Kids and meetings (page 3)

blondie

The WTS did have "Sunday schools" but discontinued them. Why?

Proclaimers Book p 245-6 16 Meetings for Worship, Instruction, and Encouragement

A book entitled The Way to Paradise, written by W. E. Van Amburgh, followed in 1924. It was adapted to "intermediate students of the Bible." For a time it was used at the meetings for younger ones. Additionally, in America, "Junior Witnesses" had their own arrangements for field service. In Switzerland a youth group formed an association called "Jehovah?s Youth," for those between 13 and 25 years of age. They had their own secretary?s office in Berne, and a special magazine, Jehovah?s Youth, was edited and printed on the Society?s presses there. These youths had their own meetings and even put on Bible dramas, as they did in the Volkshaus in Zurich for an audience of 1,500.

What was taking place, however, was that an organization was developing within the organization of Jehovah?s servants. This would not contribute to unity, and it was discontinued in 1936. In April 1938, during a visit to Australia, J. F. Rutherford, the Society?s president, found that a class for children was being held apart from the convention for adults. He immediately arranged for all the children to be brought into the main convention, which was greatly to their benefit.

In that same year, The Watchtower reviewed the entire matter of separate classes for young folks in the congregation. That study again emphasized the fact that parents are responsible to instruct their own children. (Eph. 6:4; compare Deuteronomy 4:9, 10; Jeremiah 35:6-10.) It also showed that the Bible provides no precedent for segregating young ones by means of junior classes. Instead, they were to be present with their parents to hear God?s Word. (Deut. 31:12, 13; Josh. 8:34, 35) When further explanation of study material was needed, this could be given by the parents at home. Furthermore, the articles pointed out that arrangements for such separate classes were actually detracting from the house-to-house preaching of the good news. How so? Because the teachers were staying out of the field service to prepare for these classes and to conduct them. So, all separate classes for youths were discontinued.

L_A_Big_Dawg

I think the main reason why JW's do not have a Sunday school program for children is plain and simple...MONEY. My ex-wife ran the Sunday School program for the church we attended, and her monthly budget was $2,500. Can you imagine the GB dowling out that much a month for however many congreagations worldwide?

Euphemism

Blondie... thanks for that reference. It's still mind-boggling (at least for me) to think of all the common sense that Rutherford threw out the door for the sake of door-to-door sales. And it's even sadder to realize what a hold that program has on the organization today, even when the door-to-door work no longer brings in a profit.

Euphemism

Big Dawg... if the WTS were to start a Sunday-school program, I can't imagine it would cost anything like that.

The teachers would all be volunteers, of course; and any textbooks would probably be obtained the same as other JW publications, via the "voluntary donation arrangement".

I think that the real issue is just that the organization is on auto-pilot. The weekly meetings have hardly changed in 50 years. The recent changes in the Theocratic Ministry school (basically some scheduling adjustments, and the addition of a 4-minute open-comment session on the bible reading) were considered major stuff. It just doesn't seem like anyone in Brooklyn is even thinking about anything as "radical" as a Sunday school.

The only major changes made in the last 20 years--with the possible exception of the 'new light' on eschatology--were matters of legal, financial, or organizational necessity. (E.g. the donation arrangement, blood fractions, increased use of non-anointed men, etc.) That's all that's driving the organization now.

Dawn

The person who stated that the JW organization hates children is right on! The more I think about it......the more I realize how much children are just in the way.

At the church I attend now there is a lot of time and effort put out specifically for children and young teens. I work with one of the children's programs and I realize how many people, time, and resources it takes just to keep those programs up and running effectively. That's not something you will do unless it's important to you. And children just aren't important to the borg.

So I have a good suggestion........why don't they just send their kids our way and we'll be glad to train them while their parents are in the meetings and out in service!

pc

Blondie, I was visiting my parents. How old I was had no baring on the incident. The elder was single, and a hard nosed JW and didn't want to be disrupted during the book study. It wasn't that my parents supported me or not, the elder wouldn't do it. So that's the whole point. He didn't want to be inconvienced for some 2 year old. That was another example of how the Witnesses operate. pc

blondie

pc, I'm sorry for the frustration. I have to admit that in 40 years of meeting attendance, that was the first time I heard of an elder being such a pain in the ass in that way. But, my opinion is that your parents played a part in it too. If I had been your mom, I would have raised my hand and asked that he move his car. Since you were staying with them and using their car, they certainly had some say in the matter.

But then I would never have believed the CO's actions currently serving this area if I hadn't seen it.

Hopefully, your parents would support you now in a similar situation, not with an elder, but anybody that was being abusive to you.

Love, Blondie

SheilaM

I nursed Ant till he was two so I was really good at hiding in the library with Mel and Ant. I would stick toys and stuff in my book bag and I just frowned if they gave me any crap about it. Many times Thunder would take Ant or Mel to the car everyone assumed he was spanking them but he would play with them or he would listen to the radio.Ant loved to listen and suck his thumb and people would say stuff like "why don't you make him pay attention." We had friends that were councilled cause there daughters weren't articulate enough when they answered they were around three and four years old....DUH they talked like babies DUH....

When we did the KIngdom Hall build they kept trying to force me to leave a bottle for Ant to drink...I was nursing at the time and told them NO if he needs me send someone to find me. Really I checked in on him all the time. But the audacity of their trying to force me to give him formula rubbed me the wrong way

luna

Not really a Meeting experience, but close.

When I was about 5, I was at a wedding. (JW wedding, of course, so the "kids can't act like kids" motto was in full force.) Now, rational people would not expect a five year old to sit still at a reception, and not "dance" when everybody else is on the dance floor. It wasn't like it was the first dance, it had been going on for a while, and there were other kids out on the dance floor. Well, for some reason, this "nice" elderly sister decided to take it on herself to teach me a lesson. My mother wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing, so she didn't notice me getting dragged off the dance floor. This lovely lady decided to perform what I can only describe as a death grip on me, and held me her lap, and wouldn't let me down. All the while telling me things like "GOOD little girls don't make a spectacle of themselves" etc. I was a hyper kid....let me be a kid. Anyhow...after a while of this little prison, I decided I needed to go to the bathroom. Of course, she didn't believe me, and wouldn't let me go. I pleaded with her for a while, and she wouldn't budge, and still had the death grip on me. So, I got mad. .......and peed on her.

Needless to say, she let me go REEALLY quick.

Amazingly enough, I didn't get in trouble. My mom thought it was hysterical. Looking back, if my daughter had done that to someone, I would laugh too. Stupid old biddy deserved it.

IWasDuped

I remember sitting in the backroom (where else was there to go?) with my active 18 month old. Tried to keep him quiet and didn't realize he was tapping his foot on the cabinet. The attendant came in, glared, and pointed his finger in my baby's face and through gritted teeth said, "YOU'VE GOT TO BE QUIET!"...all the while the vein on his forehead was about to burst. He didn't say a word to me, just my baby. I know of NOWHERE else that children are expected to be adults. Yes, we brought books, quiet toys, etc. and you can not imagine the stares and glares we received. My blood boils just thinking about this particular subject...It was one of the things that got me thinking....Hmmmmm.........something seems to be very wrong here!!!

Kids and meetings

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