Some have thought that the congregational book study could be in the process of being phased out. It may actually happen but not for the reasons you may expect. There is a actual big dollar saving if the GB does away with it. The "Draw close to Jehovah", the "Jeremiah" book and all the other 100-300 page books (as released at regional conventions) were designed for the congregation book study in mind. Conciderable development and printing costs could be saved if they abandoned this format all together. Only the "Song" book and one or two standardised "Bible study aids" are needed and it could be handled by small printing runs.
alfredjones100
JoinedPosts by alfredjones100
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60
Midweek Meetings no longer Necessary
by Tech49 ini am sure we have all seen the recent letter to the boe concerning the change that will take place to the meeting arrangement during the week of the co visit.
to recap the basics: the meeting that usually contains the cong bible study (book study) and a co talk will be discontinued, publishers are encouraged to use their family worship night that week to cover book study material.. so here is a point that i think has been missed, or not even considered:.
if that particular meeting is hereby deleted from the schedule, the co and his wife will never ever have to participate in or go to another "book study", or "bible study" night again.
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11
Does threatening to sue the individual elders really work?
by alfredjones100 indoes threatening to sue the individual elders for deformation of character really work in preventing being disfellowshiped?.
any actual experiences?.
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alfredjones100
Thanks for the replies so far. My reason for asking is that most of us will look down the barrel of that gun sooner or latter. It only needs another purge, a loyalty oath or activity test and we'd be against the firing squad wall. So knowning the angle of litigation (if there is one) may help when that day comes.
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Does threatening to sue the individual elders really work?
by alfredjones100 indoes threatening to sue the individual elders for deformation of character really work in preventing being disfellowshiped?.
any actual experiences?.
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alfredjones100
Does threatening to sue the individual elders for deformation of character really work in preventing being disfellowshiped?
Any actual experiences?
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69
Your Experience with Resigning as an Elder
by committeechairman ini'm considering resigning as an elder.
i'm not planning to fade or stop as one of jehovah's witnesses, just stop serving as an elder.. i have responsibility in the congregation and in circuit, district, rbc, etc.
and i'm completely exhausted.
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alfredjones100
My experience in stepping down went this way.
I was the secretary, book study group conductor, assitant wt conductor, second theo school overseer, 2 public talks a month and i used to do at least one talk in the service meeting every week plus some work for the RBC. A reasonably full therocratic lfe. But my wife had been very ill with depression for many years and with the arrival of our young children it became just too much. I've always veiwed being an elder as a theocratic job rather than a position or a title. So when i realised i could'nt do the job properly i'd just have to step down. At this point in my life, i didn't know the real true about the true and I hadn't found this forum or read any of franz's books but i did have many self realized doubts that were burning away inside.
Anyway, one day i just walked up to the PO and said "thats it, i'm done". He said "ok" ... and that was it.
And from that day it was like i'd just droped off the face of the earth. No one called, no one asked how we were going, nothing. 15 years of service to that congregation (40 years being in it) ... and nothing. That's what really killed me. And when we moved congregation to be closer to family for a bit more support, not one brother got in touch, even by phone. My wife could have suicided or anything. Even now after all these years I still get upset with i think about it.
The moral of this story - Just do whats good for you and your family because in the end ... thats all you really got.
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kingdom hall ownership
by alfredjones100 ini know that thoughout other threads and comments, some of this question could be answered but; what in countries are kingdom halls owned by the local congregations?
here in australia, everything is already owned by the organisation..
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alfredjones100
i know that thoughout other threads and comments, some of this question could be answered but; what in countries are kingdom halls owned by the local congregations? here in australia, everything is already owned by the organisation.
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2014: do you see Witnesses ramping up activity? What will the aftermath be in 2015?
by JimmyPage injw's often say they don't serve with any dates in mind.
but the fact is many of them can't fathom why the end just hasn't come yet.
since 2014 marks 100 years of invisible rule many witnesses can't help but think this has some special meaning.
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alfredjones100
It's like the climax of watching your new car slowly click up to 100,000 miles ... watching ... watching ... watching ... then it to goes 101,000.
And all the interest you had in taking care of it just evaporates because you know that in reality it's like any other rust bucket on the road.
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GB Accommodation
by alfredjones100 inhas anyone seen the accommodation that the current governing body gets?.
we have photos of the type normal bethelites receive, but i was curious about the upper echelon..
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alfredjones100
Has anyone seen the accommodation that the current Governing Body gets?
We have photos of the type normal Bethelites receive, but i was curious about the upper echelon.
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22
Resurrection without a soul that survives death.
by Pronger1 inone thing (among many) that always bothered me about jw teachings is what happens to the soul when we die.
sure god could be capable of creating a body and implanting it with all of our life experiences an memories.
but how would not be a just a clone instead of being actually us?
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alfredjones100
I realised it some time ago too. If your consciousness is not transfered in some way from one body to another, if only every detail and thought of your life is remembered, then you will be just a clone. Just like the main character in the Tom Cruise movie "Oblivion". You'll think that you are that person, you will really believe it; but in the end you'll be just a copy. Sad really when you think about it.
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Relief Work and $$$
by allyouneedislove inwas just talking to a jw who just got back from oklahoma doing relief work for jws who had their homes damaged.
i didn't know this, but he said that the process goes like this.
the homeowner usually has a payout from the insurance company in hand.
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alfredjones100
is this really the way it is?
i've honestly thought for all these years i've been in the truth that if a storm took the roof off a brother's home or it was flooded out or something similar in some disaster, it was repaired for free.
if you have to pay ... well whats the difference between the RBC and any other worldly building company?
i would be keen to hear any ones else's experiences with the disaster repair commitees.
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Tech49 on HOURS, TIME, and REPORTS
by Tech49 ini thought i would share some of my observations on counting field service time, reports, etc.
and how those reports are viewed, to those that are still so fixated on numbers.. i served as secretary on the service committee for many years, and have seen it all!.
i was really disheartened when wt changed the requirement for aux pioneering to allow for 30 hrs, instead of the 50 it has been for so long.
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alfredjones100
yep, i served as a congregation secretary and its all true. we had a couple of phantom regular pioneers (ones that you'd never see in the service) and others who started their time from when they left their front door to get to the witnessing group or those doing the country witnessing thing, counting the hours between farm houses (4 people per car). it's just about the numbers and never really about the effectivness. anyone here old enough to remember the 4 and 5 scripture sermons we had to learn from the service meeting. in those days, at least we could read the bible at the doors with some meaning.
it just like the vietnam war. it was all about the body count and the numbers were mostly made up to please the generals. it was never about doing any good.