No, I'm not kidding.
Congregation Picnics
by Funchback 44 Replies latest jw friends
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Matty
Yes, this reminds me of the days when being in a Jehovah's Witness congregation was much more of an extended (albeit disfunctional) family than it is now. My congregation (in London) had them very regularly in the 70's as well. I think all that counsel about "large gatherings" put paid to big get-togethers of all sorts, you're quite right Mini.
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gumby
Funchmeister......you made me laugh with...."hey everyone.....were going to say the prayer" comment.
Kls,
We used to have them but they were discouraged because they were too large a gathering and somethin' bad could happen.
The society discouraged gatherings that could not be properly shaparoned and said that large ones should be avoided. This was pushed for awhile but I do not know if it's still enforced as it once was. Every congregation has it's own set of boneheads with varying rule-setting........depends if the one with the muscle is from the old school or not. Gumby -
Nikita
Hey Bri! I remember those days--one year I picked up a tick at one of those "gatherings."
Nikita/Les
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Dan-O
Our KH in Florida sure didn't have a swimming pool, Cheech. But we had the picnics in the 70s & early 80s. There was usually square dancing involved at some point. I had successfully blocked that memory until now.
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Funchback
Ours went beyond the 70's. In fact, they had them at least until 2002.
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razorMind
I can remember, with any distinct clarity, only one such picnic. I hazily remember the setting being very beautiful. I think some people owned some grounds with an old-fashioned mill, complete with water-wheel, and let it be used for picnics. I often wonder whatever happened to those grounds and have even tried to find the place to see it, with no luck.
My old cong was really uptight and strict. They hardly even have things like baby/wedding showers, much less any parties or "get-togethers". Most of those festivities happened during the 1970's. I think most of the members at my old cong. only "associate" at the meetings nowadays.
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Dan-O
They may still be having them at my old congregation, Funchback. I haven't been to meetings since the early 80s, so I have no idea what they do there anymore.
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Matty
The social events in my congregation in London were (1) Ice Skating (2) Barn Dances (3) Trips to the British Museum (4) Picnics (5) Trips to the Safari Park. That was about it for "Elder Approved" congregational trips. Some brothers and sisters often got together for trips to Thorpe Park or Chessington World of Adventures or Alton Towers but they weren't given the "stamp of approval" by being mentioned in the Announcements at the Service meeting. That way they could pick and choose who were invited, but some people always refused to go to anything that wasn't congregationally approved.
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Country Girl
We had great picnics. They were a lot of fun. We also gathered every year up in the beautiful mountains of Colorado for hiking, baseball, and food. One of the annointed sisters owned a huge ranch up there, but it was kind of embarassing because the outhouse was over the creek, right by the trail you walked to to get to the food and you could see stuff coming out of the bottom of it. Bleck. I just went in the woods.. hehehhe. Beautiful place in Jefferson, Colorado.
Our teenagers pretty much had parties every weekend and we danced "The Hustle" and all those other goofy disco dances. Alot of the times it was teenagers from several halls. If that doesn't date me, I don't know what does.. heheh. We also had ski trips, skate parties, slumber parties, mall hops, etc. Lots of fun.
Country Girl