Declining Meeting Attendance-CO visit (page 5)

Sunspot

Most of the earlier assemblies (when I began attending in the early '70s) were held in outdoors stadiums, racetracks, etc. I don't care HOW much goop I put on my family's faces, we always came away with noses that looked like burnt potato chips.

There were always several (usually sisters) that fainted every year, and countless folks of all ages being quite sick due to the strong sun and terrific heat. The weathermen would be warning people to stay inside on some bad days, and the WTS didn't give a rat's behind what the effects the heat would have on these thousands of JWs gathered for a (gag) FINE spiritual feast.

After I wrote my previous post, I was thinking.......that I DID attend a couple of assemblies that lasted five days. They'd start on a Wednesday afternoon and last until Sunday about four PM.

I do remember too, the crappy quality of the sound systems back then. (Have they improved at all?) It was next to torture to sit there in uncomfortable seats, in the baking sun, struggling to make sense out of the gibberish that sounded like the teacher in the Charly Brown cartoons!

Heaven FORBID if any of us just decided to skip the entire assembly and go to the beach!

Annie

Klaus Vollmer

70 pounds is also a sack full says the miller.....

less visitors in the KH - more visitors on JWD

hey, that is evolution of revolution. or should I say, that Brooklyn lost its leadership?

I am sure they miss their quickies with the UN as uNGOdly harlot

Jim_TX

RE: Pianos -

I remember attending a KH when I was a kiddo... we had one of them there pie-annos. There was only one gal that knew how to actually play it.

If you think about it... with all of the 'don't dos' that they have... it's a wonder that any one knows how to play _any_ musical instrument.

RE: Assemblies -

Yeah - I remember the long assemblies... 1969 was the first one I went to. (There was one in 1963 - but my family was not able to go to that one. Pasadena, CA)

In 1969 - Kansas City, MO. It was in a baseball stadium, and it rained a lot. That's all I remember. Oh - and that parking was usually in someones' front yard where we had to pay. It wasn't in a 'good' neighborhood, either. At least... not one where you felt safe.

Then there was... 1973(?) and 1978(?)... probably some after that... but I had stopped going by then. I remember the wife and daughter going, though.

Usually had a nice little vacation whilst they were gone.

Regards,

Jim TX

lilybird

Yes but the big excitement was when they put on the dramas in full costume, That was the only time you could stay awake, Also you had to volunteer to help serve food. I used to hate that. My friend and I just wanted to cruise around looking for other teens(mostly guys) to talk to.

William Penwell

Same recycled crap from meeting to meeting. I guess even the average dub is starting to get tired of the same garabage over and over again. I haven't been to a meeting in years and if I went to one tomorrow, I would hear nothing new. I guess its time for another new "end of system" date.

Will

cyber-sista

It just struck me when reading this how very anal the JWs are about counting those at the meetings. One time when I was sick with a cough (which I probably caught from sitting near another coughing JW at the meeting the week before--sick or not people had to come to the meetings!) I sat out in the car in the KH and listened over the meeting over the radio. It was the Thurs night meeting and an elder came outside and shined a flashlight around in the cars to see if anyone was outside to be counted (we had very low attendance) and there were a couple of people with chronic illnesses who sat out in their cars sometimes. He didn't seem concerned as to why we were out there, nor did he ask about my well being--he was just glad I was there for the head count. JWs are totally hung up on the number things--number of those attending meetings, numbers of hours in the field service....etc....

AK - Jeff

My first "district" experience was in 1971 - my Mom was inactive, so I missed all the 60's assemblies. My first was at 16.

5 days that started at 0900 and ended at 2100 as I recall . I was at the NY international in 1973 - hot, crowded, and hours of listening to Knorr and Franz while all the 'friends' worshipped all the words they spoke, went home and sold their houses to 'finish out the system' - I hope the old home was worth a lot cause they are still waiting.

Observador - I liked your picture - do all kingdom halls look like they were cut on a cookie sheet!!! All the witnesses do too!!

Jeff

minimus

If The AWAKE! can be lessened, why not the meetings---for all the same reasons? 10 years ago I was suprised that the CO admitted the problem with attendance was everywhere.

eyeslice

From my experience, I don't believe that meeting attendance is purely a western problem.

Meeting attendances are a problem in Eastern Europe, Africa and SE Asia because generally the people here are poor and have to work harder. If you have no money for bus fares and have to work evenings, it is not likely that meeting attendance is going to be a high priority.

The WTBTS demands of 5 meetings a week is the real problem. It is a form of control.

Eyeslice

garybuss

The problem with relying on a piano for music in the Kingdom Hall was in the normal small congregation there was only one piano player that could play 100+ songs in E minor double flat and she could have turned into the town whore and they could not have disfellowshipped her.

Declining Meeting Attendance-CO visit

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