In my experience the COBE and Secretary run the show in most congregations. While they are all supposed to be equal the reality is that the COBE and Secretary have to be willing to do a great deal of work and thus get enhanced influence and respect as a result.
Posts by JWTom
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14Body of Elders Leadership
by bola inwho has more power in the body of elders in watchtower.
is it the cboe, secretary, service overseer or who?
i am just wondering since in my congo there seems to be cowards among them..
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JWTom
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Return to Kingdom Hall Meetings - Letter to Elder Bodies?
by JWTom ina couple of threads over on reddit that there is a letter to elders on restarting meetings.
i find this hard to believe and have not seen anything on this from our trusty sources on this site.
can anyone confirm?.
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JWTom
A couple of threads over on Reddit that there is a letter to elders on restarting meetings. I find this hard to believe and have not seen anything on this from our trusty sources on this site. Can anyone confirm?
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/q70gms/return_to_inperson/
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What does the fact that WT baptism numbers are still high in the pandemic tell us?
by Vanderhoven7 ini thought jiles grey response to this question was interesting:.
"i think that it demonstrates just how ineffective the jehovah’s witnesses’ door to door evangelising is.. in 2019 there were 303,866 people baptised.
this was during a year when the preaching work was in full swing.. in 2020 there were 241,994 people baptised.
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JWTom
And I think the 2020 decrease in baptisms can be attributed to "logistics" issues (cancelled assemplies, movement restrictions etc.) rather than to those related to the field ministry.
I agree that the numbers are down most likely due to the challenges of getting baptized during Covid. I think the number of born-ins is much higher and the lower overall number is simply the reality that fewer young publishers or their parents want to do a baptism that is not at at assembly.
Also, I think if started having assemblies right away there might be a larger number of baptisms at the first one held in each area. This is due to the fact that it is a source of pride for many witness parents to see their kids get baptized in front of a large crowd and they are holding off having them get baptized until they can have the glory of baptism at a large convention.
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The Impact of Less "Appointed Men" & This Site Thank You
by JWTom inwith the passing minimus, we all may think about what this site has meant to us personally.
i lurked here for quite a few years before becoming active as a poster....still i consider what i have done to be very slight compared with others.
may minimus rest in peace and a big thank you to all that have helped me here over the years.. a new member that is a pimo elder (reservations) posted here about how he could wake people up while remaining a pimo elder.
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JWTom
OnTheWayOut
Agree, overall. My thought is that the Just Walk Away approach is too drastic to even contemplate for many. Which is why I promote suggest that staring to do less also works.
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The Impact of Less "Appointed Men" & This Site Thank You
by JWTom inwith the passing minimus, we all may think about what this site has meant to us personally.
i lurked here for quite a few years before becoming active as a poster....still i consider what i have done to be very slight compared with others.
may minimus rest in peace and a big thank you to all that have helped me here over the years.. a new member that is a pimo elder (reservations) posted here about how he could wake people up while remaining a pimo elder.
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JWTom
Thanks for the great comments. Completely agree with all of them.
My thought is that the decline of the Borg is something that happens in phases. One phase is "appointed men" waking up and realizing they are hurting and damaging the lives of other witnesses. As a increasing larger number of them stop "volunteering" to do free work that hurts others....the challenges of keeping the wheels on the bus at each congregation becomes that much harder.
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The Impact of Less "Appointed Men" & This Site Thank You
by JWTom inwith the passing minimus, we all may think about what this site has meant to us personally.
i lurked here for quite a few years before becoming active as a poster....still i consider what i have done to be very slight compared with others.
may minimus rest in peace and a big thank you to all that have helped me here over the years.. a new member that is a pimo elder (reservations) posted here about how he could wake people up while remaining a pimo elder.
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JWTom
With the passing Minimus, we all may think about what this site has meant to us personally. I lurked here for quite a few years before becoming active as a poster....still I consider what I have done to be very slight compared with others. May Minimus rest in peace and a big thank you to all that have helped me here over the years.
A new member that is a PIMO Elder (Reservations) posted here about how he could wake people up while remaining a PIMO Elder. I shared some thoughts on his original post but also thought this idea justifies a new topic.
Waking people up is incredibly hard and also risky if you need to stay in the organization. My situation is similar to Reservations. So much of my existence is still wrapped up in the Org that I have only been able to slowly fade - but to most existing JWs I am an active and respected member of the congregation.
