The story looks to have been picked up by The Evening Sun which is part of the USA Today Network - though they've just summarized the OP article.
http://www.eveningsun.com/story/news/2017/02/13/sex-abuse-case-spring-grove-church-settles/97868588/
darkspilver
JoinedPosts by darkspilver
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90
Day 5 - Fessler vs. Watchtower – Ends: Plaintiff settles in Jehovah’s Witness Child Abuse Trial
by darkspilver inday 5 in court - and apparently the plaintiff stephanie fessler has decided to settle..... http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/02/jehovahs_witness_sexual_abuse.html.
jehovah's witness sexual-abuse-coverup lawsuit settled.
february 13, 2017 at 2:37 pm, updated february 13, 2017 at 2:44 pm.
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darkspilver
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Day 5 - Fessler vs. Watchtower – Ends: Plaintiff settles in Jehovah’s Witness Child Abuse Trial
by darkspilver inday 5 in court - and apparently the plaintiff stephanie fessler has decided to settle..... http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/02/jehovahs_witness_sexual_abuse.html.
jehovah's witness sexual-abuse-coverup lawsuit settled.
february 13, 2017 at 2:37 pm, updated february 13, 2017 at 2:44 pm.
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darkspilver
Day 5 in court - and apparently the plaintiff Stephanie Fessler has decided to settle....
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/02/jehovahs_witness_sexual_abuse.html
Jehovah's Witness sexual-abuse-coverup lawsuit settled
February 13, 2017 at 2:37 PM, updated February 13, 2017 at 2:44 PM
PHILADELPHIA - A settlement agreement has been reached, but neither the victim nor the church she said failed to report her sexual abuse to the authorities can talk about it.
On the fifth day of trial Monday in Philadelphia County Court, Stephanie Fessler, of Lancaster, settled the suit she filed against the Jehovah's Witness Church in Spring Grove.
"The matter with the Jehovah's Witnesses has been resolved," her attorney, Jeffrey Fritz, said Monday.
And that was all he could say due to the confidential settlement agreement, which bars all parties from talking about the case or disclosing the amount of the settlement.
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/02/jehovahs_witness_sexual_abuse.html
Sorry - I posted here also, but it seemed more appropriate to follow the original OP's format and do a new thread for a new day in court, and so it didn't get buried. See also this 'pre-trial' thread.
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Day 1 - Fessler vs. Watchtower – Opening Statements and Motions in Jehovah’s Witness Child Abuse Trial
by AndersonsInfo innews bulletin: fessler versus watchtower – opening statements and motions in jehovah’s witness child abuse trial – day 1. .
posted on february 12, 2017. city hall, philadelphia, pennsylvania.
on a cold philadelphia morning the 7th of february, 2017, stephanie fessler walked into the court of common pleas of pennsylvania, first judicial district, civil trial division.
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darkspilver
Looks like it's over.... apparently Stephanie Fessler decided to settle....
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/02/jehovahs_witness_sexual_abuse.html
Jehovah's Witness sexual-abuse-coverup lawsuit settled
February 13, 2017 at 2:37 PM, updated February 13, 2017 at 2:44 PM
PHILADELPHIA - A settlement agreement has been reached, but neither the victim nor the church she said failed to report her sexual abuse to the authorities can talk about it.
On the fifth day of trial Monday in Philadelphia County Court, Stephanie Fessler, of Lancaster, settled the suit she filed against the Jehovah's Witness Church in Spring Grove.
"The matter with the Jehovah's Witnesses has been resolved," her attorney, Jeffrey Fritz, said Monday.
And that was all he could say due to the confidential settlement agreement, which bars all parties from talking about the case or disclosing the amount of the settlement.
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/02/jehovahs_witness_sexual_abuse.html
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Anointed o es disfellowshipped and then reinstated
by Lostandfound insorry if this already covered, have any one seen a professed anointed one disfellowshipped and subsequently reinstated?
still partaking after return.. i witnessed one who had to be "advised" not to attend memorial as his partaking in df state could stumble.
he later told people he observed memorial with emblems privately at home..
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darkspilver
It was a Question from Readers.....
Watchtower 1 March 1976, pages 158-159
Questions From Readers: Can an anointed Christian who is disfellowshiped later be reinstated and still have the heavenly hope?
Yes, that is possible. Of course, in each case Jehovah God is the one to determine whether he will extend forgiveness.
The fact that this is possible is borne out by what we read in the apostle Paul’s letters to the Corinthian congregation. He wrote to Christians who had been anointed by holy spirit and given the hope of heavenly life. Paul addressed them as “you who have been sanctified in union with Christ Jesus, called to be holy ones.”—1 Cor. 1:2; 15:49.
One of these anointed Christians began to practice fornication. When he evidently did not repent and stop his immorality, Paul directed the congregation to disfellowship him. (1 Cor. 5:1-5, 9-13) However, it seems that this disfellowshiped person thereafter did sincerely repent. He is understood to be the person whom Paul was referring to in his second letter when he advised the Corinthians to forgive and accept back the former sinner.—2 Cor. 2:6-11; 7:8-13.
