Posts by Journeyman

15

Our Kingdom Ministry

by NotFormer in

my understanding was that this was the magazine regularly published for insiders only, unlike the watchtower and the awake!

looking online, it seems that the wt ceased publication of this in 2016. is it due to a name change (it seems to have changed its name several times over the years) or has it been succeeded by a new publication?

or has it ceased to be?.

Journeyman

Counsel is from a small 24 page booklet, "Apply yourself to reading and teaching". Gone are the days of Qualified to be Ministers etc.

Oh yes, that's a whole other subject! How many different guides/textbooks they've been through for 'counsel'. For years they settled on the "Theocratic Ministry School Guidebook", a small maroon-covered book which was actually quite good for instructing on public speaking. (One of the few things many exJWs feel they benefited from after years in the org).

Then they went crazy and had about three different books within around ten years, getting progressively slimmer until they settled on the thin booklet St. George mentions which they use now.

As an example of how dumbed down the 'counsel' is these days, I've copied this from a page on Appropriate Use of Visual Aids:

"Make sure your listeners can see the visual aid"..."When playing a video, turn the screen to face your listener" - Genius level stuff, eh?

Incidentally, the electronic copy of the Meeting Workbook outlining all the midweek meetings is on the JW website these days - here's what this week's meeting schedule is (just copy the link below and remove the B from .borg). You can even see what the points of counsel are, if you want to compare and contrast with how it used to be.
https://www.jw.borg/en/library/jw-meeting-workbook/july-august-2023-mwb/Life-and-Ministry-Meeting-Schedule-for-August-7-13-2023/

27

Jws getting drunk

by Farmer Jim1 in

jw
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....

Journeyman

I know that you didn't ask the question, but whatever did happen to Andy Capp?

He's still alive and well and being depressingly northern in The Daily Mirror, among other places!

https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/cartoons/andy-capp/

The original artist/cartoonist died in 1998 and there have been several others since but they've maintained the original style.

15

Our Kingdom Ministry

by NotFormer in

my understanding was that this was the magazine regularly published for insiders only, unlike the watchtower and the awake!

looking online, it seems that the wt ceased publication of this in 2016. is it due to a name change (it seems to have changed its name several times over the years) or has it been succeeded by a new publication?

or has it ceased to be?.

Journeyman

Our Kingdom Ministry (OKM) became the Meeting Workbook (MWB) when the whole midweek meeting was revamped in 2016. The programme is very different.

And IMO, yes it's another indication of the slow death of the org. The midweek meeting is completely dumbed down now.

It used to be in two halves - Theocratic Ministry School and Service Meeting.

Now it's nominally in three parts (although the division between the first two is not clear) - "Treasures from God's Word", "Apply Yourself to the Field Ministry" and "Living as Christians" (yes, that's really what they're all called)

Here's a summary of what the midweek meeting is now (I'm sure others will add to this or correct me if I've missed anything out):

Opening song and prayer
Opening comments (1 minute) Basically a filler/time-waster IMO, but intended to 'whet the appetite' for 'highlights' to come. Might serve the purpose of giving the brother doing the next bit a few extra seconds to rush through the door if he's late I suppose...
1) Treasures from God's Word section
Themed talk by elder or MS, basically the old instruction talk - but shorter and almost entirely scripted from the MWB. Sometimes might be a video. (10 minutes)

"Spiritual gems" - taken by another elder or MS, basically the old Bible highlights but members of the congregation get to comment on what they liked from the week's bible reading instead of him choosing them. It has a single scripted question from the workbook first though, so depending how long the brother takes over that, there might not be much time for individuals to choose their own highlights. (10 minutes)

Bible reading - as with the old meeting, a young or less experienced brother reads a portion of the bible. However, unlike the old days, he does not have to make an introduction and conclusion - literally just read the passage assigned.

2) Apply Yourself to the Field Ministry section
A watered down version of the old Theocratic School (approx 15 minutes in total).

Every month, features a video in silhouettes of how to present the offer of the month on first call, and on a later week, the return visit.

Also features selected local sisters or brothers doing an initial call or return visit demo, each usually about 2-4 minutes long. (Like the old School assignments basically).

A talk - like the old number 4 talk for brothers, but again, shorter, about 5 minutes, with a theme and material given from a past WT magazine, so less time and less room for the bro to develop his own material than in the past.

