reappoinments to elder or MS after a move...why?

by chester 16 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  chester

  This may have already been discussed in this or other forums and I may have missed it.

  In another thread Chipster mentioned something about coming up for reappointment after a move.
  

  especially if i was coming up for reappointent after a move

  
  It has always been a puzzle to me why a brother should have to be reappointed to his position after he moves to another congregation.

  I have never heard anyone complain about it. If appointments are truly made by holy spirit then why is it necessary for a brother to have to be reappointed when he moves to another congregation.

  I know of a case where a brother moved and his new congregation refused to reappoint him. He was the same person. Nothing changed about him. What do you suppose happened to the holy spirit that appointed him in the first place.

  Why should reappointment be necessary at all?

  Any comments?

  Chester
• 

  Black Man

  The whole reappointment-when-you-move-to-another-congo thing just verified the fact that Holy Spirit did NOT play a role in the process. I've known brothers who have received favorable recommendations from their previous halls sit for years at their new ones. Again, it all boils down to how much you pucker those lips to kiss those boots.
• 

  chester

  I know it was a dumb question to ask.

  I just wanted to get any onlookers to start thinking so that they can do the research that is needed to free themselves from this cult.
• 

  Black Man

  up...........
• 

  tergiversator

  I've always been curious about this too. Especially since I seem to recall cases where brothers were asked to move to another congregation to serve there, and still had to wait to be reappointed. (Sometimes, though, the Society thoughtfully waived the requirement if there were a particular "need"...)

  I do remember talking to one brother who moved into our hall who said he was really enjoying having a break from congregational responsibilities... not that he didn't enjoy being an elder, of course. Could it be something as simple (and out of character) as concern for brothers who moved to give them time to get settled? This of course makes no sense for people who simply move to another congregation in the same city.

  Just my thoughts on the matter.
  -T.
• 

  Mulan

  Didn't they just recently change this policy? I think they are automatically an elder when they move, and don't have to wait.
  I'll have to ask my informant, but I am pretty sure she told me that.
• 

  Moxy

  they did change this. the elders can fast-track the re-appointment, i believe with a letter to the branch. previously they wouldve had to wait until the next CO visit, possibly 6 mos. now it might take a month or less. its still not automatic tho.

  mox
• 

  ozziepost

  just verified the fact that Holy Spirit did NOT play a role in the process

  Black Man,

  I'm not so sure it does show that Holy Spirit is not involved. It seems to me that H.S. is not involved because of other reasons.

  If you think back to the first century congregations they made their own appointments, not as portrayed by the Watch Tower Society, by a centralised governing body in Jerusalem. An example of this is at Titus 1:5 "(to Titus)For this reason I left you in Crete, tht you might.....make appointments of older men" . Elsewhere we see the congregations choosing their leaders and it being approved later by Paul during his visit there.

  You can imagine that a man appointed in Crete may move to Jerusalem and subsequently not be appointed as a leader. Would it show that H.S. was not involved? No, because we know that Jesus had promised to send the Holy Spirit "as a helper". What did it show? That the congregations were autonomous and fairly self-governing.

  What does it show in JDub congregations when men are not re-appointed? That there is a degree of autonomy here. I'm sure the various branch offices would wish it otherwise and there have been cases where the branch has imposed an appointment on a congregation.

  In the case of the first-century congregations, it might also show that appointments were not nearly as big a deal as the Watch Tower makes out.

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading."
  TERTULLIAN, Adversus Valentinianos
• 

  Frenchy

  The re-appointment process in no way suggests any sort of autonomy of the present day congregations. The Society has complete control and say so as to who is appointed as an elder.
  Elders are difficult to remove once appointed unless they commit some serious 'transgression'. You can't remove someone, for instance, for being a butthead. (too bad!) Sometimes these bozo's move to another congregation and this is one way of not letting them back 'in' and having to deal with the idiot.
  The main reason, I believe, has already been touched on here. In congregations where 'the need is great' many concessions are made and you have elders that can barely sign their names. What would happen if this guy moves into a rather affluent congregation where the education level is above the fourth grade? Its a method of quality control.
  Sometimes the home congregation does not give a favorable letter and still the brother is appointed in the new congregation. This happens especially if he's in tight with the C.O. because it's the C.O.'s opinion and what he puts down on his report to the society that counts the most.

  -Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it-
• 

  Amazing

  Hi Chester: I have been through this. After the Elder arrangement was put into place in 1972, when a Elder or MS moved, he was deleted and would have to completely prove himself again in the new Hall. The exception to this was if he was known already in the new Hall, or the previous congregation sent along a very good letter of introductsion. It was common practice to come in from Eldershiup in the old Hall and start as an MS in the new Hall. But, sometimes, the new Hall would simply make a direct transfer.

  By the 1980s the Society clarified that any Elder transferring from one congregation to another would simply, with a letter of introduction, be reappointed in the new congregation as an Elder, and not have to go through being an MS again.

  The reappointment in this case is not the same as the initial appointment by holy spirit, because that is already recognized. Rather the reappointment in this case is more of a reassignment from one congregation to another. The Society now controls what positions an Elder serves in, so when an Elder moves, he steps down from his old position, and in the new congregation he will just be an Elder with no position, unless therre is a need. - Amazing