When that man was reinstated into the congregation, what was his hope? Had he lost the heavenly calling, and had his hope now been changed to everlasting life on earth? No, for the earthly hope is not, as it were, a second-chance prospect. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and multitudes of other persons of outstanding faith had the hope of eternal life on earth, but this was not because they failed to measure up to the heavenly calling. They simply did not live in the time when the heavenly calling was in process according to Jehovah’s will. (Heb. 10:19, 20) Comparable faith and integrity are required of all who will gain everlasting life, whether in heaven or on a paradise earth. A Christian who is anointed with holy spirit and made a joint heir with Christ must prove faithful to that calling if he is to receive eternal life at all.—Rev. 2:10, 11; Phil. 3:8-14; Rom. 8:14-17.
This, though, does not mean that while they are on earth anointed Christians never sin. In the flesh, they are still imperfect and consequently they sin, as do all humans, and may even commit gross sin. The Christian disciple and Bible writer James, certainly an anointed Christian, wrote: “For we all stumble many times. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man.” (Jas. 3:2; 2:5) It appears that such unintentional sin resulting from imperfection is what the apostle John meant by “sin that does not incur death.” (1 John 5:16) God can forgive such sins. John said: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”—1 John 1:9.
But repentance is necessary. If an anointed Christian today practiced gross sin and did not manifest repentance, the congregation, out of obedience to God’s counsel, would have to disfellowship him. If he subsequently repented, though, he could be forgiven and reinstated, as was the man in Corinth.
God does not, however, forgive all sin. According to what Jesus said in Mark 3:28, 29, those who willfully and knowingly blaspheme God’s spirit can never be forgiven. And Paul wrote: “If we practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left, but there is a certain fearful expectation of judgment.” (Heb. 10:26, 27) Such unforgivable sin is evidently what John referred to as “sin that does incur death.”—1 John 5:16.
If an anointed Christian sinned against the spirit, practicing willful sin without repentance and ‘impaling the Son of God afresh,’ God would completely and forever reject him. (Heb. 6:4-6) Not being repentant, he would not be reinstated. Jehovah would have to select and anoint another Christian as a replacement so that the full number of 144,000 would be kept complete. It might be compared to heaven’s choice of Matthias to replace unfaithful Judas Iscariot so that there would be twelve faithful apostles of Jesus on which to build the Christian congregation.—Acts 1:23-26; Eph. 2:20.
Is this to say that if an anointed Christian is disfellowshiped, Jehovah then and there selects a replacement? No human can say that, for we cannot know if the disfellowshiped individual has committed the unforgivable sin. Jehovah knows, and so the matter can be left in his hands. Just how and when he chooses to select a replacement is for him to decide. He did not give a detailed discussion of the matter in the Bible. So rather than speculate on what He will do or try to guess whether a disfellowshiped person is beyond the possibility of repentance, we can leave the matter up to Jehovah, the righteous Judge.—Heb. 12:23.
If a congregation has had to disfellowship a person but he later repents and is reinstated, we can rejoice over Jehovah’s mercy and forgiveness. (Luke 15:7) That is so whether the person professed the heavenly hope and continues to do so or had and continues to have hope of everlasting life on earth. All of us should take to heart the lessons learned from this—our own need to fight constantly against imperfection and sin, the importance of seeking forgiveness when we do sin and the necessity of enduring to the end so as to be saved.—Matt. 10:22.
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"Heritage" Vintage JW movie from 1966
by NikL ini can't remember where i first heard about this movie but it was recently.
i guess they even showed it on tv.
probably payed for like an infomercial.. anyway, i looked it up on youtube and viola!.
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darkspilver
DNCall: I came across him while going door to door in Beverly Hills. He eventually got reinstated and finished his life as an active witness.
There's a bit more here: https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/66326/_post/1029182
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Danish Witnesses New Tactic for NH
by konceptual99 inseems like jws in denmark are using a new tactic to reach people not at home - text messages.... http://www.gp.se/nyheter/v%c3%a4rlden/jehovas-vittnens-nya-knep-n%c3%a4r-folk-inte-%c3%b6ppnar-1.4153345.
it's in swedish but translates with google translate quite nicely..
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darkspilver
Cool thanks - I had heard about it from the brief article on the inside cover of Ekstra Bladet earlier this week, but didn't think much of it when I was told as it was so brief.
But the original article in BT is much more interesting, so thanks.
BTW - seems like the trend nowadays is to get apartment and house doorbells linked to your cell phone. When someone presses the doorbell - it rings the householder on their cell phone, so you end up talking to them like it was an intercom.
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VIDEO: Queensland - Durack Kingdom Hall - 30th Anniversary
by darkspilver inthis newly released original 1987 archival footage - with voice-over narration, commentary and interviews with those involved - takes an in depth look at both the history of the durack kingdom hall and the construction of the current kingdom hall that culminated over two weekends in january 1987.. the original kingdom hall in durack dates back to 1960 - but as the jws continued to experience growth in australia - increasing by some 280% over the following 25 years, it was felt that a new, larger, kingdom hall was now needed.. the new kingdom hall was built in january 1987, but rather than simply pull-down the original kingdom hall, they decided to incorporate it within the new kingdom hall and have a somewhat large auditorium.. another interesting feature of this kingdom hall is the tiered seating used for the back few rows (for example see part 3 around 12:35 and part 4 around 10:50).
