Tech49

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Posts by Tech49

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  16

  2015 Regional Conventions Baptisms

  by Gayle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since this is the first weekend of rcs, anyone going that can give estimates of how many are getting baptized, how many appeared about that were jw youth, and what attendance figure is at these rcs?.

  i know u.s. baptisms are declining.

  can any keep a running report?

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  Tech49

  Salem, Oregon. Attendance of about 3800 each day, 16 baptized. David Splane was our host speaker.
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  17

  Dwindling Attendance? Here's a quick fix!....

  by Tech49 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so here's a real life experience you will get a kick out of.. our kh has about 90 publishers.

  typical meeting attendance during a co visit is right at 100 or so.

  the rest of the time, attendance is a dismal 50-60, sometimes 70 on a good week!.

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  Tech49

  So here's a real life experience you will get a kick out of.

  Our KH has about 90 publishers. Typical meeting attendance during a CO visit is right at 100 or so. The rest of the time, attendance is a dismal 50-60, sometimes 70 on a good week!

  Our KH is smaller, but has 180 seats (I counted).

  So here's the dilemma.... on your average weeknight meeting, only about a 1/3 of the seats are filled, and it looks pretty pathetic. Several comments were made as to maybe the elders should change something, or liven things up a bit so that there might be a few more that could be "persuaded" to attend. We had a couple of really lame Local Needs talks on meeting attendance, but it does NO GOOD if the ones that need to hear it AREN'T THERE! DUH!
  

  So we go to meeting the other day, and sit down, and my dear wife goes to put her bag down, and the row in front of us is literally like 3 feet away!

  She says "whats with this? why are the seats so far apart now?" (We have moveable chairs, not the hard theater-type seating).

  I pointed to the stack of chairs in the second school, hiding behind the door in the dark corner...... "because they had the bright idea to remove 3 rows of seats, spread the rest out, so that the KH would look LESS EMPTY!"

  There you have it, the easy cure to poor attendance...... take out the empty chairs!!!

  Take care,

  Jack Harper, Tech49
  
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  32

  I think the WT believed their own "growth" statements - Financial Trouble Thoughts

  by thedepressedsoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  we've all read, heard and have seen in the videos where jw's and their leaders talk about the "huge" growth that is taking place.

  they've talked about how many kh they needed, branches etc... .

  our co last visit he mentioned how quickly the organization is speeding up and the huge growth they are seeing.

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  Tech49

  Just another real-life experience to throw in the mix:

  We run about $250 short every month. More goes out to mandatory "tithes" than comes in.
  

  Now we currently have about $1700.00 in the bank account, and fading more every month. Donations are down, as most are older, on fixed incomes, and we live in an area where housing costs are climbing fast. Several families are moving out.

  I expect our KH Bank account to be about broke by the end of summer.

  Nothing in there for emergency repairs, etc.
  

  Way to go fellas! I secretly wonder if they will sell our KH off, and make us drive to the next closest one about 15 miles away.
  
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  16

  Blind Guide Dog.... Erhmmmm

  by CloseTheDoor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i saw this on facebook.

  i'm nauseous from reading.

  it's just another example of how some will go so far to make up bs and pawn it off as "truth.".

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  Tech49

  This "story", or "experience" is the same type of BS as the whole Smurf incident. Its a complete fabrication, and has been embellished upon over the years. I have heard it in several different forms, from the platform at the KH and the Assembly Hall over the years. Every once in a while it pops up, slightly more polished and with a few words changed, but all in all, another bedtime story......

  Facebookers just "lap" this stuff up like crazy..... (see what I did there??)
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  32

  Would you call JW HQ???

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a friend who is still in.

  this friend is a partaker, but has serious doubts about the org.

  this friend wants to stand up as a man, and wants to call wtbts hq.

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  Tech49

  The intentions of your friend are genuine. Certainly, he SHOULD be able to call in and get to talk candidly to another "annointed" one, and a member of the GB without any fear of repercussion for his questions. One of his fellow "rulers". Will it happen? No, not a chance. Despite what anyone in WT will have you believe, there is in fact a huge clergy/laity distinction. He is NOT one of the elite, the glorious, the privileged.

  But all of us here know that. Your friend may not realize it quite yet, but being annointed, or a partaker of emblems, means little. In fact, it probably puts him at an even greater disadvantage at having the chance to speak to any of the "chosen ones". Anyone at the switchboard, or reception, or even the service desk, will instantly brand him as a kook, and mentally instable.

  Sadly (?) for him, this will be a wake up call for sure. His heart will be crushed, and then he will begin to awaken.

  To answer your original question..Yes, I would call, or email, or write, if I thought for a minute that I could speak to a fellow heavenly ruler. Now, not so much..
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  14

  God's Inception Style Punishment of Toddlers

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a follow up to jehovah kicks a puppy about the garden of eden / serpent myth and the punishment for disobeying god.. anyone who has had kids knows that that they need to be taught what is right and what is wrong.

  it's no point trying to discipline them if they have't learnt the rules first - they simply and fundamentally don't know something is wrong so punishing them in anyway is just asshole parenting of the worst kind.. i.e.

  toddlers draw on the wall, that's what they do.

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  Tech49

  And then lets block their way into the garden with a flaming, spinning SWORD. How did they know what a sword was? I'm quite sure they hadn't been into metallurgy yet, and certainly had no need for a sword..... Its like saying they were blocked by a Super Plasma Decoder Discombobulating Ray Gun.

  Its all just silliness.
  
