Tues August 4, 2015
Royal Commission
questioning of:
Rodney Spinks
Elder in Australia
Branch Office
Q. Thank you. Mr
Spinks, could you look at your first
statement, paragraph 66. I just want
to ask you some
questions about the role of the
regular pioneers. As
I understand it, from the viewpoint of
a layperson, a
regular pioneer preaches in the
community in public; is
that correct?
A. Yes, all of
Jehovah's Witnesses preach publicly in the
community. A regular pioneer is
someone who says, "I want
to expand my ministry", but what
you say is correct, yes.
Q. So they, the
regular pioneers, may preach in a public
place, such as a shopping centre or
something like that?
A. Yes.
Q. They also go door to
door, knocking on people's doors?
A. Yes.
Q. Attempting to
engage people in conversation and to
communicate to them your understanding
of the world; is
that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Or Jehovah's
understanding of the world?
A. Yes.
Q. That may also
involve going back on a number of
occasions and taking part in family
discussions and
returning to the home and being
invited into the home; is
that correct?
A. Yes, Jehovah's
Witnesses conduct Bible studies with
people, yes.
Q. I'm talking now, in
particular, about the role of the
regular pioneer - not generally. Do
you understand that?
A. Sure.
Q. As I
understand it, the regular pioneer strategy, for
want of a better word, has
been quite successful in growing
the flock around the world?
A. I don't know how to quantify
that. I guess -
I have
no reason to question it. I guess a missionary, a special
pioneer and a regular pioneer, by
nature, is going to spend
more time in the preaching work.
Excuse me. You don't know? You guess?
YOU GUESS??????