Some time ago I concluded that the Core Foundation of the current JW organization is the Elder and Ministerial Servant arrangement. If there were suddenly less "appointed men" offering free labor to the org....then it would immediately become very difficult for the org to continue operating as it does today.
In my opinion, the most consequential thing any existing JW can do is to simply stop volunteering (serving in JW speak). If you are an Elder or MS, ask here or on Reddit ExJW for help on how to orchestrate a way to step down. Same if you are a Pioneer. This is the most impactful thing you can do to take away the orgs power and to wake others up. If every PIMO Elder and MS were to step down and simply STOP VOLUNTEERING for the endless free labor requests.....then the org would quickly have an enormous and possibly catastrophic problem. I have been posting more on the Reddit ExJW forum and you might find some of the threads below educational or insightful related to this topic.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/pbzexb/10_steps_waking_up_to_the_truth_about_the_truth/
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/ofk3g5/good_elders_are_a_myth_as_are_cos_bethelites_ms/
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/of5p4j/young_people_ask_how_can_i_escape_jw_land_a/
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/o6msdk/reduce_the_power_of_jw_org_a_checklist/
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PIMO elder
by Reservations ini’m reservations, pimo elder.
i’m in no position to leave the organisation, maybe some people will see that as weak or whatever, but we have to all go down our own path in life.. i would like to be able to wake people up in my congregation, how do you think best to do this?
any ideas?.
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JWTom
Hey Reservations, welcome and congratulations on waking up to TTATT. Waking people up is incredibly hard and also risky if you need to stay in the organization. I am in a very similar situation to you, however I concluded some time ago that remaining an elder causes far more damage than any benefit. I say this both related to myself - the personal damage related to stress, being two-faced, etc. - and also related to the fact that it is incredibly difficult to change anything or cause internal damage to the organization by essentially being a double agent or black ops Elder.
The biggest thing you can do to possibly wake others up (in my opinion) is to greatly reduce your activity in the organization while you remain "active" in all appearances. This may be hard to do and take a great deal of courage. However, if every PIMO Elder and MS were to step down and simply STOP VOLUNTEERING for the endless free labor requests.....then the org would quickly have an enormous and possibly catastrophic problem. I have been posting more on the Reddit ExJW forum and you might find some of the threads below educational or insightful. Best wishes on all your efforts.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/pbzexb/10_steps_waking_up_to_the_truth_about_the_truth/
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/ofk3g5/good_elders_are_a_myth_as_are_cos_bethelites_ms/
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/of5p4j/young_people_ask_how_can_i_escape_jw_land_a/
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/o6msdk/reduce_the_power_of_jw_org_a_checklist/
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For Witnesses Who Want To Leave Fade, Disassociate or Get Disfellowshipped?
by minimus inmy opinion is if possible fading is the best way to go..
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JWTom
In my opinion, fading is the least disruptive way to exit. Slow but also does not destroy your personal life in the process. The reality is if you leave too fast you may have so much collateral damage that your life does not become manageable for years. Let's face reality.....you need to have a manageable life in general related to finances, relationships, work and so on or you can end up hating your life. Slow fade for me is the right approach.
Depending on how strong your connections to the Borg are....other approaches may work well. Every situation is different.
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Letter asking for RV’s
by wasser30 inhello, my elder cousin from brazil wouldn’t believe they asked for rv’s here in the us.
i’ve been out for 20 years and i’m soft shunned by my family.
now my mom got sick and they are all trying to talk me into going back(no way on earth) and they keep on telling me how close armageddon is 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ i was watching kim and mikey and they mentioned the rv’s for lodging the ramapo workers.
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JWTom
This letter was read a couple of months ago. I asked, but never received a definitive answer on why they were asking for these. The letter did not provide an answer either. Most speculate that it is for Ramapo....but most travel trailers are not setup for New York winters and that would be an incredibly high maintenance approach to housing people.
Another idea is simply selling them at a large profit due to the pandemic induced demand for this type of vehicle/trailer. Also, someone suggested that possibly they are wanting these for disaster relief workers that need to be mobile....not sure if there is any truth to these or not.
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Awake is back! India used in every illustration???
by JWTom inas someone else noted.
why is the new awake a setting in india in every illustration?.
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JWTom
As someone else noted. Why is the new Awake a setting in India in every illustration?