Remember Hour Quotas?

by blondie 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  HereIam60

  The mention of "summer pioneers" reminded me:

  At one of the first meetings I attended a young brother told me he was "pioneering for the summer". I said " Oh, that's nice." I had never heard the term before and I actually thought he meant he was going camping...'roughing it'..like the pioneers who setted the American West!

  I've never heard anyone, pioneer or otherwise, explain the meaning of the name. Looking it up in WT literature I see it's because they often take the lead "opening up new territory" also some Bible translations at Hebrews 12:2 call Jesus "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith" . Curiously the New World Translation does not use that phrasing, instead wording it the "Chief Agent and Perfecter...
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  Nathan Natas

  Bear with me; this won't be very brief, and I'll be honest.

  In 1967 the USA was involved in the Vietnam war. I was turning 18 and compelled by law to register for the military draft. EVERYONE starts out as "1-A" (Available for unrestricted military service).

  Of course as a JW I was told I was a conscientious objector to military service, so I applied for a "1-O" deferment (Conscientious objector to all military service. A registrant must establish to the satisfaction of the board that his request for exemption from combatant and noncombatant military training and service in the Armed Forces is based upon moral, ethical or religious beliefs which play a significant role in his life and that his objection to participation in war is not confined to a particular war. The registrant is still required to serve in civilian alternative service.) on these grounds and after face-to-face meetings with the local Selective Service Board in Long Island City, New York (located in Queens, NYC). I was given my "1-O" after my solo appearance before the board. But the Watchtower wanted us to avoid "alternative service" so my "1-O" was not good enough.

  What I really needed, I was told, was a MINISTERIAL deferment, a "4-D". (Minister of religion, formally ordained by a recognized religion, and serving as a full-time minister with a church and congregation). I became a PIONEER, and my goal hours were 100 per month. During the time I pioneered my overall average hours per month were slightly less than this. I was also a ministerial servant in the Middle Village congregation. I got my "4-D".

  I married in 1971 and as the "head of a household" I had to work full time and I stopped pioneering. My monthly hours became substantially reduced.

  In 1973 the USA withdrew from Vietnam, having suffered more than 58,000 casualties.

  Within the cessation of registrant processing in 1976, all registrants (except for a few alleged violators of the Military Selective Service Act) were classified "1-H" (Registrant NOT currently subject to processing for induction or alternative service) regardless of any previous classification.

  By that time - 1976 - I was well into fading out and becoming what is now known as a "POMO." My monthly hours were zero.
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  In support of Nathan N's comment, I have long maintained that the primary reason the WT required hours to be recorded was to provide proof for the young men to present to the draft board to get the 4-D. Likewise, that is the reason the 'pioneer' requirement was invented, and the reason the Ministry School was created. It was all about the draft back then. The hour requirements later morphed into more of a control mechanism, but at the inception it was the draft issue.
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  DisgruntledFool

  Here's a real 'blast from the past':

  "He (Jehovah) says the requirements for special pioneers shall be 175 hours and 50 back calls per month, which should develop into a reasonable number of studies; and for regular pioneers 150 hours and as many back calls and studies as can be properly developed during that time. And for company publishers he says, 'Let us make a quota of 60 hours and 12 back calls and at least one study a week for each publisher.' These directions come to us from the Lord through his established agency directing what is required of us; and, for those who really love the Lord and are guided by his counsel, that is a reasonable service requirement. This expression of the Lord's will should be the end of all controversy. It is for your good that these requirements are made..." -The WATCHTOWER July 1, 1943 pg 205 (Italics mine)
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  TonusOH

  They required five or six hours of field service every day for 30 days. You can tell that the people making up this rule did not have to follow it themselves, or they would have ended field service entirely.

  It also puts them in the position of constantly reducing the requirement as we supposedly get closer to the end. So, is it more urgent to act now, or less? Make up your minds!