i was commenting on another thread about how local kh attendance is down.
memorial attendance was also way down and the circuit assembly had hundreds less people than what is typical.
my jw family has even mentioned it.
I heard last month from a bro that he moved from our last congo to the one I attended when I was a teen, because he was actually in that territory. He said in my old old hall there are 65 cards, active maybe 50. It was a normal 100-120 pubs for years and years. The elderly died off of course, kids grew up and live elsewhere.
Definitely...the numbers are heading down.
https://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-jury-awards-two-women-m-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_1bcabb7c-7381-574b-a2ba-e011cc0250a6.html.
montana jury awards two women $35m in sex abuse lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses .
a jury in northwestern montana awarded two women $35 million wednesday in their lawsuit against the local jehovah’s witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.. .
WOW!!!!
also does any have any information about a primary school instructor name wilkinson at bethel .
^^^ 😂😂😂
as a "deep pimo" i can say that there is a confirmed re-branding.
the coordinators committee formed a focus group from service and teaching committees.
the results of that group roughly three+ years ago, with gb approval, trickled down to the other committees and eventually into what we have been seeing before our eyes in the org and local congs.. pick an organizational level and see the shift.
Interesting thread.
From a corporate standpoint, they are having an efficiency review to see what they can cut, and spin to keep the flock believing they are special so they will stick around. They have always adjusted pioneer hours down as the need arose. They have reduced meetings but still count the segments as full meetings so the counts remain the same.
It's not a kinder gentler organization. They are just making changes so they can remain relevant. I had dinner with cantleave last night and we were remarking about the very low publisher counts in the congregations we know. It will be interesting how they will spin the low numbers to still look like growth.
We used to talk, when I was in, about how the "society" has to change. But it is like a huge ship turning...it is slow and takes time. These former friends may be thinking that the ship is finally now turning. Interesting times.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/jehovahs-witnesses-child-sex-abuse-protest-reading-chessa-manion-20180824.html.
ex-jehovah’s witnesses to protest sex abuse scandals at pa. convention.
by david gambacorta, posted: 2 hours ago .
Some missionaries regularly stayed with me when they came to CA. I remember having to buy holiday and birthday paper to wrap some of their purchases they wanted to sneak back into the country. It was another time back then, before 9/11, so customs was so strict. They would just tell customs they were gifts for their kids or someone and it worked.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/catholic-priests-pennsylvania-church-jury.html.
this is the latest catholic scandal .
and all that jws in my area have been talking about gleefully.
In the last few years I connected with a bunch of teenage friends on FB. Out of the dozen there is only one that is still a JW. She's very nice, and before I accepted her friend request, I told her I was not going to meetings and was celebrating all the holidays. She still wanted to be friends so I hesitantly accepted.
A while back she took to task a few of the exJW friends for something they posted, I'm thinking it was about the abuse issue, but I forget. I really want her to read what I choose to post so I'm pretty careful what I "Like" or post.
So yesterday I put the NY Times article on my timeline. I commented that the noose was tightening on all those who have blamed children, made them face their perp without their parents in front of a panel of men, and continue to protect the corporations instead of the victims. She knows who I'm talking about. There were multiple comments from people she knew. I also said I didn't know how these men sleep at night. I know she sees what I post because she readily comments. I want her to know...the noose is tightening.
aretha franklin has died after a long bout with pancreatic cancer.
at age 76 .
she's my wife's all time favorite female vocalist.
Every song she sings she honors with that voice. Every single one is like a spiritual experience. You felt every word...carefully, musically phrased.
Thank you for the gifts you brought us and left to us. RIP Queen Aretha.
i was recently given a gift of ancestry.com and i’m curious if anyone else has used this service?.
Yes. About two years ago we connected with another family related to me by an in-law. It's been a most happy connection and we like each other very much and have grown close. It's really amazing.
So I did my own DNA, and there is no surprise on my genetic makeup, except for more Irish than Scottish. But wow, there is an abundance of 3-4th cousins that we can't figure out where they come from. I haven't had time to connect with them. But we built a family tree a few years ago and it was fascinating. One of the things that affected me emotionally was how many babies people had, and how many they lost, and how short the lifespan was.
I think it's a great service. Thank you Mormons.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pennsylvania-report-catholic-clergy-sex-abuse-scandal_us_5b2d4062e4b00295f15c56db.
pennsylvania releases damning report on catholic clergy sex abuse scandal.
the report identified over 300 catholic priests in pennsylvania who have been accused of sexual abuse.. .
I just got the below notification from the NY Times.
The noose is tightening.
i was thinking of how little i know about my father’s side of the family.
i recently inquired about ancestry.com and i’ve come to the realization that even the closest sides of my family via my father, are unknown to me .
what a shame that jehovah’s witnesses kept us apart.
What a story Caves. Thank you for sharing. What a journey.
We had very very little contact with nonJW relatives. My parents were much older when they had me so all the uncles and aunts are gone, and minimal contact with a few cousins.
My mother always preached to her sister which I found out later, really annoyed the sister. How could it not! But her sister ended up being very weird and mean, the polar opposite of my uber JW mom. So it goes. Family is complicated, JW or not.
