Elders stepping down - what got your goat?

by eyeslice 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  eyeslice

  Many here formerly served as elders. What trivia/humiliation got your goat about how you were treated as an ex-elder?

  The obvious is the cermonial handing in of the elder's book - "you have been stripped of your rank and are no longer worthy of such a fine book"

  For me it was; "you have to hand your kingdom hall keys in; only elders and ministerial servants are allowed to have them". Goodness me I had a set of keys for over 20 years as more often than not I was the last to leave after the meetings. But no - "you are not worthy".

  eyeslice
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  franklin J

  I was not an elder; my father was. I was a minesterial servant.

  My father and I resigned our positions about the same time. Rather than return the keys, we told them that he keys were lost. Don't know if they changed the locks.
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  GermanXJW

  My father found a cool way to step down as an Elder: he threw the Elder's manual on the table at the place where the CO sat and said (concerning some incidents): "This behavior is satanic." Then he left.
  
  I would have loved to see the face of the CO and the other Elders. ;-)
  
  I used to be a MS. I stepped down and ceased to attend meetings and after month I returned the keys to get rid of them. They were suprised that I still had them.
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  mineralogist

  When i resigned from being a MS the PO asked me to pass my keys to a brother handling the mags instead of me. I went there to prepare them for the last time and surprisingly the other brother was already there inside the Hall handling the mags. So it should have been just a stupid excusion for handing out them.

  But funny thing was having them been busy with splitting a book study within just a few days
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  FlyingHighNow

  I was once politely informed by the elders that elders do not step down they step aside. They told me that for them to step down would imply they are over the cong rather than servants of the cong and a servant is never above his master. Ha.

  Heather
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  blondie

  Heather, I have heard some elders try to split hairs by saying "stepped aside." In this area they just avoid saying either one, just saying they have been "deleted" not to be confused with "removed."

  Here are some quotes that show that the WTS uses the phrase "stepped down" more often. The WTS is the one that calls the elders "princes, chieftains, glorious ones."

  *** w90 9/1 22 Are You Reaching Out? ***

  
  Indeed, humble longtime elders can continue to make their experience available by remaining on the body of elders. Though handicapped by age or disabilities, they need not step down.

  *** w88 1/15 27 A Convention That Increased Our Trust in Jehovah ***

  
  Entitled Loyal Submission to Jehovah and His Organization, it contained much food for thought as it portrayed how an elder felt compelled to step down because his daughter was exposed as one leading a double life.

  *** w74 7/1 408 Humbly Conform to Jehovah's Way for Salvation ***

  
  How did the former "congregation overseers" or "congregation servants" react? Almost every one of them humbly accepted the change and was appreciative that Jehovah had guided His organization into a closer conformity with early Christianity. These individuals willingly stepped down in the sense of becoming part of a body of elders, made up of equals, rather than being the one individual looked to as the overseer of the congregation.

  *** km 10/72 8 Question Box ***

  
  If a brother has been serving faithfully for some years and has seen evidence of Jehovah?s blessings upon him, why should he now step down from office? If he has the right viewpoint now on conduct and will give good counsel he should be able to continue to serve. If the local body of elders see that he has the respect of the congregation and has shown the proper qualifications over the last two or three years, he may remain in his position of service.

  *** km 12/79 3 You Must Show Consideration for Older Persons ***

  
  Although suffering from various health problems, many older brothers serve as elders and ministerial servants. What a fine example they are to us! When the limitations of age prevent them from doing as much as they would like to do now, there is no need for them to step aside, feeling they are no longer serving the congregation.
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  FlyingHighNow

  Heather, I have heard some elders try to split hairs by saying "stepped aside." In this area they just avoid saying either one, just saying they have been "deleted" not to be confused with "removed."

  You know, Blondie, I think the brothers who told me about "stepping aside" must have had at least a little conscience though the last I heard they are still faithful dubs.

  Heather
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  stillajwexelder

  Nothing got my goat - I wanted to step down --I did not want Kingdom Hall Keys - I still have a copy of Pay Attention to The Flock -- but that is just me
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  SadElder

  The rules, the lack of love and more of the same from the old goats of the Bethel CIA (AKA Service Dept) got my goat. Now they can keep it.

  Still have my Flock book, but someday I might tell 'em to get the Flock out of here!
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  Larry

  Reminds me of the story I wrote years ago:

  My Resignation As An Elder

  One of my responsibilities as an Elder was conducting or teaching a Watchtower lesson every Sunday, but it was ?killing' me teaching things that I no longer believe. It also disturbed me when we would have to visit families or individuals and I had to ?stick to the script' and offer counsel that I knew was wrong and outdated. The height of my discomfort was when I served on ?judicial committees' and had to vote on whether to expel a member or to judge the offender as being truly repentant. After a year or so of investigative research, I could no long serve in good conscious as an Elder. Up to this point the only people that knew about my internal chaos were the ones on the ?Net. No one else knew, including my wife - I didn't want to jeopardize anyone's faith. I told the Elder Body that I wanted to resign, so for convenience sake, we held a meeting at the Brooklyn headquarters. I told them the responsibilities as an Elders was interfering with me handling my household in a balanced way. Knowing that excuse was full proof I used it. After a week or so, the announcement was made and that's when the folks at the Kingdom Hall started treating me and my family differently. In their defense, I guess it was because they didn't know what to say, resigning out of the ?clear blue sky' was pretty rare. I felt relieved, but I still didn't feel free. Meeting attendance and ?field service' (trying to convert people) is everything to a JW, once you start missing anyone of the five weekly meetings or field service a ?red flag' goes up - The members start to think that something is seriously wrong. I gradually started missing the meetings, to the point of not attending any one of them. Reflecting back on those times, some of the members really tried to encourage me to come back to the meetings, but I was already mentally separated from the organization, in fact, the more I distant myself from it the more I could not believe I was in it in the first place.

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  PS - When I got up to thank everyone for all their help (or lack of), I placed the Elders book on the table and went around the table shaking everyone's hand, and when I returned back to my seat, the book was gone!

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  My 2 cents - Larry