(see also the thread from last december - video queensland strathpine kh 30th anniversary ).
durack kingdom hall, 20 freeman road, durack, brisbane, qld 4077google map: https://goo.gl/maps/yhyubk4rvt92streetview: https://goo.gl/maps/lkmgvbmlk2d2.
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darkspilver
stuckinarut2: Is it still in existence, or has the society taken possession of that hall and sold it?
I included a link to Google StreetView in my OP - so you can see what it looks like nowadays.
According to jw/org there appears to be currently four congregations using this KH
- English Oxley Congregation (incl Tagalog Group)
- English Inala Congregation
- Samoan Durack Congregation
- Vietnamese Brisbane West Congregation
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VIDEO: Queensland - Durack Kingdom Hall - 30th Anniversary
by darkspilver inthis newly released original 1987 archival footage - with voice-over narration, commentary and interviews with those involved - takes an in depth look at both the history of the durack kingdom hall and the construction of the current kingdom hall that culminated over two weekends in january 1987.. the original kingdom hall in durack dates back to 1960 - but as the jws continued to experience growth in australia - increasing by some 280% over the following 25 years, it was felt that a new, larger, kingdom hall was now needed.. the new kingdom hall was built in january 1987, but rather than simply pull-down the original kingdom hall, they decided to incorporate it within the new kingdom hall and have a somewhat large auditorium.. another interesting feature of this kingdom hall is the tiered seating used for the back few rows (for example see part 3 around 12:35 and part 4 around 10:50).
(see also the thread from last december - video queensland strathpine kh 30th anniversary ).
durack kingdom hall, 20 freeman road, durack, brisbane, qld 4077google map: https://goo.gl/maps/yhyubk4rvt92streetview: https://goo.gl/maps/lkmgvbmlk2d2.
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darkspilver
Listener: 'short, shorts' on both the females and males as well as the tank tops and blokes without any tops.
haha! exactly! does rather stand out... they wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the KH nowadays. Interesting how things have changed.
Finkelstein: whats the point of this thread ????
Cool, yes that's a good question.
I knew before starting this thread that it would be of limited interest - I endeavoured to make the thread title brief but as informative as possible - so those interested could click on it, and those not interested could simply ignore it.
Although rather grainy, the presentation is IMHO fairly well done, and is actually quite watchable. The footage IMHO is also of historical interest, both for those familiar with what was done back then, and for newer people less familiar with how the 'quick-builds' operated in those early days. (Including, as Listener has pointed out above, the 'dress-code' they allowed back then).
I think there might even actually be some forum members here who come from QLD (!), so there might be a very very slight possibility that they might even possibily be in one of the videos - yes, it's a very very slight possibility, I know, the world ain't that small - otherwise they might know some of the people who are in the video.
The tiered seating for the back rows of seats in the main auditorium - as I highlighted in my OP - is also fairly unique in a 'new-build'? Or maybe it's Australian? I don't know? I was wondering if I'd get feed back on that....
So, no not terribly exciting, I'm sorry. I do think before posting a new thread if it's worth posting it or not, and sometimes I don't think it is, so I don't post it. But I take your point - next time I will try to be a bit more specific regarding the reasons why I've started a new thread.
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SCOTLAND: JW warned court will deliver judgment
by darkspilver infrom the east coast of scotland, just north of dundee...... the courier - friday 10 february 2017 - page 8. jehovah’s witness warned court will deliver judgment .
a church figure has been told by a sheriff that the courts will deliver judgment on his domestic offending and not the jehovah’s witness group he is a member of.
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darkspilver
steve2: Actually, in cases of domestic violence, it is not unusual for the victim to later approach the police and ask that the matter be dropped.
Yes, I can appreciate the huge problem - which is why crofty highlighted what they do in Scotland now. So cases ARE dealt with in a proper fashion.
Interesting though to consider some of the principles that crofty has previously linked to in another thread and how ? ( or even, if ? ) they might apply.
Andy Capp - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-35802880
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Sad news from the Spanish Front
by Hecce ini think the majority of forum friends are aware of the existence of a vibrant watchtower opposition in the spanish field.
for about 13 years the extj forum was probably the main instrument for that endeavor, sadly the couple sponsoring that site decided to close it at the end of last year.
it seems like they were overwhelmed with personal obligations and responsibilities; they were covering a 100% of the expenses without any outside cooperation or publicity.. after the closing of their forum, some of the friends started new sites to keep the flow of information alive.
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darkspilver
sp74bb: Time for forum discussion is not anymore a priority for me...
Forums can be a valuable means of 'crowd-sourcing' news and ideas from which you don't usually have access to, and which you can then expand and elaborate on yourself via either the written word on your website, or via video on youtube - but of course, if you cut off the Forum, cut off that supply......