More cracks in the dam - WTS pleading for elders "in their early 20s"

by FFGhost 40 Replies latest jw friends

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  Pete Zahut

  In some lands, relatively few young brothers are applying to attend the School for Kingdom Evangelizers, to serve at Bethel, or to assist in Kingdom Hall construction and maintenance.

  The internet generation has grown up and the GB has lost a lot of their stronghold on people. It probably wasn't a smart move to announce it.

  A lot of "Brothers" in the past only reached out for position because they were guilted into it or thought it was the thing to do. I think by broadcasting the fact that young men all over the world aren't reaching out for responsibility will only confirm to every young brother out there, that they aren't the only ones who have no intention of getting too deeply involved in the religion.
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  Beth Sarim

  ''you misspoke, you must have meant 5 time his/ her*** age, now on zoom, right in your living room, makes you livid.''

  LOL. Good catch. MY bad.

  You know what I meant. Ha,ha.

  You get some youngin up there telling people who are 3 or 4 times his age. Telling them what to do....even maybe 5 times his/her age. I mean.....it's just priceless.
  
  
• 

  road to nowhere

  When the elder arrangement came in I was told the end was so close the CO would not be around for the second year appointments. I was a study conductor then. Reminds me of that scripture about comparing themselves to themselves. I was never in the right crowd

  That Timothy age is not stated in the bible. In one talk he is in his 30s, next talk ( to make a different point) he is still a fuzzy cheeked teenager. Just like there presumptions about his father.
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  waton

  of getting too deeply involved in the religion.

  PZ: that line in the sand came for us in the 60s after the "superior authority" revelation, while being the "cobe" on special pioneer assignment at the end of the world, to straighten out a congregation victimized by narcissistic bullies.

  The heavy hitter Co and DO wanted us to step into circuit work. "you will never have financial problems again" . time to pack our stuff into the beetle and hit it home.
  
  
  
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  smiddy3

  the Governing Body requests that all bodies of elders worldwide give priority to helping younger brothers grow in their relationship with Jehovah and qualify for congregation responsibilities.

  It has been observed that in some congregations, few baptized brothers in their late teens and early 20’s are reaching out to serve as pioneers or ministerial servants. In some lands, relatively few young brothers are applying to attend the School for Kingdom Evangelizers, to serve at Bethel, or to assist in Kingdom Hall construction and maintenance.

  Here ,the GB are admitting that a large number of younger people are turning away from the religion and are just biding their time till they are old enough to leave completely .

  IMHO
  
  
  
• 

  FFGhost

  Calling the service report abysmally catastrophic is a bit of a stretch.

  OK, OK, it was a bit hyperbolic. How about merely "catastrophic"?
  
  
• 

  BluesBrother

  I was appointed as elder in my late twenties, I felt inadequate and I was. A week later I was taking a Ministry School in the back room .My first job was to give public counsel to a man much older and I thought a better speaker than me. I just knew it was not right.

  If they are having to lower the bar for appointment age it betrays that they have a problem.
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  StephaneLaliberte

  One of my uncles is a JW Elder, we still talk here and there. He respects my position as I respect his. One of the things he's found difficult over the years is that young people taking up the responsibilities are few and scarce.

  That’s a sore sight when you’ve worked the majority of your life building up something that people don’t recognize as the same value you did. He had the truth in such high regard that he was willing to volunteer the equivalent of a part time job for years on end making significant sacrifices along the way. And now that he’s in retirement, he realizes that not that many want to pursue his work, somewhat invalidating all that time he spent working for the organization.

  When you’re older, you want to look back to everything you’ve done in your life and feel validated by your close ones or community. However, that feeling isn’t there when the next generation doesn’t deem it worthy of their time.

  I didn’t tell him that, but he does have a great example of why in front of him: Me. I’m the next generation but didn’t take on responsibilities as I could not agree with fundamental teachings. Primarily the disfellowshipping for petty “sins” (smoking/gambling) and the practice of shunning. Had they done away with these, chances are I’d still be in taking the lead.

  Still I love my uncle and find it difficult to see him in that position.
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  StephaneLaliberte

  By the way, this isn't a new thing. I know of two brothers that were named elders at 25. This was 30 and 20 years ago in Canada (Quebec and Ontario). One of them had attended Ministry School while the other was just a very nice young man.
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  WTWizard

  More labor shortage? Here are some of my qualifications:

  First, I hate that bible. The whole thing is one whopper of a curse on the human race.

  Next, I am not willing to donate anything to that religion. I understand that it is the hounders and assistant hounders (who they are calling on people to become) that have to donate if there is a shortfall (and there always is, because the washtowel wants more money for itself). I don't want that.

  Additionally, I refuse to get my torture shot. I expect those to become mandatory within the religion when they open for live boasting sessions, and all I am getting is the Amazon "shot" I got in May 2020. No needle shots for me.

  I also like good music--Led Zeppelin, for instance. I also got myself some classic TV shows from the 1960s, including the one they bash the most (Bewitched). So much for going out to pious-sneer, especially if they call another quarantine or I get a false positive coronavirus test for work (or a "Oh wow, that didn't even hurt" type of a case).

  And do they really think I will throw away my sun-worship decorations for such stupid wastes of time as pious-sneering?