Posts by committeechairman

53

VERY CONFIDENTIAL LETTER - Child abuse 10/01/2012

by WatchTower87 in

confidential letter child abuse http://adf.ly/auxbu.

to all bodies of elders.

the congregation secretary should arrange for this letter to be retained in the congregation permanent file of policy letters.

committeechairman

I've been debating for a while about whether to post this or not, but here goes.

Over the decades I've been serving as an elder I was fortunate enough not to have to deal with a child abuse case in the congregations I've served in. Until now (within the last year). Situation came up and I'm not going into detail about it but I will explain what the branch office did. We called as per the instructions in this letter and the response from the branch office with immediate: contact the authorities. The only issue they had with us calling was that we had not called the branch office soon enough and had not reported the issue to the authorities quickly enough. It was made clear that we should immediately (like when we hung up with the branch) report this (along with advice about the best way to report it) and that we should cooperate with authorities in their followup investigation and we could do so in the clear identifying ourselves as elders in the congregation. No cloak and dagger stuff. I had always worried that if a situation like this came up that I would have to choose whether to continue to serve as an elder or report the matter to the authorities and I had already decided that I would resign as an elder and report to and cooperate with the authorities, so this was a welcome relief.

I'm sure this comment will whip up a firestorm of other comments. I'm not saying that what the organization does is perfect; some things have been quite broken in the past. However, it appears that in this case what is happening is correct.

14

Questions During Meetings...Grounds for Suspicion?

by Cold Steel in

with so many meetings during the week, it seems like the opportunity to raise questions would be rich.

i just wondered how probing questions are handled in most kingdom halls.

are they taken as an indication of an inquisitive mind or a potential source of stumbling for weak members?

committeechairman

So - when I have served as the Watchtower Study Conductor, I typically would take a question like this and ask the questioner if I could, for the sake of time, talk with them about the question after the meeting with whoever wanted to listen. That worked well and seemed to keep everyone (including my fellow elders) happy.

I agree that most elders would not know what to do in the situation described though.

15

How long will it be

by joe134cd in

jw
friends

just wanting estimations on "how long do you think it will be before the society allows internet witnessing as another avenue of preaching".

i feel it will only be a matter of time.

they have to do something to counteract all the negative stuff.

committeechairman

I give it less than 12 months. The brothers and sisters are sick of going to try to talk to people who do not want to be talked to. They are tired of going in the field ministry on Saturday or Sunday and no one is home or answers their door.

It is interesting that there has always been this side chatter in the publications about evening witnessing. If that's really the way to do, why not then officially change the primary meetings for field service to a weekday evening? Or put the public meetings on Saturday and the door-to-door ministry on Sunday? I've never been able to understand why the schedule is stuck on Saturday when we find the least number of people home.

I do think there is basis for adjusting the ministry method from the first century method of door-to-door (which is only tangentially mentioned and it isn't clear that this was the main evangelizing method) to one that works now. If we fast forward 20 years and say for example that it is unsafe or unhealthy to step outside our homes...will we still be required to go from door-to-door just because that is what we think first-century Christians did? It seems more reasonable to stick to the primary mission of Christians: to make disciples.

Sorry for the rant. It is quite difficult for me to be patient and wait for the glacier-speed changes of the organization right now.

113

Elders receive a report that I am openly displaying false religious symbol

by confusedandalone in

when you look at the image above what do you see?

a sneaker or an outward display that i am now following after another religious group?.

well yesterday i had a 10 minute conversation with an elder who finally got the balls to call me.

committeechairman

Because what you're describing is not clearly a religious symbol, I don't believe those elders have anything to stand on in this instance. If they decide to disfellowship, they will have to send this in a report to the branch office. In the report they will have to provide detailed evidence that supports their formation of a judicial committee and a decision to disfellowship. Also, they will have to provide even more detail in the narrative for the report.

The branch office can and will kick back disfellowshippings which have insufficient basis. I've seen more than one instance where the elders were hasty and acted without proper foundation and the branch office directed the elders to rescind the disfellowshipping and announce it to the congregation just that way.

An interesting thought exercise is to substitute another religion. Let's say that I bought white tennis shoes with red and yellow coloring (stripes or otherwise). Those ALSO happen to be the colors of the Catholic Church (white, yellow, and red). Does it follow that I'm now a practicing Catholic if I'm not attending mass or taking part in communion? Even if I used to be a Catholic, there is no basis for an apostasy charge in my opinion here.

If you are called to meet with a judicial committee mention very early in the hearing that you see no basis for the hearing and that you believe that the body of elders did not have proper foundation and evidence to form the judicial committee. These are code words to an experienced chairman that if they reprove or disfellowship that you believe there is basis for appeal. Also mention to them the option they have (a surprising number of elders do not realize this) that if they decide that the committee should not have been formed because the evidence is insufficient to justify a committee that this is authorized by policy in their instructions. If they decide to disfellowship, immediately request (mail a registered letter the same day if possible and hand the chairman of your committee a copy and tell the chairman orally that you will definitely be appealing the decision) an appeal hearing on the basis that there is no evidence of apostasy (you have to state why you are requesting the appeal) then if the appeal committee also upholds the decision exercise your right to send a companion letter with the report to the branch office to force the issue to senior oversight in service or the branch committee.

