hello all.. i need a quick answer, and also a solid reference in the literature, please.. if a jw marries an unbeliever, there is reproof, it's frowned upon, it's disloyal, there will be loss of privileges, etc, but there's no other more serious consequences.
but, in a scenario where two people are free to marry, but one is a baptized jw and the other is disfellowshipped / disassociated, what are the consequences?.
thanks for your help.. r..
I need a quick answer, and also a solid reference in the literature, please
According to "Shepherd the flock" book, a judicial committee has to be formed, if member of congregation is continuously having close conduct with a disfellowshipped person not part of family. (sfl chapter 12, "brazen conduct")
And i guess it is impossible that a JC get's convinced of such a person's repentance in case of marriage; so he/she will be disfellowshipped for sure.
what’s keeping them?
this has got to be the latest it’s ever been.
maybe it’s the last one they’ll ever publish too, after dropping reporting hours for publishers ….
Still having growth 3% in Germany, 6% in Ireland, 2% in Austria, 6% in Czech Republic and so on is pretty remarkable at this point
Indeed, they are doing better than lot of other churches in those countries.
But keep in mind: statistics for service year 2023 Europe were affected by refugees from Ukraine. According to JW news from June 2022, some 23 000 publishers from Ukraine fled to other European countries. They were there underrated in average numbers in service 2022, as they arrived quite late (and often, their publisher records even much later, due to war) in that service year. So for 2023 numbers of JWs, these refugees automatically mean an increase of more than plus 1% in lot of European countries.
this is going to break the hearts of a lot of uber-jw's!
reddit has now removed the video link of samuel herd telling jw's they will no longer have to report time or placements - just tick a box which says "active.".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akdshyx79rm&t=13s.
I see no strategy.
I see no sense in the change.
1.) The change has nothing to do with legally protecting the org. Otherwise, they would stop pioneers from reporting as well.
2.) Since restarting of public preaching activities after COVID-19, the biggest challenge for congregations has been to bring publishers to do door to door witnessing again. That's what CO's meetings with elders and MSs have been about all over the world in the last six months. And it were the detailed reports that identified that massive challenge for the org: Who has not been actively out for service in territory, but simply continued to craft some witness cards at home as done during pandemics? The lot of publishers who have been monthly reporting some hours without anymore reporting any placements/any return visits at all. So to stop detailed reporting foils PIMI elders' efforts to encourage those publishers to restart door to door witnessing.
3.) Even among elders and ministerial servants, there are quite a lot who have not yet restarted door to door service to the same extent they had done before COVID-19. So I personally was expecting that some elders and ministerial servants would have been deleted within next one or two years due to their lack of seal in field service. To stop detailed reporting makes it unnecessary or even impossible to delete such elders. But, of course, on a long run, this can't be a positive development for JWs' preaching activities.
4.) When org paused pioneers' hours goal during COVID-19 pandemic, many pioneers reduced their amount of time spent for preaching activities dramatically. This was a clear proof that lot of preaching work before had not been done due to unconditional love to Jehovah and to people in territory, but due to some social pressure in connection with hour goals and reporting. So the org knows well that to stop. detailed reporting will reduce hours spent in field service.
5.) First reactions in congregations to yesterday's announcement seem to be mixed. A lot of publishers appreciate this. But others start asking: why does the org create now an additional barrier between publishers and pioneers? Are publishers' hours worthless as only pioneers' hours have to be reported? Stopping detailed reporting would have been a chance to eliminate status-orientated way of thinking ("he is pioneer" vs. "he is just a publisher"). This opportunity has been missed; even worse, the gap between pioneers and rest of congregation will increase.
hi i want to tell my story and get advice.
i'm a single sister ( in usa) that has been baptized for 20 years.
i came from the world, so did not grow up in the truth and i have no family in the truth -- i am alone.. last year i met a brother & we did have premarital sex while we were dating.
You wrote:
"But there was no reason to come forward with it. The matter was resolved when we married."
If you said similar things to JC, it is clear that they had to disfellowship you due to lack of repentance. Marriage did just mean that you stopped committing sins, but marriage did not mean that the matter was resolved.
Just as an example: Someone goes to supermarket and commits shoplifting. The next day, again he goes to supermarket and commits shoplifting. The day after, again, he goes to supermarket and commits shoplifting. On the fourth day, he goes to supermarket and buys some goods regularly, without shoplifting. Does this really mean that now, on day 4, he has resolved his previous crimes? No, he just stopped sinning. But repentance would bring him to confess his previous sins.
this has been announced on the jw's official website, in the "jw news" section.
this is not a joke.
anthony moron da turd is out as a gluttonous body member!
