just a rumour but i guess it makes sense - i've a friend on a circuit committee ( he knows it's not "the truth" but for family & work reasons he stays in ) & he says that the wtbts have told them not to book a swimming pool for next years one day assemblies as the plan is to have only one baptism a year at the main regional ( what they used to call "district" ) convention.. with the drop off in baptisms so that sometimes there isn't anyone baptised or just a handful , i guess this is inevitable.
i remember going to a baptism a few years ago - we had hired a municipal 25 metre swimming pool and only one person ( a rather confused and scared middle aged lady who hadn't been in a swimming pool since her youth ) was being baptised - it was all something of a farce with the "worldly" staff looking on very puzzled at such an elaborate & expensive ceremony for one person.
) also with both assemblies being one day with just short morning & afternoon sessions , i suppose it is sensible to ditch the baptism talk - it tends to be something of a snoozefest anyway at the end of the morning session.
"Why should you have to wait a year & for an assembly to get baptised?
The early christians seemed to use any body of water for baptism at any time a person wanted to be baptised."
That's right - I was baptized in a lake. We were car pooled from the assembly for the baptism. That was in 1956.
It was summertime.
thete are a lot of derocatory comments sbout witnesses and cleaning windows.
as a former window cleaner i can say:-.
a. i started my self employment at 17.. b. i built the round with my own initiative.. c. i was soon making 4 times the average hourly wage.. d. i was afraid of heights, but as the round grew i employed 2 people.. e. it exspanded to gardening painting and decorating ect, ect,.
I remember the talks at the circuit assemblies where they interviewed young brothers who started their own window washing and carpet cleaning businesses and what a blessing...they could make good money doing jobs that "worldly" people didn't want, and they had time to serve Jehovah.
Years later they found that they have a ton of competition as many "worldly" people found they could also make good money doing the same thing.
Many brothers also developed health problems which made it difficult to do their job. The could hire employees, usually JW's, but they weren't always dependable.
my memory of singing the kingdom songs go back to when i was a child in the 1950's.
they still hold a place in my memory and my heart.
how can something that is so much a part of your childhood not stay embedded in your heart.?.
Emma - I have a copy of the green song book. Would you like to take a look at it?
Bonnie
haven't heard anything more about this case.
aren't they supposed to bring jonathan holt to trial in 2014 ?.
Haven't heard anything more about this case. Aren't they supposed to bring Jonathan Holt to trial in 2014 ?
so, harold camping has died at the age of 92. no more end of the world predictions from him.
he apparently went into hiding after his last predictions didn't come true..
My apologies, it was Armstrong who was a JW first, then branched off to create the Worldwide Church of God. (Yes! He WAS a JW first)
I wrote Herbert Armstrong a letter 50 years ago asking if he had ever been a JW, and he wrote back saying he had never been a JW but that he did subscribe to the Watchtower....unless he was lying.
do you prepare for meetings?
if i go i spend a few minutes underlinging my books/watchtower.. i have noticed that those who do the micks especially notice when your stuff is not underlined, and comments are made after the meeting, not so gentle hints, about study and preperation!
in other words i am being told off, its usually the ones who are highly critical of everything i do, sometimes their whole family seems to be straining to see if my stuff is underlined, i know this because i heard the daughter to family wisper her watchtower is not underlined!.
Back when we still had the book studies in the homes, Clyde (who hadn't been to a meeting for months) decided to attend with me. The conductor was attempting to do a review of the entire book that we had just finished, and as could be expected, people were slow in answering. Every time there was a lull, Clyde would raise his hand and give an answer that was right on--amazing everyone including me. I asked him how he did it since he'd never read the book. He said it wasn't difficult, it was just all the same BS it ever was.
my daughter-in-law's father has been assigned a part on the assembly where he has to interiew 3 children.
problem is...there is only one child in his congregation.
half of his congregation is over 60 years old.
My daughter-in-law's father has been assigned a part on the assembly where he has to interiew 3 children. Problem is...there is only one child in his congregation. Half of his congregation is over 60 years old. This should be interesting!
Anybody know what the part might be about? I have to believe it will be about planning ahead to pioneer after graduation and not go to college.
Bonnie
faking of hours in field service or dragging service time out by making coffee stops or driving for hours "between" household contacts are never frowned upon, let alone mentioned, in the publications.
.
yet, in each congregation of jehovah's witnesses, to one degree or another, faking hours, padding time out with coffee stops and long journeys between opportunities to "witness" are endemic practices..
My favorite is the pioneer sister who moved from Alaska to our congregation with her husband and children (20+ years ago). She counted all her time during the trip. She justified it by placing magazines at every gas station that they stopped at.
She occasionally joined us in field service, but she kept her time going by studying with her children when they got home from school. I'm sure she had some other tricks as we didn't see her that often in service.
there's a new letter coming up next week to be read instructing the publishers to begin reporting the number of tracts placed in the ministry, including copies of kingdom news 38, annual invitations, district handbills and other tracts.
lol.
see, the borg is allegue about numbers, and why on earth do they tell you to start counting placement in the middle of a campaing, like the one they are doing now witk kingdom news 38 and not before it started??.
Somehow I think this has been done before--back in the 70's. I remember managing to get into an apartment building that my aunt lived in (it was unaccessible otherwise), and I stuffed tracts under doors before I left. It seems like we reported the tracts on our field service slips under "booklets."
i`m an optimist and i would say zilch .
i would bet you a million dollars ( if i had a million dollars ) that if you did a survey in the street that you live , asking the householders what is the life saving message jehovahs witnesses bring to your door on a regular basis , they would not have a clue.. and they have been preaching this message for over 100 years .
how inefective can they be .. the probable answers you would get are : they dont take blood transfusions.
I saw a documentary on television about religions that preach Armageddon. They mentioned several (can't remember the names), but I know that Jehovah's Witnesses were not even once mentioned. At least in recent years, I remember the Society telling us that we should put our emphasis on the new world and not on Armageddon when we're at the doors.
