no more watchtower and awake mags every 2 weeks to place.
no private home book studies.
no more "essential" spiritual food meals 5x a week.
How is the change affecting?
No reaction in my congregation. Sincere ones are continuing the way they did before the change.
Just imagine how the congregants in the first-century congregations reacted when the circumcision requirement was done away with.
am i being mean, thinking that travelling overseers should get a part-time job like paul did, in order to not be a burden to the congregation?
i wouldn't put my hand up when we were asked to raise it if we were happy to give £50 from congregation funds to the c.o.
so that he could take his wife out for a meal.
in order to not be a burden to the congregation?
Elders reimburse the CO out of the bank account funds they have. If they can't they can ask the branch and they pick it up.
I wouldn't put my hand up when we were asked to raise it if we were happy to give £50 from congregation funds to the c.o. so that he could take his wife out for a meal.
There is no such arrangement. If your elders did it, it was plain wrong.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1734baj/they_just_had_a_huge_meeting/.
this reddit post suggests that the cessation of reporting hours isn't the only thing announced at the recent meeting.
can anyone in, or sufficiently well versed in jwdom confirm that the op's understanding of this announcement correct?.
Are these Reddit posts real?
In one post, the poster says that his great-grandson called and said that two regular pioneers from a super PIMI family immediately quit pioneering after the annual meeting and no one from the family went to the meetings.
In another post, the same poster said that his grandson called and said that several elders and their wives from nearby congregations met together at that house after the annual meeting and unanimously decided that they were quitting as elders.
this video starts slow, but is worth the watch.
.
https://www.youtube.com/live/oo6tyxodkvk?si=oduof8kkvjypkoyh.
Vidiot:Maybe you’re using an older copy of the Shepherding book.
It's the April 2023 version of the Elders book, the most recent one.
For a JC to be formed, a person needs to actively share his apostate thoughts with others, and it will be formed after the person persists even after 2 official warnings by the Body of Elders.
Also, the 2 counsels and the JC will be formed only when there are 2 witnesses, with whom the person has shared his apostate thoughts actively.
this video starts slow, but is worth the watch.
.
https://www.youtube.com/live/oo6tyxodkvk?si=oduof8kkvjypkoyh.
An error in the last part of the video. He says that earlier people were disfellowshipped only if they spread apostate thoughts to others, but with the new elder's book, a judicial committee is formed even if a person has not shared apostate thoughts with anyone, but just has it in his mind.
This is incorrect.
SFL 12:39.3:
If one obstinately is speaking about or deliberately spreading false teachings, this may be or may lead to apostasy. If there is no response after a first and a second admonition, a judicial committee should be formed.—Titus 3:10, 11; w86 4/1 pp. 30-31.
mandated shunning is on the rise around the world with devastating effects on millions of people.
shunning that is mandated by organized groups to its members is a form of both physical and psychological violence against those people being shunned and cut off from their family and life-long relationships.
mandated shunning means that the shunning is ordered from the top down.
The question is not if shunning is harmful or not. The issue is if it's harmful enough to have the government come in and legislate it.
Also, how do we quantify the harm it has caused? There is an untold number of disfellowshipped ones who have returned to JW's and have been the vocal promoters of this policy, given interviews in assemblies and conventions.
I sincerely hope that we are not advocating for setting a precedent that gives the government the power to beat down anyone that it doesn't like. I bet that at some point in the future, we will be on the hurting end of the power we gave to the government.
if you don't measure up to the watchtower society ''high standards''... you might lose some ''special privileges'' .
miss meetings...lose ''privileges''.
don't meet the monthly 10 hour ''field service'' ...lose ''privileges''.
If you don't measure up to the Watchtower Society ''high standards''... you might lose some ''special privileges''
Isn't that the case everywhere, in any group setting? You don't abide by the rules and certain privileges are taken away. On this site too?
miss meetings...lose ''privileges''
Why do people even want privileges if they are not attending meetings and going for fs?
I remember a person complaining here long back in a post that he was taken off the mic roving list since he didn't attend meetings for 2 months. But isn't that obvious? Shouldn't you be physically there at the meetings to be considered to do that work?