Spreading of rumors and suspicion as done by ExbethelitenowPIMA is disgusting.
i was trying to think of some common jw words and phrases i don't think are in the bible .. new world order new system spiritual israel governing body channel of communication organization reporting time pioneer aux pioneer circuit overseer kingdom hall circuit assembly district convention....,maybe you can think of something to add if you are inclined..
"New" scrolls will be opened.
table of contents.
overview 1-2. safety precautions 3-5. get vaccinated and boosted take extra health precautions watch for symptoms 5. missed classroom instruction 6 maintain a spiritual outlook 7. overview.
3 4. safety precautions for attending theocratic schools.
Initial post claims to cite S-294: "individuals need to get the latest COVID-19 vaccine booster shots."
This is not true.
In fact, S-294 says: "individuals should consider getting the latest COVID-19 vaccine booster shots."
Booster is recommended, but not required.
this has been announced on the jw's official website, in the "jw news" section.
this is not a joke.
anthony moron da turd is out as a gluttonous body member!
I personally think, any speculations about a connection with PA cases are completely unsubstantiated. GB has been continuously trying to tell that child abuse cases are handled correctly, based on biblical principles. If AMIII really is facing any legal difficulties in PA, I am convinced that GB would stay together and fight. They would tell that such legal difficulties just prove that Satan is fighting against the org (similar as they have been doing with legal difficulties with shunning in Norway in the last months). Removing AMIII in connection with his handling of such cases would not strengthen, but weaken GB's standing inside the org.
And, given AMIII's age, his very straightforward and loyal talks, and the fact that in announcement he is explicitly called "brother", I don't see a chance that he is a kind of second Raymond Franz.
Theoretically possible are following scenarios:
1.) There was any wrongdoing requiring a JC. If so, I doubt that any future WT org's publications would enable us to draw conclusions on nature of wrongdoing (Elders schools highlightened importance of confidentiality of JC matters). I hate any speculations on kind of possible wrongdoing; especially in a forum dominated by ex-JWs it should be well-known that such speculations are often ill-founded.
2.) Recent new appointments changed majority in GB and made serious changes possible; AMIII is not agreeing with changes and decided to resign. If so, we should see any major doctrinal or organizational changes before end of 2023.
3.) He resigned for personal reasons, such as severe health problems, or severe situation in family. This would be very unusual for a GB member, but as AMIII talks were quite direct and straight forward, I consider it possible that he fells such an unusual decision. If so, they would not mention the reason in official announcement (as well as an announcement doesn't give reason if a congregational elder, or a regular pioneer, decides to resign for similar reasons). But I guess, that, in such a case, to avoid negative speculations, they would mention AMIII in an appreciative way, let's say, in a future monthly broadcasting.
there is a huge problem now in all congregations as the gb stubbornly will not do the u turn on staying fully vaccinated that many hoped they would do.. all congregations around the world the cobe has to ask all ministerial servants and elders if they are fully vaccinated (meaning no more than six months since last shot).
there is a massive problem now with many many jdubs not getting their latest boosters and not wanting to stay fully vaccinated .
but more serious than that is how the gb painted themselves into a corner with these vaccine mandates.. most governments did a u turn on the vax mandates but the gb can’t get out of this one so easily .
No booster is required for attending any theocratic school.
Full primary immunization (depending on vaccine, this is two or three jabs) is enough.
i recently married my best friend of 32 years.
she is a life-long jw and once an active pioneer, i am a 'worldly' person through-and-through, always will be.
we married because it was the only way we could find a way of staying together while giving her a path back to her religion ultimately, which she does not want to (or cannot) let go of.
1.) How to avoid to be disfellowshipped:
I fully agree with Sanchy's recommendation to say at Judicial Comittee: "I have hurt Jehovah and sinned against him, I've learned my lesson and have taken steps to never repeat it".
And I recommend to add something like: "I have intensively asked Jehovah´s forgiveness. And now I do feel that he has forgiven me. I`m grateful that he has been blessing my deeds of repentance."
2.) Does your wife know that you have read the "Shepherd"-book? If so, it is up to you if you want to point her to chapter 12:56-58, and to chapter 8:25-27.Those paragraphs show that it may not be necessary to install a JC, if a lot of years have passed, and if, in the meantime, the wrongdoer seems to have been blessed by Jehovah.
Of course, these paragraphs do not describe your wife´s current situation, as not a lot of years have yet passed. But those paragraphs may motivate your wife to wait with confessing. Those paragraphs may calm your wife if she is currently not fully sure if, and when, to go the elders and to confess. And, moreover, it may help her to alienate from organization/congregation, if she becomes aware, that even grave sins can be forgiven by Jehovah, without installing any Judicial Comittee.
