Farmer Jim1

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Posts by Farmer Jim1

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  7

  Quoting the Daily Mail at meetings

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've just remembered that i attended a hall where one of the brothers consistently quoted daily mail articles to back up his answers during the meetings.

  i found it hard to keep a straight face when the inevitable daily mail article was quoted to 'prove' a bible passage at each meeting.. no one really seemed to mind and i remember one time i spoke to an elder and said this has to stop as he is passing off tabloid tattle as hard fact.. elder wasn't interested.

  i guess as long as the answers backed up the party line no one cared..

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  Farmer Jim1

  I've just remembered that I attended a hall where one of the brothers consistently quoted daily mail articles to back up his answers during the meetings.

  I found it hard to keep a straight face when the inevitable daily mail article was quoted to 'prove' a bible passage at each meeting.

  No one really seemed to mind and I remember one time I spoke to an elder and said this has to stop as he is passing off tabloid tattle as hard fact.

  Elder wasn't interested. I guess as long as the answers backed up the party line no one cared.
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  51

  2024 year Highlights: JWs hit 9 million Publishers

  by Sanchy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  watchtower put out some highlights for the 2024 service year:.

  average publishers: 8,828,124. peak publishers: 9,043,460. a 43.2 percent increase in "those who returned to jehovah", meaning 65,816 were reinstated.

  baptized: 296,267. memorial attendance: 21,119,442. missing stat: number of partakers .. womp womp.

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  Farmer Jim1

  The latest service year figures highlights have now disappeared off the website or am I missing something?
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  18

  Meeting attendance

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those still in the organization what is your meeting attendance like these days?.

  when i left in 2017 there were around 80 publishers and the average meeting attendance was 70..

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  Farmer Jim1

  For those still in the organization what is your meeting attendance like these days?

  When i left in 2017 there were around 80 publishers and the average meeting attendance was 70.
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  32

  Kingdom hall cleaning

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what are your memories of hall cleaning?.

  i actually enjoyed it on the whole, my dad as the elder always tried to keep it to under one hour but in my later years in a hard-line congregation it was a chore.

  the po's wife had a printed list and we had to complete it all before left (or got disapproving looks if we left after an hour).. as well as vacuuming the whole building the lost said you had to dismantle the vacuum and clean and polish all the internal elements.

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  Farmer Jim1

  What are your memories of hall cleaning?

  I actually enjoyed it on the whole, my dad as the elder always tried to keep it to under one hour but in my later years in a hard-line congregation it was a chore. The PO's wife had a printed list and we had to complete it all before left (or got disapproving looks if we left after an hour).

  As well as vacuuming the whole building the lost said you had to dismantle the vacuum and clean and polish all the internal elements.
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  62

  So what happens next...

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with what is arguably the biggest change to jw life in recent decades (the scrapping of publishers counting hours) what does this lead to?.

  in my mind these are the results;.

  1) a massive decrease in 'preaching hours'.

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  Farmer Jim1

  What's the JW scene like there?

  Where I am now there were about 35 JWs on paper to a population of about 23000 in 2017. A very different JW social scene for younger ones than in Manchester, felt sorry for the few that were there.

  I occasionally see an elderly couple standing next to a cart in the town harbour but as far as any meaningful 'preaching' goes it seems pretty dead and buried. I would be very surprised if many folk have even spoken to a witness in the past five years. It's only my take on it but there's no great preaching work going on here!
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  62

  So what happens next...

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with what is arguably the biggest change to jw life in recent decades (the scrapping of publishers counting hours) what does this lead to?.

  in my mind these are the results;.

  1) a massive decrease in 'preaching hours'.

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  Farmer Jim1

  Yeah, I spent most of my life in North Manchester and Bolton but have lived in Shetland for the past 7 years
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  62

  So what happens next...

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with what is arguably the biggest change to jw life in recent decades (the scrapping of publishers counting hours) what does this lead to?.

  in my mind these are the results;.

  1) a massive decrease in 'preaching hours'.

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  3. 
• 

  Farmer Jim1

  With what is arguably the biggest change to JW life in recent decades (the scrapping of publishers counting hours) what does this lead to?

  In my mind these are the results;

  1) A massive decrease in 'preaching hours'. Areas of the UK that seldom see the JWs door knocking will increase.

  2) Apathy increasing from the 'middle group' of witnesses i.e. those that never reached the pioneer/Uber dub status but we're steady plodders.

  3) A decrease in exposure to indoctrination for many members. It becomes easier to miss meetings and ministry and speed up the unplugging from the source.

  4) A speeding up of congregations being merged/buildings being sold as average attendances fall. It would be interesting to get perspectives on meeting attendance these days. Does anyone have any insights?

  I left fairly recently in 2017 but the religion is already unrecognisable from the one I knew.
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  27

  Jws getting drunk

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  has anyone got any good 'jws and alcohol' stories?

  i always found it amazing that so many jws got blind drunk at parties and got away with it!

  i suppose alcohol was the only fun thing we were allowed to partake in....

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  Farmer Jim1

  Has anyone got any good 'JWs and alcohol' stories? I always found it amazing that so many JWs got blind drunk at parties and got away with it! I suppose alcohol was the only fun thing we were allowed to partake in...
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  Protest at the London Excel 2024 Convention Anyone?

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  having taken part in the 2018 protest-fantastically organised with an incredible reaction from pimo jws- i'm keen to be involved in another one.

  is anyone interested in taking part in one this summer?

  london excel is hosting conventions two weekends in august i think.

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  Farmer Jim1

  Having taken part in the 2018 protest-fantastically organised with an incredible reaction from PIMO JWs- I'm keen to be involved in another one. Is anyone interested in taking part in one this summer? London Excel is hosting conventions two weekends in August I think.

  Or maybe someone is one step ahead of me and is already organizing? Can I join pretty please?!!!!!
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  4

  UK kingdom halls closing

  by Farmer Jim1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can anyone out there that is pimo give an update on the rate of kingdom halls closing in the uk?.

  i was expecting a fire sale a few years back but i haven't heard much.

  some congregations that were struggling back in my day still seem to be holding on to their halls..

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  Farmer Jim1

  Can anyone out there that is PIMO give an update on the rate of kingdom halls closing in the UK?

  I was expecting a fire sale a few years back but I haven't heard much. Some congregations that were struggling back in my day still seem to be holding on to their halls.