After that a mid-meeting song, then:

3) Living as Christians section
Basically like the old Service Meeting (but of course, dumbed down)
From what I can tell, these are all conducted usually by elders unlike the old Service Meeting where parts were often given to min servants, but maybe an MS might get a part if he's 'experienced' or there's a shortage of elders.
3.1) 15 minutes that could consist of:

A video - if short, with some Q&A from the audience, or if longer, just an elder or MS who gets up, introduces it, sits down, then gets up at the end to hand back to the chairman!

A couple of shorter items, maybe a Local Needs (they still have those) and/or something based on a short Workbook article.

3.2) Congregation Book Bible Study
The old book study that used to be held on a separate midweek evening, now shortened and tacked on the end. (30 minutes)

Concluding comments (3 minutes) - more time wasted just summarising some points from any of the three parts that went before. Any announcements (including long letters from the branch, accounts report, etc) are expected to be squeezed in here too, so often 1) the book study is shortened even more, and 2) the meeting still runs over time!

Concluding song, prayer and everyone gets outta there tired and desperate to get home!

One of the few mercies of the new meeting format is the death of the Written Review - or as some used to call it, the Rotten Review!

2

Shock Poll: 39% of JW's Do Not Beleive in Absolute Moral Standards

by Sea Breeze in

i found this statistic (and others) surprising.

from pew research:.

.

Journeyman

Presumably, this is data only from the USA, so although it covers the single largest national population of JWs, it still only reflects 14% of the total (based on the 2022 service year report of 8.7m publishers worldwide and 1.2m in the USA). Even so, there were indeed some surprises in that data.

The Belief in absolute standards of right and wrong one I can understand somewhat if you take into account the number of things which are said to be "conscience matters" or which differ according to context.

For example: If you ask "Is it wrong to kill a person?", then a JW might say "it depends", meaning that it depends on 1) whether it's God or man doing the killing, 2) whether the killing was done in the past by, say, Samson or David or one of the ancient Bible characters (good), or in modern times by some other random person (bad), etc, etc.

So potentially lots of 'wriggle room' there.

However, two other answers surprised me more:

Under Marital status among Jehovah's Witnesses:

The percentage who said they were "living with a partner" jumped from 1% to 5% between 2007 and 2014. That must have caused a few headaches for bodies of elders!

The most surprising figure for me though, is under Belief in Heaven among Jehovah's Witnesses:

Only 46-50% said they believe in heaven? I wonder if that's down to how the question was asked or interpreted?

I can understand a JW answering "No" if they think the question is asking whether they believe in a place where they will go after death to play a harp and sit around on a cloud or whatever, but if that many really intended to say they did not believe in, or do not know if there is, a realm where God and other spirit beings live, I find that very surprising. I'd want to see exactly what the question was for that one.

48

No more public WT & Awake?

by mikeflood in

have you guys noticed, this year 2023 no more public edition magazines...i wonder how they are gonna spin that fact.

Journeyman

Here's a snippet from a BoE letter which I found after having a rummage in my ganderbag* that shows the pattern will be repeated next year - at least partially (although the 'original' issue will be released at a different time of year). Not sure where I got this. I think it was a cutting from the reddit forum. But I'm sure Atlantis has these letters anyway!

(* ⓒ Rambling Syd Rumpo)

48

No more public WT & Awake?

by mikeflood in

have you guys noticed, this year 2023 no more public edition magazines...i wonder how they are gonna spin that fact.

Journeyman

The org have cut the number of new public mags right down to just one WT and one Awake each year, as of last year (2022).

It looks like from now on, there will be just six public magazines featured each year - one every two months (three WT and three Awake). One will be an 'original' WT (this year's was on Mental Health) and one an 'original' Awake (this year's is still pending, but due for use in Nov and Dec).

The remaining four are reprints. This year, they've reprinted magazines on Stress and they're about to feature a reprint of the God's Kingdom WT from 2020 for two months in Sept and Oct.

Here are the new editions released since 2021 on their website.
(Three originals of each were released in 2021, but since 2022, just one as mentioned above)

As I understand it, the sequence this year has been

Jan-Feb: Original WT (Mental Health)
Mar-Apr: Awake reprint
May-Jun: WT reprint
Jul-Aug: Awake reprint
Sept-Oct: WT reprint
Nov-Dec: Original Awake (pending)

- Then presumably repeat next year?

