Insider info given to me by a very loyal, long time brother

by seeitallclearlynow 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  seeitallclearlynow

  As mentioned in the topic title, a very active, very positive, "faithful" brother talked to me out of the blue at work last week. It was a highly unusual opportunity - I happened to be in a secluded area, captive to my task, and I saw him passing so said hello.

  He's a wonderful person with a well-known, fantastic sense of humor, known all over the circuit and district. Former pioneer, elder, fill-in C.O. I say all this to give background and credibility to what he let me in on!

  He said back in 70-71 they changed the congregation servant arrangement to the body of elders, saying they didn't want the problems associated with a few men having too much authority, as in the Catholic Church.

  There was the new arrangement put into place, with various elders appointed to different positions, with regular rotation.

  Since then, the org had gotten away from the rotation on certain positions. And he says they are now having the problems that they had said would result from giving one man too much authority (in this case, by not rotating the P.O.'s)

  Now he took this as proof of the Society's wisdom back in '71. I take it in an entirely different light...muah hahahah!

  Anyone else heard tricklings of this mounting "problem" of power? I know we've all heard and many have commented on the abuse of authority on the part of many elders in general, but what of this specific application?
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  blondie

  The Service Committee is made up of the PO, the secretary and the service overseer. These 3 brothers are privy to some information from the WTS that they may not share with the other elders. They also make decisions for the congregation and regarding the status of various brothers and sisters without the other elders having input or knowing the specifics.

  This is true of some congregations I know of (the elders complained about it to me...go figure).

  It does tend to shut the other elders out of important situations regarding the congregation.

  Blondie
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  tijkmo

  nothing specific is being said but i have discussed this with someone who posts here and who has friends in brooklyn inc very close to gb who say the gb know the elder arrangement just isnt working esp judicially but dont know what to do about...going back to the rotation is likely to put even more noses out of joint now than it did in the 70s....good
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  HadEnuf

  Now he took this as proof of the Society's wisdom back in '71. I take it in an entirely different light...muah hahahah!

  I agree seeitallclearlynow. The "power" thing with elders has escalated over the years to the point where many of the "Pillars Of The Congregation" elders are just so overbearing and obnoxious that they can barely be tolerated.

  In our congregation it was VERY apparent that a small group of elders, all related to boot, were full of themselves and were even referred to (heard through the JW "Gossip Machine") by a CO as "The Dynasty". In fact, when our congregation split, it was hoped by many that this "dynasty" would be broken up and hopefully the power they held over the "sheep" would be diluted. OH YEAH, LIKE THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN! Nope...the same elders just kept the same positions and just brought newer or different elders into their "Boys Club".

  When an elder goes on a power trip...it's hard to put it to an end. GOOD RIDDANCE!

  Cathy L.
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  EvilForce

  My grandfather was a city overseer in the 40's, 50's, and I think until early 60, or 61. He left his wife (my grandmother) and ran off with someone else. Since so much of the "organization" was in one falliable man 100's of witnesses were "stumbled" by this. My mother fell away for a time as well, and other people who were around at that time have given me ranges of 50 people to 250 people....
  
  By rotating PO's they would have to tell more "elders" about private matters. By having only one person knowing the private info of the religion, by changing doctrine one only needs to worry about a few thousand PO's. However, if you had rotated them then you would have expotentially more "brothers" to keep in line.
  
  However, they are now back to that same ole' problem of having 1 brother be the face of the organization.
  
  I just asked my mother earlier this morning "How much time did Jesus preach about God's heavenly or earthly organization?" Please get together each and all versus of where he talked about "Formation, execution, and operations" of God's Organization.
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  Siddhashunyata

  Considering the kind of personal qualities it takes to become and stay an Elder ( denial, intellectual dishonesty,ambition,compromise of values ) it is a self perpetuating dilemma. May the Governing Body and the WT Corporations live in interesting times.
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  Scully

  He said back in 70-71 they changed the congregation servant arrangement to the body of elders, saying they didn't want the problems associated with a few men having too much authority, as in the Catholic Church.

  There was the new arrangement put into place, with various elders appointed to different positions, with regular rotation.

  Since then, the org had gotten away from the rotation on certain positions. And he says they are now having the problems that they had said would result from giving one man too much authority (in this case, by not rotating the P.O.'s)

  Now he took this as proof of the Society's wisdom back in '71. I take it in an entirely different light...muah hahahah!

  I might have said that I take it as proof that it is time to give Sisters TM more responsibility in the congregations. Obviously, the Brothers TM aren't handling it as well as they should.
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  AK - Jeff

  Maybe they could just go ahead at this point and make them all 'priests', forbid to marry, and make the biggest headed one in any area the Archbishop of the District. They already have a built in pedophilia problem, this would finish the deal....

  Jeff
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  EvilForce

  No one could take sisters leading the congregation seriously. You'd have to wear a napkin or scarf over your head all the time...that just distracts too many people....
  
  (Said with tongue in cheek)
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  William Penwell

  My experiance is that there are 2 tiers of elders. Those that have the power and the ones that are on the sidelines watching. The ones with the power seem to have their own little clique. Getting right back to a clergy class.
  
  
  Will