by OrangeBlossom 394 Replies latest members private
My fav Co(UK) was Jeff young. He was a really cool guy and was the CO went I was appointed as a ministerial servant! Bless him! The worse has to be John Stanbridge, I have never met such an arrogant bloke!
BTW does anyone know what happenend to my very first CO, Alan Stokes? And I have heard along the Grapevine that a CO in the UK has become apostate. Anyone else heard this?
UO
Yadirf:
Gerald Grizzle? You're out of touch. He is The Man when it comes to conventions. Rules that department with an iron fist. Has corporate responsibilities now, after the changes.
See the post on the board about loss of the Jacksonville convention:
:::The Jacksonville Tourism Development Council was willing to foot that bill to keep the convention in town, as well as pick up the Coliseum's $18,000 rent, she said.
::"We have to be economical," said Gerald Grizzle, who organizes Watchtower's 189 national conventions. "We can't pay a lot for the building."
::According to Watchtower estimates, the organization brought more than 16,000 people to the city and generated about $5 million in revenue for local businesses in 2000.
::Ultimately, Grizzle said, they left the city on principle. He said they would consider returning if the prices were reduced. The loss of the Watchtower convention, which spans two weekends in July and draws 16,000 people, is especially painful to hotels downtown.
I think Ray Franz was a butthead when he was an CO.
Now why doesnt it surprise me that Beavis and Butthead became JW's of high standings.
Is Beavis still in? Is Beavis YOU? Is that why you are so bitter about Ray? Because the "Troof" came between you bestest buddies?
I had two favorite CO's. Albert Michaelson and Jerry Griffiths, both in their late 30's when we had them. I heard Jerry is no longer a dub. Good news! Al's wife, Louise was such a sweetheart, and so shy, and she was very drawn to me. Everytime they visited our congregation, she would sit with me at meetings for service and Al, on cue, would say that she had plans with Sister K_ _ _. Whether we did or not, we would make plans. It was just understood. She had a real hard time in field service, as it was very much against her nature to do that work. I had a baby during the time they were with us, and going in a car with a young child was just not done by the CO's or their wives in the 80's, in our area. When I had my baby, in 1979, it was an emergency, 6 weeks premature situation. She came to see me at the hospital and stayed talking for several hours, on a Thursday morning. I knew she was probably escaping field service at the congregation they were visiting that week. They were real good people. Jerry Griffiths was just an off the wall, funny man. We all enjoyed him so much!! We also got real close to Dallas and Renate Gwaltney.
Least favorites, were the old fuddy duddy men, we had in the last 10 years before we quit. Hate to name names because they were victims too. But they were almost senile and did damage to the congregations with their "old school" rules.
duplicated in error
Phil Hayworth? Jan, you're showing your age!
But you've pressed the nostalgia button. Couldn't he lead in the drama class! Audiotapes were passed from congregation to congregation of his talks. Until the faceless bureaucrats vetoed all that, of course.
Cheers,
Ozzie
Freedom is not having to wear a tie.
jschwehm wrote:
By far the worst and most tyrannical CO I ever knew was John Mason. He disfellowshipped individuals left and right and seemed to be very proud of his record of removing bodies of elders that disagreed with him.Are you sure this CO's name wasn't John Manning? He is a long-time traveling "brother" who works (customarily and inappropriately termed "serves") congregations in Southern CA at present and is a shockingly corrupt and evil man. What you note above is the very kind of "shepherding" he is doing.
I can remember when all of the things were going on with Mason in the congregation. Elders and Ministerial Servants were writing the Society complaining about him, etc. I had just returned from Bethel and I told these indivduals that if they took Mason and multiplied him by about 2000 that they would realize what Brooklyn, Bethel was like. No one believed me. They all told me that I had a bad attitude and that Mason was only one bad apple in the organization.Ah, if certain brothers here had known this at the time, they would not have wasted their time writing HQ. They were left to conclude, after writing the Society about this man, that the abusive, Pharisaic treatment he metes out must be exactly what Brooklyn orders or, at the very least, condones. Some particularly malicious acts on this man's part are what finally provoked some into Internet research to try to learn how others within the organization are treated when they try to bring problems to HQ's attention. Sadly, thus began the real and most painful of all enlightenment.
