in the past our congregation had some great elders.. very kind but seemed like if they ever got in sync and everything was going well the CO would move one or two to another congregation and mess ours all up.. recent years the elders are kept so busy with " building commitees' and "appeal commitees" and " convention commitees" etc that they dont know their ass from a hole in the ground. they arent shepards of the flock they are society matrons on commitees.
What Was Your General Impression of Elders?
by minimus 40 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
confuzzed
hi there. i'm new to this site. i generally think that the impression everyone has of the elders is the same: that they are all ever dominating over every aspect of our lives. i guess we need to remember that in MOST cases, the elders really do have our best interests at heart no matter how they go about showing it. having said that, i have had some bad experiences with elders and also some good ones. i don't feel that they should be in the firing line any more than any one of the other brothers and sisters that may judge us for one reason or the other; the elders just make themselves known more. i dunno! i believe they all believe that what they are doing is the right thing. am i too forgiving???? :)
-
confuzzed
i forgot to mention in my last post that the two dearest men in my life were brother john dungey also refered to by me as 'uncle john' and a sweet old man called dudley (i don't think many people knew his last name). uncle john shaped my life in so many ways and even when i left the truth, uncle johns guidance saved me from making life latering mistakes (well some anyway:)). and anyone would have to admit even as a reformed 'jw' that there are some things going on out there in the big wide world that what our parents and elders said about them was true. bad associations poiling useful habits should not just be used for witnesses. i got into many horrible things that have scarred me in many ways due to the influences of people around me when i left the truth. then, uncle dudley. he was an elder but as the years passed on and he was no longer coherent enough to be an elder, his wisdom, soft voice and kind words will forever be a part of who i am. although many elders have their problems, considering they are mere imperfect mortals, i have found that in a lot of cases, if you are ready to see the elders as a friend rather than an enemy, they can be very valuable in more ways than just to discipline us when we have done something 'bad'. once again, maybe i am being too forgiving!
-
confuzzed
i think previously i replied to specific person not the whole forum and i apologise to those people for that. i this instance i feel the need to write again. basically what i said was that everyone has theoir imperfections and everyone needs to realise this. although not in the truth anymore, there are some wonderful elders who have made a lasting impression on my life. don't judge all because of a few bad ones. that would be like never eating your favourite food because you may have encountered a bad serving. you would still try again would you not???
-
confuzzed
ok, maybe i did reply to everyone. oops :) my bad
-
minimus
WELCOME CONFUZZED!!! I like a lot of elders, too. But many think yjeir crap don't stink.
-
Beachbender
Imperfect men, who make their share of mistakes, but had the power
to change anyone else`s lives ( families ) forever ! And not look back
or ahead to see what kind of damage they caused! Do I sound a little
bitter??!
-
HoChiMin
While an elder at first I thought, "wow what a serious position this is" then after a few years it started to become monotonous. I felt like a baby sitter, or should I say daycare worker with a boss (WT) that had a bad disposition. The last couple of years (of 10) the infighting among some elders opened my eyes to the possibility the organization was corrupt. When they were done with destroying one or more other elders (some deservedly so) they would turn to another target. I was on my way out on the orginazation when they turned their sights on me. Two fellow elders wanted to speak with me in the back room. I was happy for this for I resigned that day, went only to two more meetings and then never went back. The PO at the time couldn't have chaired a kindergarten meeting properly and was an uneducated part time pizza delivery man. The current PO is a dim witted factory worker, not that there is anything wrong with factory workers, I only state the fact because the adherents will look to these individuals for answers to serious problems in life
The WT wants absolute control over all members' lives, so the impression the elders portray is very important and well orchestrated. Their individual personality's will vary and can either increase or diminish the influance of control or likeablity.
HCM
-
new light
As a youngin', I considered them to be great authority figures, commanding more respect than a judge or senator, just because that's the way we were taught to think.
My latest impression of the elders I personally dealt with in my twenties was that they were, for the most part, a bunch of well-meaning, although misled, regular guys. There was the occasional holy roller or gossiper, but hey, those types are in any church group. I consider myself lucky not to have dealt with any power-hungry elders like the ones mentioned on this board and certainly the ones I've heard about locally.
-
franklin J
some very consciencious, but most were ignorant pompous asses who really thought they had attained some worth in life.....