He is doing 2 to 5 in louisiana for robing a convenience store
The Bethelite ...
Do you know if he has internet access?
Rub a Dub
does anyone here know what became of "yerusalyim"?
he was a good guy.
just wondering....
He is doing 2 to 5 in louisiana for robing a convenience store
The Bethelite ...
Do you know if he has internet access?
Rub a Dub
i just had this flashback when commenting on another thread about how they used to announce reproof or dfing from the platform.
at least in our congregation, it was a dramatic event (this is what i can remember from back in the mid-late 60's or early 70's when i was a kid).. at the end of the service meeting, just before singing the final song, the brother would announce, "we have a letter that must be read.
the "congregation servant" (my grandfather or later my father) would then slowly walk from the back of the kh to the platform.
Anybody remember announcements that somebody had been put on 'probation'?
cofty ...
Yes, absolutely yes. I remember it being for 6 months or a year, depending on the "severity" of the offense.
I think they stopped doing that after the movie Animal House came up with phrase "double secret probation" ... lol.
Rub a Dub
i just had this flashback when commenting on another thread about how they used to announce reproof or dfing from the platform.
at least in our congregation, it was a dramatic event (this is what i can remember from back in the mid-late 60's or early 70's when i was a kid).. at the end of the service meeting, just before singing the final song, the brother would announce, "we have a letter that must be read.
the "congregation servant" (my grandfather or later my father) would then slowly walk from the back of the kh to the platform.
At least in our congregation, my father (PO or whatever they called it then) had the courtesy to read the public reproof of two people for adultery in the congregation on two separate service meetings.
Everybody knew who it was, but at least my father was trying to put a shine on it.
Rub a Dub
i just had this flashback when commenting on another thread about how they used to announce reproof or dfing from the platform.
at least in our congregation, it was a dramatic event (this is what i can remember from back in the mid-late 60's or early 70's when i was a kid).. at the end of the service meeting, just before singing the final song, the brother would announce, "we have a letter that must be read.
the "congregation servant" (my grandfather or later my father) would then slowly walk from the back of the kh to the platform.
"We are sorry to announce that Brother Weirdigan is no longer one of Jehovahs Witnesses. Now, a local-needs talk about the sin of sheep-shagging ..."
Simon ...
You got it right! That's true but funny.
After the fear of being sued, they simply read the letter and then shortly thereafter had a local needs talk which basically gave the details of what you should not do.
It was a farce.
Rub a Dub
i was thinking about this recently.
the society owns all the kingdom halls and with desperate need of money, their closing down and selling off properties.
consolidating congregations seems to be the order of the day.
It's all about control, control, control.
Sir82 ...
I would have agreed with you several years ago.
Now, personally, I think it is the amount of money that we donate.
Rub a Dub
i was thinking about this recently.
the society owns all the kingdom halls and with desperate need of money, their closing down and selling off properties.
consolidating congregations seems to be the order of the day.
Being part of a big congregation (if you can really even call it a congregation, at that size) is part of the thrill.
Spiral ...
Yes, I think the "thrill" has begun or continues down here in South Florida. It's a joke, IMO.
Mega Churches, here we come.
Rub a Dub
i just had this flashback when commenting on another thread about how they used to announce reproof or dfing from the platform.
at least in our congregation, it was a dramatic event (this is what i can remember from back in the mid-late 60's or early 70's when i was a kid).. at the end of the service meeting, just before singing the final song, the brother would announce, "we have a letter that must be read.
the "congregation servant" (my grandfather or later my father) would then slowly walk from the back of the kh to the platform.
I just had this flashback when commenting on another thread about how they used to announce reproof or DFing from the platform. At least in our congregation, it was a dramatic event (this is what I can remember from back in the mid-late 60's or early 70's when I was a kid).
At the end of the Service Meeting, just before singing the final song, the brother would announce, "We have a letter that must be read."
The "Congregation Servant" (my grandfather or later my father) would then slowly walk from the back of the KH to the platform. We had these wooden floors and they would make a creaking sound as you would walk. But you could hear a pin drop from a mile away. It was actually eerie.
Then he would read that so and so has been reproved or DF'd. He would specifically mention the reason, typically fornication.
Then he would read another paragraph or something and then state the names of the three brothers on the committee (normally the congregation servant, assistant and field service servant or possibly the school servant).
In any case, he would give the details and dates. Then, he would walk off the platform, again slowly, walk to the back of the KH and it seemed like they would not start the song until he has all the way to the back.
It was quite the experience. I don't know if other congregations did it the same way but it was quite a dramatic event.
Rub a Dub
hi i'm not sure if i remember it correctly but in the mid 2000 onwards i thought matters were recorded by the name bro so &so and the scripture say colossians 3:5 then say "uncleanness" .. which according to jws could mean almost anything of a sexual nature including child abuse ,so people could be hiding behind that .. or have i remembered correctly..
They stopped mentioning ANYTHING related to what a person did from the platform other than "so and so is publicly reproved". This has to go back 40 or more years.
More recently, perhaps 20 or 25 years ago, they even stopped mentioning whether a person was DF'd or DA'd. It just became that "so and so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses".
I know that there were some lawsuits relating to libel about having something publicly read from the platform regarding what a person did in his/her personal life. They then decided to made it a very generic announcement.
Rub a Dub
i was thinking about this recently.
the society owns all the kingdom halls and with desperate need of money, their closing down and selling off properties.
consolidating congregations seems to be the order of the day.
About 7 or 8 years ago they sold our beautiful assembly hall sitting next to the Everglades (alligators and all) and made us go an hour north to West Palm Beach Florida.
For all practical purposes, it is a mega church, seating around 5,000 people.
Rub a Dub
although the watchtower and awake are companions, but in terms of readers they have strong competition.they are also popular among whole christian community.. check the stats.
https://tingtopten.com/2020/02/top-10-most-read-christian-magazines-of-2020/.
I remember my grandfather (congregation servant/elder) having old issues stacked chest high in his garage.
At that time, you were considered more "spiritual" by the number of magazines you ordered each month. I think he got about 20 or so of each issue (20 x 4) for him and my grandmother. They would never place a third of them, especially in the winter months. They would just accumulate.
He literally had piles of them but was afraid to throw them out, either because he was throwing away spiritual food or fear that the trash man would see them. Maybe in his mind, both. I'm not sure.
In any case, we had a lot of stuff to throw away when they died. We could have filled half of a dumpster with just unread magazines.
Rub a Dub