My husband and I were in the same Kingdom Hall for over 27 yrs . We were regular meeting attenders ,but our field service was very low hrs the last couple of yrs . Then one day we just stopped attending ...I got one call from a concerned sister in the hall ,Someone that had recently moved into the congregation btw . My husband said two sisters stopped by with the magazines a couple of times while i was at work (Which they know when I am at work ,I drive School bus ) But neither one called or made an effort to ask when a better time was to catch me home.
Yes ,at first you kind of want to know ,will anyone honestly care about me ? For me it really didn't matter because i was already convinced they were liars . I was done with the religion ,however , my husband on the other hand ,could have been swayed back in if someone had shown an ounce of personal interest in him . It was a good thing they acted as I had expected they would ,because that is what helped my husband make his mind up to stay out .
One Elder ,that we had always viewed as a personal friend ,stopped by after a few months to invite us to the Memorial . It was an informal visit ,and he asked if there was anything we wanted to discuss ....because he seemed sincere we decided to attend the Memorial . At the Memorial people snubbed us ,and I was clearly reminded why I had quit going . That was our last meeting ...after that no one ever came by or called again . My husband began to realize there was no real friendship with any of these people . His own step -brother ,and nephews were servants in the hall ,and never once asked how he was .
Three yrs later I put some white lights ,and lighted deer out on my lawn during Christmas time . That January the Elder 'friend' came knocking at the door wanted to tell us all about the new meeting changes (as his front ) His real intention was to ask if I was celebrating holidays now . I turned them away from the door because of being sick . Shortly after this he saw me in the grocery store and asked if they could come by for a 'sheparding visit ' ...ummm after three yrs ??! IF THIS HAPPENS TO YOU BEWARE IT IS A TRAP ! Just tell them NO it has been too long and you are not interested . Because I found out too late that if you invite them back into your life for a 'visit' it is like telling them you recognize them as spiritual leaders again .
This Sheparding visit turned into an avenue for them to ask personal questions . Once again they feigned interest only to later reveal they just wanted us to answer the question 'Were we celebrating holidays?' In other words their only real interest was to find something on us to finally eject us publically from the congregation ,because evidently inactive ones are some sort of loose ends that need to be sewn back into the flock or snipped off .
I refused to allow them to bully me into answering ,and he suggested I write a DA letter if I no longer wanted to be a Witness . I refused that too because I am stubborn ,and by that time no longer felt I needed to do anything they requested . That lead to harrassing calls and visits until I sent a cease and desist letter .
I do not know if they ever publically announced anything to the congregation ,but we are shunned .