Even as a JW I found touring Bethel boring and unfortunately I?ve been to Brooklyn, Patterson and Wallkill.
What is the appeal of Watchtower Farm and Patterson?
by Never Was 38 Replies latest jw experiences
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Doubtfully Yours
Never Was,
I'm not fascinated at all by the Organization's buildings. I've visited a few when younger and taken by parents.
If I can help it, I'll never step foot ever again in any of their famous branch buildings.
DY
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Xena
It's the JW version of Mecca
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maxwell
I remember going on a tour bus with a bunch of other JW's when I was 15 to see Bethel in Brooklyn, Watchtower farms up in Wallkill, NY and that theater they use as a Circuit Assembly Hall in New Jersey (can't remember the name now). I grew up in a rural area in the south and part of the appeal for me at the time was simply that I had never been to New York. Besides that my grandmother was taking me so I was going far from home on a trip without my parents, what fun! Another part of the appeal was things that others have mentioned. The example of what "paradise" was supposed to be like. Seeing the orderliness and the high degree of self-sufficiency in their operations. I must admit that I enjoyed the tour, although I was seeing it through the eyes of a 15 y/o good little JW. I liked seeing how the factory worked, the printing operations, etc. Part of that may have been some early engineering interest of my own. I'd enjoy doing a factory tour even now as long as it was not the JW factories. (I find the work of manufacturing engineers to be quite interesting.) I look back now, and I can see how it was zombie-like it was there but I was a zombie along with them, smiling and walking along as if that was the greatest place on earth.
But there were a couple of things I did learn from the trip. First, I decided I did not want to take a trip on a tour bus again. I'd rather have my independence to come and go as I please. I took a trip to NYC in November. My wife and I went on Amtrak and took the subway wherever we wanted to go. That NYC trip was much more enjoyable than the one I did on the tour bus. Second I decided for sure that I didn't want to be a Bethelite. As I said, I was a good little JW at the time, so I still had visions of becoming a pioneer and perhaps a missionary, but after seeing how regimented life appeared to be there, I did not want that. If I remember correctly, it seemed that they controlled when you get up (and as result virtually controlled your bedtime), when you eat two of your daily meals and how you keep your room. All of that on top of the fact that they worked 6 days a week and had an extra meeting in the Monday night family Watchtower study. I remember them showing us a basketball court and perhaps a few other recreational facilities and wondering when would anyone have time to use them. Of course, when working a normal full-time job with an inflexible schedule, you have to get up at a certain time also, but a normal person has more control and flexibility on time outside of work hours.
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amac
Oddly enough, when I was at Bethel I worked out and played sports more than any other time in my life. Everything is so regimented that once you get it into your schedule, you stick to it. I also seemed to spend alot of time over in Manhattan.
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seeitallclearlynow
I visited Watchtower Farm only once, 25 years ago. I was bored stiff. But we went there on vacation (really!) and got to stay in one of the little cabins. Believe me, almost anything is a vacation when you live at Brooklyn Bethel .
The rural setting was nice, actually, and I saw my first fireflies. That was really cool.But the facilities seemed barren and devoid of humanity. I hated it there. My husband loved it; and he has since returned many times to visit both Brooklyn and the Farm, taking the kids once or twice. They express no interest in visiting again.The brother we drove up there with wanted to really feel like he was on vacation, so he didn't shave and he dressed in casual clothes. He was not allowed in! We had to go back to the cabin so he could shave and change clothes. I got a real kick out of him, when he wasn't terrifying me on purpose with the reckless way he drove around New York. I swear there are very few traffic laws and hardly any marked lanes.
I hated Bethel and the Farm. And the food was stupid. The eggs did not taste like eggs. They had some kind of filler in them when scrambled. The toast had gelatin in it to keep it from getting dried out. Gross. The bacon was smoked at the Farm, and didn't taste like bacon. Shockingly, we had saffron rice once, and it was great. And in my entrance school there was a brother from Hawaii, and when he was assigned to work in the kitchen, suddenly we got some tasty garlic and ginger teriyaki chicken. But the rules about the meals were stupid. And the rushed nature of the meal service was stupid.
One good thing about serving at the Farm instead of Brooklyn was, at harvest time, they didn't have to go to all the meetings or out in service due to the urgent nature of harvest!
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amac
In Brooklyn, considering they were cooking for 3,000 people, I thought they did OK. It wasn't great but not too bad. You always knew what was for lunch...some rehashed form of dinner from the night before!
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cypher50
I grew up in the territory of Watchtower Farms and both congregations I went to growing up had a number of farm brothers (most of the elders were Bethelites) so my impressions of Wallkill aren't as dire as most of yours. I saw the good (sorry, but it still seems a most efficient operation to me) and the bad (no freedom even for a JW, too much stress, and slave wages)...I still feel sadness at how people working there willingly put themselves into such a hard situation that does serious damage to their careers for life. Still, I didn't find it nearly as boring or monotoneous as some here but it did have way too many restrictions that had nothing to do with spirituality...then again, that is the modus operandi of the Society.
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factfinder
I always enjoyed visiting Bethel. I especially enjoyed seeing the books being produced.
It was serene and peaceful, I felt I belonged there.
Now I know the tatt and wonder how I would view it but I wish I could visit the wallkill printery and take the tour. With no way to get there I guess I won't get the chance to.