visit by a benevolent entity from the constellation of Orion, who brings a message of tolerance and love. It is through this gentle and often amusing character that she finds answers and the missing pieces she has always sought. She learns how to re-interpret the old stories of judgment into messages of love.

Source: http://www.llumina.com/store/orion.htm

I know Renee personally. The book is definitely worth a read!

drwtsn32

Pardon me if I end up responding to a lot of threads

kyria: Sorry, but that kind of behavior is against forum rules.

Welcome!!

DanTheMan

Younger, raised-in-it types thought I was very self-righteous and anal-retentive, they avoided me for the most part.

The older, true-believer types liked me pretty well, "I enjoy your comments brother".

To the elders, a constant project. "What can we do to get you out in service brother?" Then some cheesy illustration - "You know, if you're riding a bicycle and you slow down, it becomes harder and harder to stay balanced..."

notperfectyet

What was your reputation in the Congregation Mini?

Were you deleted as an Elder? Did you step down?

What was your reputation as an elder?....were you hated?

Inquiring minds wanna know.........

shera

Well,I was too quite and didn't socialize enough.The chatty social butterflies didn't approve and liked to chat and questions that.

Even tho,I didn't talk much at doors,I went out just about every Sat,One elder(or MS can't remember now) called me his Saturday faithful.I hated felid service soooooooooo much!

What Was Your Reputation In The Congregation?

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