Some years ago, I remember attending a circuit elders' meeting where most of the time of the meeting was given over to presenting meeting parts and the audience giving feedback. The purpose of the meeting was to look hard at presentations and make them as interesting as possible. We were all informed that the rationale underlying such a focus was the perennial problem of troughs in mid-week meeting attendance. This of course implies that much of the responsibility lay with those presenting the information - true to an extent. However, there was no reflection whatsoever on the content of the meeting parts. Of course, to this day, the content of meetings is as it has always been - completely centralized. Thus, if the authors of the meeting produce outlines etc which are rather boring, then the meetings are going to be boring. Hardly rocket science!
Earlier in 2015 and perhaps 2014 too, I remember there were several episodes of KSM's having a part where several verses of scripture were read out and then open questions put to the audience. In my congregation not only did many hands go up, but the hands were held really high. I interpreted this as the audience being really enthused to participate. These items disappeared however. I don't detect enthusiasm at the meetings. Nobody says - "Oh wasn't that a nice talk..... wasn't that an interesting thought." No, the authors of the content and structure of the meetings exemplify the banal, the institutional, and lack of imagination. The focus is on considering the literature published by the WTBTS rather than the Bible. For an organisation which purports to be Christian, so little of Christ's teachings are actually considered. So the WTBTS is really responsible for the boring meetings and any consequent reduced or irregular attendances.
My scriptural thought on WTBTS meetings: "Better is the ending afterward of a matter than its beginning." From somewhere in Proverbs.
