Perhaps this is more in line with being able to prevent situations like Menlo Park from happening. They CO can decide to renovate and if the body doesn't agree he can summarily replace them WITHOUT Headquarters getting involved and a seeming conflict of interest. Control is important but not as important as MONEY. As long as their is cash they will exist and with the new website their expenses can be greatly reduced. They can push more of the cost to the congregation without worrying if the body of elders will agree--disagreement will mean removal.
wisdomfrombelow
JoinedPosts by wisdomfrombelow
-
31
The REAL reason for the elder and ms appointment change......
by EndofMysteries inas seen in recent posts, beginning later this year appointments and deletions of elders and ms will only happen through the circuit overseer.
this means that individual congregations and elders have no say anymore.
if the gb want only certain people in or out, they tell the co and he makes it happen.
-
-
-
143
Letter to BOE: Adjustment in process for appointing elders and ministerial servants
by pixel inhello, you read it here first!.
governing body of jehovah's witnesses.
to all congregations.
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
It is interesting that for most congregations this will be read on Sunday after the Watchtower study with the "Special" talk instead of during the Service Meeting. The next Service Meeting with have the Kingdom Hall Construction financing change announced so they probably timed all these with that in mind. Perhaps the change in the appointment process has to do how it affects with foreign branches instead of US ones as there are less and less branches and having to have them all reviewed takes time and resources. Perhaps the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses is being separated from the Watchtower Society as far as direct accountability just like the Governing Body are no longer the officers fo the Watchtower Corporation.
-
69
Any Suggestions on what to say if elders ask why you stopped going in FS?
by BU2B ini was curious what might be some good things to say if i am questioned by the elduurs about my decline in fs.
anything too honest may get me a jc (although that would be for the best in the end..) the co visit is this week so they may be getting more agressive than usual.
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
At first I thought of wiseguy comments like "I do go out OFTEN and proclaim the death of the Lord. I do it more often than we commemorate the memorial of Christ's death which were were told to do OFTEN so...perhaps you could consider me as someone who goes out VERY OFTEN...more than once a year..." Or you could say "He gave some as apostles, some as evangelizers...notice it says SOME and I am not one of the some but I am the less comely part of the body of Christ so just accept me as I am..."
In all seriousness, your wife needs to know you don't enjoy field ministry. Most would admit that they don't enjoy going door-to-door but they are compelled to do so. She might be mad or upset and worry about your future but perhaps the words written above could help her to reason that although you are not doing what everyone expects of you it doesn't make you a bad person. Bethelites don't put in pioneer hours from door-to-door but they are not slighted for that. They do something else for the Lord and they are appreciated for that. You could be mastering the fruitage of the spirit and that is your chosen calling and that should be accepted with equal merit. Just don't do it...you don't have to be rude or condescending but just decide what you will and won't do and be firm about it.
-
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
Perhaps that questions seems imprecise to me. Are you asking is there anything about being a Jehovah's Witness that we liked before or are you asking is there anything in their present organization that we like and or admire? If you are asking about the individual people and not the organizational structure then there are definitely people I admire. I also recognize that they can be very efficient at getting things done but that is a by-product of being a high-control group.
-
28
Do you have all your WT literature? If so why?
by KateWild inmany on this board are still in and have all the literature.
do you read all your books regularly?
do you have old magazines that you have underlined and still keep?
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
I have kept 1 copy of most items I have. I have some Russell and Rutherford books and perhaps one day I'll just toss them all out. They are just the words of delusional men so keeping them or not keeping them doesn't really affect my life.
-
14
This generation and a key weasel word
by Socrateswannabe inin this past sunday's watchtower lesson, which has been discussed at length on this board, the gb/writing committee used a key weasal word that we will probably see again.
the exact quote is: "we understand that in mentioning 'this generation,' jesus was referring to two groups of anointed christians.".
this goofy teaching is merely a patch until they can devise something more plausible, or until some event occurs that they can latch onto that will make this teaching more acceptable to the r&f.
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
Their expression that one has to be anointed versus born during a period was interesting. Because ones can calculate these two groups to make the end some 50 years away, they use being anointed to shorten it my 30 or so years. Hence they push forward the urgency until they come up with another updated understanding.
The specifically gave themselve wiggle room when the end doesn't come in 20 years to expand it to those BORN that overlap to give them another 20 years before they find another excuse. By that time it will be a new Governing Body and someone else's problem. Notice that if they used "governing body members" instead of "anointed" that the overlapping members have already died off so none of them remain who were on the GB when Franz was on the GB. One elder described it as two links which make up a chain...so they can keep adding links until there are 144,000 long....
-
28
Strong, odd and weird opinions on my brothers anniversary
by usualusername intoday my brother a non witness gave me a phone call.. .
he spoke about this, that and the other.
he then said that my oldest brother (an elder) was having his 25th wedding anniversary.
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
Do what you feel is best. I never see the point in deliberately going somewhere only to make controversy (though I've done that before). Since he didn't explicitly forbid you from going then if you want to go, go. If you don't, don't. You could send a card or something to congratulate him and his wife. Whatever you decide remember that you'll have to live with the consequences.
-
12
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
by Oubliette in[warning: this post contains spoilers!].
i've been reading hawthorne's the scarlet letter.
it is really quite an interesting read for us ex- and soon-to-be-ex-jws, especially if you or a loved one has ever been dealt with judicially by the elders.. i love the way hawthorne portrays the main characters:.
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
I read it in High School and it left an impression decades later. Roger Chillingsworth, Hester's husband, is also an interesting character. I noticed the similarities with Jehovah's Witnesses and their shunning. Perhaps we should wear a scarlet letter D and hold our heads up high and let our manner of life reveal who we are on the inside.
-
43
Why JWs don't celebrate Mother's day
by Laika inin the uk, this sunday is mother's day!
ask a jw why they don't celebrate holidays and they'll tell you it's because of some nefarious pagan connection.
but this is really just a cover.
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
only go so far before he starts to look crazy even to his own followers
I seem to remember that Woodworth who printed the Golden Age wanted to stop using the days of the week and months because they were named after false Gods and Rutherford called him foolish about that. I think Christmas celebrations ended when those at Brooklyn Bethel voted to end it. Somehow I think they go through phases of making things taboo and hardly ever making them a matter of conscious again (like wind chimes)
-
43
Why JWs don't celebrate Mother's day
by Laika inin the uk, this sunday is mother's day!
ask a jw why they don't celebrate holidays and they'll tell you it's because of some nefarious pagan connection.
but this is really just a cover.
-
-
wisdomfrombelow
I'd like to know WHEN the ban went into effect. There must have been an article which started the change. Sometimes knowing WHEN something happened helps to understand WHY it happened by examining contemporaneous events.