The story of my congregation in the last five years.

by Crazyguy 26 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Crazyguy

  Let’s start with the good news for the congregation that is. Two new sisters were added to the group a mother and her daughter. Then the bad news. In the last 5 years 3 brothers one of them being an elder died. A sister moved away after getting married but came back after separating from her spouse, not long after she dissociated herself and moved in with her apostate father. Another family had termoil as their son became openly gay and wanted nothing todo with the JWs. He was kicked out I believe and moved away.

  A elders two kids stopped associating with the congregation one finding a worldly guy after having problems with dating jw brothers and the other kid went his own way after finishing high school.

  I woke up and also left the congregation. They were so blessed by the apostate leaving that the congregation the same year had something like 25 car accidents, with a couple three members being seriously hurt.

  I also found out recently another young member about 18 or so has left the org to pursue drugs and rock and roll, that’s what I’m told any way.

  Last but not least the two sisters that joined and got baptized with in a year both left . So in the end this congregation lost eleven members that I know of and no knew ones have joined. This is truly a sign of a vast expansion going on during these end times.

  Tell us what’s going on in your congregation.
  

  
  
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  JW GoneBad

  Let's start with the growth in my congregation in the last five years...6 to 8 JW born-in children baptized with zero outsider adults baptized. Then there has been upwards of 6 to 8 divorces with about 12 children involved in custody battles. Meetings have consistently gotten more and more boring which has resulted in less & less attending meetings no thanks to the new CLAM meeting arrangement. PIMOs also seem to be on the rise. Elders conducting the Watchtower Study and other question and answer parts with audience participation seem to have way fewer willing to comment & participate. Might as well throw in indifference to the door to door ministry. And lastly...the elder body seem to bitch more and more about the increase in problems among the rank and file...otherwise just another day in Paradise in our next of the woods. :-) :-)
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  eyeuse2badub

  I know that at least 1 person that has stopped attending and the elders have not even said a word to him. He was an elder and a life long dub! ME!

  just saying!
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  FedUpJW

  Tell us what’s going on in your congregation.

  Over about fifteen years time congregation size has "grown" from 95-100 average members to a whopping 30-33 members. I just cannot believe the wonderful growth!
  
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  scratchme1010

  Tell us what’s going on in your congregation.
  

  I know that this is intended for those who still attend meetings, but I find it saddening, considering that many active JWs might take it on themselves that their numbers are dwindling. Many JWs are led to believe that it's because they aren't being or doing enough. Some JWs believe that Satan can possess congregations because of allowing sinners, so I know some JWs are in internal turmoil because of it.

  That's the sad part.
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  kairos

  'Wonderful expansion is now taking place''...
  
  < record scratch <

  https://www.myinstants.com/instant/the-price-is-right-losing-horn/
  
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  Acluetofindtheuser

  A former congregation of mine had to merge with its sister congregation at the kingdom hall because there were too few members in each. Now they have too many elders in the one. A bunch of them had to lose their special titles.
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  Dunedain

  My former congregation, that i was born into, is a MESS. Twenty five years ago, the congregation was bursting at the seams. It was vibrant, crowded, healthy, and full of families, Bethelites, children, 12 to 15 Elders body, many ministerial servants, many pioneers, young ones, teens, elderly, singles, couples, you name it.

  It got so crowded they had to split 25 years ago, into 2 very large and vibrant congregations. Both congregations continued on these past 25 years, but slowly, and steadily MANY issues started arising.

  People and families started moving away, and joining other congregations due to "personality" clashes. Elders were stepping down, losing titles, and or joining neighboring congregations, due to all the conflicts amongst the Elder body.

  Mostly ALL the teens and young adults left. Mostly all the Bethelites moved away, or were let go from Bethel, and moved back to their home states. There were many DF'ings, many dissassociating, and much more.

  Fast forward to about a year ago, and those 2 giant, vibrant congregations that 25 years needed to split, have now MERGED back together. They needed to re-join again, due to a severe decrease in attendance of BOTH congregations.

  The publishers in the congregation now, AFTER merging together, do not eqaul what ONE of the congregations used to be. It is very telling, and mind you, this is NOT in some rural, far away area, NOPE, this is in a borough of NYC.

  The Elder body in the congregation now, is full of leftover elders, that survived the great "purging". Any elders worth anything, have all left, moved away, stepped down, or are just plain done with the Borg. Whats left are unqualified, idiotic, no personality, morons, who have no business judging a termite hole, than a congregation of humans.

  It is a JOKE, and quite frankly, it beautiful to see. All those years ago, when i was DF'd in my late teens, by the PO, who is still there, he claimed my sins were stifling Jehovahs spirit from fully blessing the congregation, so he DF'd me. Well, isnt it funny that instead of the congregation blossoming, and thriving, after evil old me was gone, it withered and died, and had to be re-merged again, and is a pale piss poor version of its former self.

  Kharma certainly is a bitch aint it.
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  joe134cd

  It warms my heart when I read the above experiences. I have to say unfortunately in my local area I haven’t witnessed to much of this going on. There are still the same amount of congregations. Probably not due to Jehovah’s Holy Spirit but to people moving into the area due to a strong economy. I do know of one cong that closed in a small town. But to be honest I think this was more a result of poor employment prospects and a ruraltown going no where.
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  Dagney

  I'm curious as to the real story in the congregations as well. I feel with the young leaving and the elderly dying off, we have the core of the baby boomers and their children. I really wonder what the scoop is.

  Today I am meeting a person for the first time who has faded for the past few years. With much family in, the need to be very discreet. They said they heard the attendance at the regional convention in their area was at least 25% less than when they attended. They raised the question how could the WT be growing when it is obvious the numbers are down from we actually see.

  Looking forward what people have to say in response to the OP.