Hopefully you find this helpful.

52

Wasting Time In The Ministry--How Did You Do It??

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know of a couple of elders that regularly went out in the ministry throughout the week.

no matter which street they were on, they always seemed to be near the same spot.

someone here talked about the michael jackson moonwalk.

committeechairman

I struggle with serious, deep, chronic depression. There have been times that I (I am an elder) would deliberately arrange the group so that I was "odd man out". That meant I was going door-to-door alone. Then, when I went to each door, I would stand there for the usual amount of time that I would if no one was home, but I would not ring the bell or knock at all. The householder, if they noticed me, would simply think that they couldn't hear my knock. They were generally going to ignore me anyhow, so it didn't matter. The other publishers could not hear that I wasn't ringing the doorbell or knocking.

I don't really do that now because I don't have nearly as much difficulty with depression any more.

CC

77

What does your screen name/avatar mean and what does it stand for

by BU2B in

jw
friends

and why did you choose it?

if you have a avatar, what is it and why did you pick it?.

ok ill start.

committeechairman

As I have mentioned in past posts, I currently serve as an elder in a congregation and have been serving for decades. As such, I am usually in a position to get myself appointed as the chairman of any judicial committees that are appointed. One of my personal missions (none of which I have ever mentioned before) is to attempt to ensure that any publisher accused of wrongdoing gets a fair hearing and if there is even the tiniest bit of reason why the committee can extend mercy and simply reprove instead of disfellowship, I am able to influence the committee to do so as the chairman.

It will be interesting to see what kind of discussion this port generates.

66

New 1975? Jan 1st WT 2014

by notsurewheretogo in

this post was taken from reddit exjw but makes a very good point:.

these are two paragraphs of the watchtower of january 1st 2014.... .

i don't know about you guys, but in my mind, i'm seeing a deja vu of the articles before 1975 i've read.

committeechairman

Mean Girls Meme - Stop Trying to Make Armageddon Happen - ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN

16

Are Elders given back ground checks before appointment?

by JWOP in

i'm researching a few things, and i'm wondering: are elders ever put through a back ground check either before or after their appointment as an elder?.

committeechairman

The only background check that goes on that I am aware of is only organizational in nature. When the recommendation for appointment or reappointment goes in to the Service Department, as I understand it, there is a check to see if the brother is disfellowshipped or not (or whether he ever has been) and for any other information about him that has been submitted by congregation bodies of elders or traveling overseers. It is not unusual to occasionally get back additional questions about a brother especially if he was disfellowshipped at some time in the past, reinstated, but the judicial committee failed to send the form back to the branch office and they still show him as disfellowshipped.

So, there is nothing procedural that I know of where the typical criminal background check occurs. I will say that generally I DO perform a criminal and sex offender check on the brother that is nationwide (United States) in scope. I do this at my own expense. I would just like to say before I recommend a man that he isn't a notorious axe murderer or child molester and we don't know about it.

54

Premarital sex--how prevalent?

by wafflesandpancakes in

in my old congregation, everyone seems clean.

mostly chaste courtship, kingdom hall wedding, blah blah.. well there are lots of cases of fondling but they were soon forgotton.

when my husband and i confessed to sex before marriage, the elders were disgusted.

committeechairman

I'm pretty sure that there is much more sexual activity that is considered unscriptural going on in the congregations than the bodies of elders are aware of. It probably varies from congregation to congregation but especially among single, young folks I'm sure that some engage in sex outside marriage and then just don't reveal that this occurred even if they continue to be active Jehovah's Witnesses and eventually are given special privileges. Cases like this come up occasionally where the elders are approached by someone with special privileges who has been serving for a decade or more but who committed fornication when young.

3

I need BOE letter 3/3/09 about regular pioneer applicants

by jwstudy in

i read 2011 version of "boe letter index" and found that [boe letter 3/3/09] was.

related to "child abuse" and "regular pioneer applicants".. then i searched [boe letter 3/3/09], but i could not find that letter.. i found the thread on this forum and it said that the pioneer application.

procedure was somewhat changed in 2009 to minimize the responsibility of.

committeechairman

What the letter says about child abuse is in the postscript of the letter and addresses the situation where an applicant for regular pioneer service answers yes to this question on the application:

"7. Have you ever engaged in sexual child molestation? If so, when? (See The Watchtower, January 1, 1997, pages 26-29, and February 1, 1997, page 29.)"

In which case these instructions applied:

"If the applicant has marked “yes” to the question, “Have you ever engaged in sexual child molestation?” and this is the first time the elders have learned of the abuse, please contact
the Legal Department as outlined in the letters dated July 1, 1989, and February 15, 2002, to all bodies of elders. Also, please review The Watchtower, January 1, 1997, pages 26-29
and February 1, 1997, page 29. Thereafter, if the elders wish to appoint the individual as a regular pioneer, they need to send the application, along with a letter explaining the situation, in the postal mail to the branch office. Please wait for a response from the branch office before announcing the appointment."