AMNESIAN
Favorite CO: John Adams and his wife Anne, I think.
Favorite DO: Bro. Scaglione and his wife. (Funny story he related at the assembly once: Br. Knorr asked him why did he have that "G" in his name when you weren't supposed to pronounce it? And he told him "The same reason you have a "K" in Knorr. " LOL.
I thought he was a riot. Also he once told my sister and myself if he ever had sons he would have wanted them to marry us. That was a beautiful thing to say.)
Worst CO: Ray Gwiazdowski and his wife Pat. Once when they were staying with us (as usual) he came out of their secluded guest bedroom to yell at us and tell us kids to shut up; he was trying to get some sleep. Now our house rules when CO/DO stayed: Quiet by 10 pm. Ray yelled at us at 8:30. He apologized the next day but it was very characteristic of him. Plus we caught him in a couple of lies.
Runner up: Novak and his wife. Dried up bag (about 45, actually) had the nerve to tell me she didn't like children, period. (This was after my family sat behind them and my mother remarked how well behaved Eden was during all the meetings.) He spent three years, and spoke 4 words to me the whole time, "She (Eden) has your eyes." He told the JC that df'd and reinstated me four months later that once I was df'd they should have let a longer time go by to see if I was **really** repentant, even though they told me they should have never df'd me in the 1st place.
Many of the COs I have known over the years seemed to be concerned and hard working. One we had a few years back really tried to connect with the teenagers in the cong. even getting together with some one evening to watch a movie and eat pizza.
One from fairly recently, who really stirred me up, was an example of the "petty tyranny" syndrome I have observed over time in the org.
He was an organization man through and through, and was such a toe-the-line man, that is was evident even in his posture. He had all the elders in coniption fits trying to get all their documents and procedures in order for his inspection. He also had a particular quirk concerning where to sit at the KH during meeting for field service which drove me up a wall. Our ordinary custom was that the small group of publishers would sit informally and space out comfortably in the back few rows of the KH, with the conductor positioned just in front of them. Because I hate being stuck within groups of bodies, I would always sit at the periphery.
This CO insisted, demanded that everyone pack themselves (no empty seats) into the very front, center rows of the auditorium. Any stragglers were singled out for individual intimidation to join the herd. The first time ,I reluctantly gave in to his "theocratic arrangement". But I resolved that on his next visit, I would sit where I wanted to. Sure enough, next time I came for service , (a few minutes late) he had everyone packed in like sardines in the front center 4 rows of seats. I slunk in and sat at the back of the group, maybe 1 or 2 rows behind in an unoccupied row.
He focused in on me like a laser beam, and having spied an empty seat (where did that come from) on the first row firmly "invited" me to it. It sounded more like an order. I really hate public confrontations, but I looked him straight in the eye, and said in a tone which left no room for discussion, "No, I believe I will sit where I am ." The look on his face was as if I had physically slapped him, first amazement and shock, then a glimmer of anger, and finally to cover it, he made a half-joking comment, "We like obedience. I'll talk to you later."
I was ready, but he never said another word to me. No one else ever said anything either (about 30 people). I debated about approaching him about the whole thing , but decided against it.
LMR
My favorite and least favorite are the same person....my cousin Everett Rodrigues.
He always tended to have a rather superior attitude, but he was my cousin, and after he had been a CO for awhile, he started developing a close relationship with my Mom, which I thought was great. He would write to her and phone her, and go to visit her when he was in the area. Of course, I was not included in any visits since I was inactive and might therefore taint his saintly personna in some way.
He became my least favorite when my mother suffered a severe stroke that almost killed her outright. She was in terrible shape physically, and I wrote to Everett to let him know that Mom was in very precarious health and that I didn't know how long she would live. I asked him to send her a card or call, because she always loved hearing from him, and I knew it would cheer her up to hear from her favorite nephew.
He finally wrote....after a year and a half, and two months after her death. The kicker was his letter, however, in which he gleefully asked her if she was keeping active in service!
