Good comments ATJ. As with most that have spent any amount of time in JW world, congregations do vary and that is tied directly to the elders. I grew up in a small, close-knit rural congregation that was fairly conservative. Everyone always wore suits in service, things were done just so but the BOE didn't really come down real hard on folks. Then, I moved to an ultra conservative congregation where the PO was personal friends with GB members. The pressure was ramped up on stupid things like your hair couldn't touch your shirt collar and you could only wear white shirts on the platform (or to even handle mikes). The BOE was hard nosed and would come down on you like a ton of bricks if you missteped even slightly. Being the good JW boy who wanted "privileges", I feel right in line. After a few more moves, I finally joined the elder club.
The thing that always bothered me about the whole elder arrangement is the simple fact that their personal tastes and opinions matter much more than anyone elses (unless you count the CO whose opinion matters more than the local elders). I could never reconcile why a 29 year old's opinion on hemlines or hair cuts or sideburns mattered AT ALL, much less to be made law. Yet, that senario plays out again and again. I've got to think that Russell would turn over in his grave if he could see what has happened with his study group.
I started out as being pretty conservative, then as I got more mature, moved to being one of the liberals. Generally, I was the swing vote. Jeff, your theory about the liberals being the ones that drop out the most is true in my experience. Almost every elder that I know that has resigned in the last 5 years or so was either outright liberal or at least liberal leaning. I know a few liberals that have hung in just to "provide balance" as one told me recently.
One question Jeff. Has the actual number of elders worldwide decreased or has the ratio of elders to publishers decreased? In my limited experience, it seems to me the number has held fairly steady while the number of pulishers has increased slightly bring the ratio down. Just curious because I'm sure you probably have a better view that I do.