As has been said before elsewhere: this org is a shadow of its former self now. Just a shell.

45

Anthony Morris III demoted to Great Crowd!

by Vanderhoven7 in

well, that is my prediction for 2024 anyway!

hey, if watchtower can speculate..... https://youtu.be/dn8askhhwkw.

Journeyman

It's crazy isn't it? Really shows how obsessive the GB are about this, and it's a bit Stalinist, this attempt to erase a prominent 'non-person' from JW history!

Did I hear correctly that the recent announcement says all hard copies of the book should be replaced with new ones? Many congregations have a lot on hand because they stocked up not long ago as this is their new 'flagship' study publication. So now, they have to bin all those copies and order more?

And inevitably, there will be members of the congregation who don't get the 'memo' and will still have the old 'forbidden' publication in print, or even un-updated on their devices.

I don't think this issue will go away as easily as the GB think it will... and I daresay many PIMOs in congregations will make sure it doesn't go unnoticed!

45

Anthony Morris III demoted to Great Crowd!

by Vanderhoven7 in

well, that is my prediction for 2024 anyway!

hey, if watchtower can speculate..... https://youtu.be/dn8askhhwkw.

Journeyman

The main study publication has just been revised
I wonder if it’s to take out Tony?

Yes it is. As mentioned in the opening video to this thread.

Section 4, Lesson 54, the GB picture at the top of the lesson has been replaced.

Also, for part 3, the video clip "We Need an Organization" (9:23) has been replaced with another one without him in it.

49

Mill Hill - Chelmsford, reduced capacity, any news on Chelmsford plan revision

by Lostandfound in

chelmsford looks to have much less work than in mill hill complex, if gb spirit guided why did they allow massive plans for new site when such significant changes must have been in discussion, planning , or contemplation.

knee jerk reaction to things looks to indicate someone or more on gb has instituted changes almost overnight.

my dog plans his day better, get up, walk, sleep, eat, walk some more, eat some more, and sleep again.

Journeyman

Chelmsford tours are on and apparently they are very underwhelming.

Everything about the org seems underwhelming these days, even for those who are still relatively PIMI.

I believe the branch relies a lot more on commuter workers now. I know a few pioneers who do that and they are so excited to be able to go to Chelmsford a few days a week and 'work' from home for the branch on other days (and of course it counts toward their 'hours'), but to me it sounds like Bethel taking even more advantage of the 'privileged' R&F. Not only do they get your free labour, but they don't even have to pay the cost of your bed and board. And they can dump you anytime, without the hassle of having to move you and your possessions out of the place.

Recently, one of those pioneers tried to "sell" the idea of returning to pioneering to me by saying, among other things, that the 'new' school schedule (which was cut from two weeks to just one) has "videos of the governing body" in it! Wow. Sign me up!

I never did visit the old Bethel at Mill Hill, but if I ever was going to visit it was then, not now. Back then there were at least impressive print works in place, with literature rolling off the production line.

Now all printing has moved to Germany (with the subsequent delays in shipping and processing of orders that you would expect from a sprawling organisation that is losing the efficiency it once had) and the original ambitious site plans were scaled back, so the new UK Bethel seems a big white elephant to me. (EDIT: I see from upthread jookbeard and dozy also had the same thoughts previously.)

Not only that, anyone from the UK (particularly the south of England) will tell you that Essex, and Chelmsford in particular, already had something of a poor reputation, being the butt of jokes, so the org relocating there, while it might have been a sound property move, has an added snigger factor!

There was a comedy series in 1988-1990 called Chelmsford 123 about the rivalry between invading Romans and occupied Britons set in the year 123 (of course) - maybe someone should make a parody of that based around the UK Bethel. Chelmsford 2023 - it's time!

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Journeyman

Wonder what he will do ? scuba diving ?

Oh, definitely scuba diving. Lots of scuba diving.

He'll be glad to see the back of the family now. He might appear happy in photos with the kids, but it's a show for the public. We know from his previous comments about having to tolerate his mate Javier Ortiz in his hotel room, that he resents any interruptions of his scheduled... recreational activities. He's probably had to behave while his kids have been around, so now he's free it's time to 'scuba' himself sick!