Did your conscience ever bother you when you were counseling/reproving/disfellowshipping ones in the congregation? Did it feel extreme or justified based on your biblical understanding at the time.
This young lady came to me and confessed that she was involved in heavy petting with the young man.
It wasn't even sex that the two were involved in, they were both still virgins. Unfortunately,
prolonged heavy petting is considered the sin of "loose conduct" among Jehovah's Witnesses and can
require a judicial committee to address the violation of the rules. I wanted to tell her to forget
about it and just be careful in the future, but it was clear that she felt that she had committed
some awful sin against Jehovah and must face the proper discipline in order to be forgiven.
So the judicial committee was formed and I was the chairman. It was a simple case. She confessed
when we met with her and the way these things are handled, she would have to step down from her
pioneering work since no glorified titles can be retained by sinners (except the elders). She was
very embarrassed by the whole situation and was going to be glad it was over. What a shame it
wasn't over. Despite her insistence on bringing her terrible sin to Jehovah through the elders,
the young lady was already changed by this matter. She was so fragile and didn't want anyone else
to know what had happened.
One of the other two elders on the committee felt that we needed to make
an example of her to the congregation. He said that there are many young ones just like her that
need to know that it is easy to fall victim to our own treacherous hearts when getting involved
with the opposite sex. He wanted to announce to the congregation that she was "reproved." I told
the other elder that no such announcement needed to be made. We could announce that she was no
longer a pioneer, but to let the congregation draw their own conclusions as to why that was so.
An "announcement of reproof" is only necessary when the matter is widely known. The other elder
said that the matter could become widely known. I disagreed and told him that if I were wrong, the
procedure was to make an announcement later if and when the matter became widely known. Further, I
told him that we shouldn't put people through a bunch of embarrassment and use them as warning
examples to the congregation.
He knew I was right, but didn't want to let it go. As the chairman,
I told him we would not make such an announcement unless all three elders on the committee agreed
to it, and I would not agree to it. This elder decided to go around me. If congregation elders are
ever unsure on how to handle a matter, they can call Watch Tower's "Service Desk" (the people who
direct these matters) for procedural clarifications. This elder called Watch Tower on his own
(instead of insisting that all 3 of us contact them) and he related the situation in some manner
until they insisted that an announcement must be made that this woman had met with a judicial
committee and was reproved.
The "service desk" at Watch Tower called our coordinator of the elders and told him that the
chairman (me) must make that announcement. I was told all this during a congregation meeting just
minutes before the announcements were to be made and had to go out in front of the audience (and
this young lady) on a moment's notice to do this. The further embarrassment the young lady received
from my announcement and people gossiping about her nearly destroyed her. She actually never spoke
to me again because she initially came to me for help and I made that announcement. I think one
good thing came out of that- she learned never to confide in the elders again.