January 2025 Letter to the Elders

by blondie 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  blondie

  I used to send my comments on these letters to Atlantis, so I will share them here if that is okay, if not, I'll still do it. :) 1) Medical Matters: (Technology has arrived) Listing of HLC members is not online and updated regularly, but only elders have access, not for general circulation. (and in case the reader of the letter needs clarification) Copies should not be made for publishers or on the information board (!)

  2) Meeting times: guided by "elders manual" to know how to rotation of meeting times (I assume if 2 or more congregations in the same KH)

  3) Infirm regular pioneers (how do the determine who is "infirm" a note from the doctor? that means regular pioneers still have to report hours) Decision only after consulting with (a doctor?) the the circuit overseer (with a medical doctor license?)

  4) Security Plan: 2 elders to review (security experts?) Consider if there security situation in the local community (so what would that be since the elders are not security experts?) Increased crime or threats toward the congregation (what about crimes like child sexual abuse within the congregation?)

  5) Revised Talk Outlines: (why revisions, changes in vocabulary, like "removed" rather than "disfellowshipped" other updates in policies and doctrine?)

  6) Every letter has a reminder the make the mid-week announcements and post on information board. Does that mean that memory retention is failing among the elders?

  7) Disaster Preparedness (since Katrina (2006? and the failure of being able to contact or determine where members are) (Does the congregation really have local preparations, do the members know what they are?)

  8) Attendant Training (Training!)(Attendants not required to be baptized?) New attendants need train only) What is appropriate training?)

  9) Revised Talk Outlines (Evidently item #5 was not sufficient) Ensure that any (MS) who deliver pubic talks..using latest version,

  10) Medical Information Documents Review (elders manual) need for "each" elder knowhow to find the documents, familiar with content, "alert" to provide documents to publishers !

  11) Information for Expectant Mothers, Information for Patients Requiring Surgery of Chemotherapy, Information for Parents Whose Child Requires Medical Treatment, (more info that in the past, I'm sure the Legal Department is behind this)

  12) (Meeting times changes...uploaded to the WTS website immediately, so the elders need to be told this?) (Congregation contacts are no on JW.org and non-jws can access or jws traveling who want to attend meetings in the area (haha)

  13) Review of Congregation Records (yes the WTS now has records retention guidelines, (Yes, not saving them for years and years after the person has even died or in a file cabinet is some elders personal office)

  14) Durable POA and ID Card (yes ID card) sufficient supplies (for the increase of baptized jws? Changes in the cards?)

  Letter for Congregations (yes not all the info for the elders is shared with the congregation)

  1) Minimum age to assist construction projects, maintenance projects, or disaster relief...adjusted age from 17 to 18 (Legal reason I'm sure, and) age adjusted to: 15-17 years of age, baptized or unbaptized (exemplary) publishers if accompanied by parent or legal guardian (Legal reason, what happens if minor is injured on site, and no parent or guardian present?)

  2) Encourage dear young ones (haha) privilege..develop a spirit of responsibility...

  Well, that is what I see when reading this. Changes, changes, many for legal reasons (like it is now "removed" not "disfellowshipping) I am not surprised that the ordinary jws have not time to read their bibles.
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  Beth Sarim

  Yang wans. LoL.

  Thanks Blondie.
• 

  Listener

  Deer Yang Wans

  Thanks Blondie
• 

  Journeyman

  4) Re: Security plan. In fairness, one doesn't need to be a "security expert" to have some sort of security plan. These days, we should all have one. For example: What would you/your household do if someone broke into your home while you were there? What would you do if threatened on the street? These are commonsense precautions, not things that need specific security training (although of course, taking the advice of a genuine professional such as someone in the police, military or other defence field would be ideal).

  Bear in mind also that there are a number of JWs who have been trained in security, either because that is or was their secular work, or they are ones whose main responsibility is in leading and teaching brothers to be attendants. I don't know how it used to be years ago, and it may not be the same everywhere, but living in a major city I know that many elders who are captains of attendant teams for conventions, etc, have been on official security courses.

  Here in the UK, there is a body called the Security Industry Authority (SIA) which regulates and administers courses for security professionals such as door staff. In some cases, versions of these courses are paid for or run by Bethel, and the brothers trained at those are of course members of regular bodies of elders in their respective congregations, so some degree of trained security knowledge is available at a local level, if not in every congregation, at least in most circuits.

  In the case of the JWs and their Hall security plan, I believe this has come about from a combination of three Ps: practicality, preparedness and paranoia. On the practicality and preparedness, there have been some genuine cases of serious security breaches at Halls - such as the shooting in Hamburg in 2023 - and at a lower level, numerous instances of disgruntled exJWs or "unbelieving" family members who have entered Halls and tried to disrupt meetings, occasionally violently. And of course, Kingdom Halls are not the only venues at risk. Experience from the USA especially shows that any religious building, shopping mall, school/college or large building where people gather is a potential target for extremists or nutters.

  However, there is also an element of paranoia with the practicality, which stems from the constant teaching that all JWs are under attack from the outside world.

  Ultimately, I think all buildings open to the public should have a security plan anyway. The JW one is generally around how to deal with potentially disruptive individuals (spotting warning signs on approach/entry, how to engage with people), possible fire or suspicious packages, evacuation (what routes to take, what triggers/signals will be given to alert others) and practical preventative measures. The latter includes many congregations closing their Hall doors shortly after the meeting time begins and posting attendants at the door (and other strategic locations if necessary, like car parks) to manage who is allowed in afterwards.

  8) On attendant training, AFAIK all attendants must be baptised. The training covers the kind of things I mentioned above, and these days includes videos (of course - as with everything in JW-land) on what to look out for and how to engage with attendees to determine if they might be disruptive or not (the principles in these videos apply to local meetings too).

  I realise that laws and regulations in other countries differ, so maybe not all attendant training is so rigorous, but I would imagine in the USA and EU countries too, there is probably similar structured training to a higher degree than was done in the past.
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  joey jojo

  The purpose of the HLC has always been confusing to me.

  The elders I knew that were on it were some of the most pretentious wanna-be's. The JW's are all about image and public perception but they have managed to find a way, via the HLC to piss off well meaning medical staff and non-witness families with threats of legal action concerning how a JW patient is treated.

  It is a great example of how much power and control the organisation has on its members. They have to be involved in the most vulnerable parts of their life.