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  12

  Witnesses of Jehovah film from about 1986

  by violias in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve3zp9fiyiq.

  film witnesses of jehovah .

  note 37:35 .

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  Tech49

  WOW, I had never seen that one. What a great documentary from way back. And still applicable, even more so now, and in so many more ways.
  
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  8

  CO Visit this week

  by Tech49 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so this week is our co visit, the first with the new arrangement where the second mid-week meeting has been deleted.

  so only 1 "service talk" by the co.. this time, i decided to listen with a different focus.

  listen like it was a sales meeting (i have been to many, and hated them all).. ok, so we go thru the obligatory theocratic ministry school, blah blah blah, so wonderful.

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  Tech49

  So this week is our CO visit, the first with the new arrangement where the second mid-week meeting has been deleted. So only 1 "service talk" by the CO.

  This time, I decided to listen with a different focus. Listen like it was a sales meeting (I have been to many, and hated them all).

  Ok, so we go thru the obligatory Theocratic Ministry School, blah blah blah, so wonderful. Then comes the Service Meeting where we get raked for not giving enough money (see my other post).

  Then, finally, the long awaited SPECIAL TIME with the CO. Boring as hell. Ms Harper almost fell asleep. It was all about how wonderful the Organization is, from way back as far as the late 1800's, we are so blessed, the light keeps getting brighter, arent all these changes so amazing.... on and on and on. NOTHING that was pertinent or encouraging for our local congregation. ZERO personalization. ZERO upbuilding, or uplifting chatter. Then a 10 minute rant about how the congregation, in addition to meeting our "financial OBLIGATIONS" to mother, we need to increase the amount of HOURS in the ministry. Why, if everyone just spent an extra few minutes on Sunday after the meeting, we would be able to send in an extra 200+ hours every month! "Now brothers, does that seem so hard? I didnt think so. "

  So thus far, another SALES MEETING, all about getting our quotas up, giving more cash to the company, and uber guilt-tripping. Absolutely ZERO refreshment or personal attention. After the meeting, the CO was so busy handshakin and bs'n with the "elders" at the front of the hall, he never even spent any time with the "rank and file". Sorry suckers, you arent worth it.
  

  When we got home, Mrs Harper, for the first time ever, said this "this has got to be the most boring, ridiculous CO visit ever. Why in the world would they cut out the second meeting? Forget it, lets not waste our time going out in "service" just to show our faces. Why bother? Lets go do something fun."

  So, for the first time in over 20 years, no midweek service for anyone in our household during the CO visit, and no plans for Saturday either, we are staying put and drinking coffee in our PJ's.

  Puh Leez..... poor me another shot of Bourbon.
  
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  54

  New "donation" arrangement begins to FAIL

  by Tech49 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so here we are, almost a year into the "new" congregation donation arrangement.

  and its beginning, as was predicted, to fail miserably, and to have direct negative consequences on the poor sheep.. let me give you a little experience, directly from our congregation of about 80 publishers.

  back in may, after reading the letter about the "new" arrangement, the elder body decided to "donate" the extra funds on hand to wt, as directed.

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  Tech49

  So here we are, almost a year into the "NEW" congregation donation arrangement. And its beginning, as was predicted, to fail miserably, and to have direct negative consequences on the poor sheep.
  

  Let me give you a little experience, directly from our congregation of about 80 publishers. Back in May, after reading the letter about the "NEW" arrangement, The elder body decided to "donate" the extra funds on hand to WT, as directed. The bank account went from about $10,000 down to about $5,000, literally overnight. Then, a poll was taken as to what amount the congregation would be willing to agree to send monthly, forever and ever! That pledged amount was about $800.00. (Mind you, our little KH has been paid for for many years!, so no loan to forgive!)

  Great, a blessing from Jehovah!! Fast forward to this week. CO VISIT, and Tuesday night just happens to have LOCAL NEEDS on the menu. Guess what the part is about??!!!

  The brother giving the part did a terrible job of trying to convince us that we NEVER tithe, and NEVER beg for money, like those disgusting hypocritical pharisees. But you brothers DID obligate yourselves to make this DONATION every month! And then the guilt tripping begins! "You know, there are many ways we can show our appreciation for Gods Organization and all it does for us. Including our monetary donations. Of course, we would never want to make a promise and not follow thru, especially in regards to Jehovahs sole channel on the earth today!" BLAH! O....M....G....

  "You know brothers, we have been short every month for quite some time now, in fact our "expenses" exceed our donations by about $500 every month. At this rate, YOU will use up YOUR emergency funds in about 6 months or less. If we really appreciate all this (he waves his hand around, including pointing at the new video system), we will live up to our OBLIGATION (he says sternly)."
  

  So here is a congregation that is strapped to begin with (most of the members are older), and you just know that with the CO in town, he's going over the books and realizing that they cant live up to their original "obligation" based on the pledges they took in. So rather than just readjust the amount they are sending in, for now, they are beating the poor slaves to hand over more money!!

  SICK, SICK, SICK! I look around and see so many are just sick and tired, its like a bad dream at a used car lot.
  
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  60

  Midweek Meetings no longer Necessary

  by Tech49 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i 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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  Tech49

  I wanted to bring this topic back up to the top. We have our CO visit this week, and am reminded of the "schedule changes" that include dropping the continuing studies in the same boring book for the week, that we have all studied before!!. Thank goodness! OMG! The bible study is SOOO BORING! Listening to some inept brother ask the same dumb question over and over and try to stretch out 5 paragraphs into a 30 minute "study" is just painful.

  And per my original post, apparently NOT NECESSARY for anyone!

  Jack Harper, Tech49