Also, I am amazed that people classify cleaning toilets, passing microphones, window washing as lowly jobs not to be done by intelligent people.
mandated shunning is on the rise around the world with devastating effects on millions of people.
shunning that is mandated by organized groups to its members is a form of both physical and psychological violence against those people being shunned and cut off from their family and life-long relationships.
mandated shunning means that the shunning is ordered from the top down.
Example 4: One parent, caves in and signs the papers for the baby to get the care it needs. She is disfellowshipped and then shunned for saving the life of her child.
Again, if someone accepts blood transfusion under extreme pressure, he/she is not disfellowshipped. In fact, even a JC is not formed. Just some pioneering privileges will be withheld for a few months:
"If someone willingly accepts a blood transfusion, perhaps because of being under extreme pressure, a committee (not judicial) should obtain the facts and determine the individual’s attitude. If he is repentant, the committee would provide spiritual assistance in the spirit of Galatians 6:1 and Jude 22, 23. Since he is spiritually weak, he would not qualify for special privileges for a period of time." - Shepherd 18:3
Example 6: A JW finds out that her daughter who was disfellowshipped is dying of cancer. She has been shunning her daughter for 12 years. The mother desperately wants to see her daughter again but her elder husband keeps reminding her that he will shun HER if she goes to the hospital.
Again, disfellowshipping doesn't occur in this case. The elders guideline states:
If a publisher in the congregation is known to have unnecessary association with disfellowshipped or disassociated relatives who are not in the household, elders should use the Scriptures to counsel and reason with him. He would not be dealt with judicially unless there is persistent spiritual association or he persists in openly criticizing the disfellowshipping decision.
mandated shunning is on the rise around the world with devastating effects on millions of people.
shunning that is mandated by organized groups to its members is a form of both physical and psychological violence against those people being shunned and cut off from their family and life-long relationships.
mandated shunning means that the shunning is ordered from the top down.
Example 3: A parent that throws their 15 year old kid out of the house
WT doesn't ask parents to throw their minor kids out of their house:
Thereafter, what would parents do in behalf of their erring minor child? They are still responsible for their child, though he is disqualified as an unbaptized publisher or even if he is disfellowshipped because of wrongdoing after baptism. Just as they will continue to provide him with food, clothing, and shelter, they need to instruct and discipline him in line with God’s Word."- W88 11/15
If a minor child living in the home is disfellowshipped, Christian parents are still responsible for his upbringing.Loving parents may thus arrange to have a home Bible study with him, even if he is disfellowshipped. Maybe he will derive the most corrective benefit from their studying with him alone. Or they may decide that he can continue to share in the family study arrangement.” - km 8/02
In some instances, the disfellowshipped family member may still be living in the same home as part of the immediate household...Since his being disfellowshipped does not sever the family ties, normal day-to-day family activities and dealings may continue. - lv 207-209
i have been thinking about this in relation to the directive given to elders to destroy any incriminating evidence they may have either on their pc`s ,e-mails , private notes in their possession, or notes in their witnessing bags ,etc.
to do with child sexual abuse they may still have in their possession.. isn`t that encouraging the elders to interfere with the justice system ?.
to break the law?.
EasyPrompt:
Thank you for providing the links. However, a 6-year-old unofficial unverified video that was never published to the elders does not form part of a policy. Directives need to be an explicit written letter circulated to all elders who can file it in their CSA records as part of the branch directions. I was referring to such a directive which explicitly asks elders to summarily destroy all CSA documents from the confidential file and which an elder can produce in court when asked.
Regarding the 2020 letter you have posted, the WT has defended its document retention policy:
Mr Frank’s actions are all the more disturbing considering that we have unequivocally explained to the Inquiry the document retention policy of Jehovah’s Witnesses concerning CSA allegations. As stated in our letter dated 25 September 2019, information concerning CSA allegations are marked “Do Not Destroy” and are kept “indefinitely.” This is confirmed in Mr Gillies’ 2 December 2019 witness statement (paras 78-79)
In other words, prior to making his live-stream video allegation, Mr Frank should have been well aware that the Britain Branch Office had not destroyed its CSA records and, instead, had fully disclosed to the Inquiry its CSA records and that Jehovah’s Witnesses were the only religious organisation to have disclosed its CSA records to the Inquiry prior to the opening of the present investigation.
