jw regional conventions scheduled to be held in rochester ny in august 2019, will instead be held in wilkes-barre, pa.. here is the story:.
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/07/09/jehovahs-witnesses-pull-conventions-unable-reach-deal-pegula-sports/1685174001/.
looks like the new management of the rochester arena didn't like playing "hardball" with the jw negotiation team, and just decided to close their doors.. the group is looking at returning to rochester next summer, miller said, adding this is "not a cold, hard break.
I would love to know what the sticking point was. They have cancelled the use of facilities for as little as a difference of a few hundred dollars and inconveniencing hundred of Dubs who were forced to drive much longer distances.
Rochester is nearly 4 hours drive time from Wilkes-Barre. Can't you just hear the frustration among the rank and file?
a letter was read this week from the platform stating that publishers should not scour the obituaries and respond to the websites for condolences messaging.
apparently, it is not being taken too well by family and friends and the pubs are asked to refrain from sending a message if they are not friends or family of the deceased.. i recall one sister used to visit grave yard sites and if she saw individuals there, went over and "consoled" them by offering the tract on death and your loved ones.
i cannot even think of how i would have received her, being in my space and thinking she could do that.. apparently they have graduated by reading the obits..
In the late 50's and 60's we were encouraged to "work" the cemeteries on occasion. I don't remember how we decided when to go or if was part of a territory assignment . Even then as a young person I thought it was an unwelcome intrusion.
i was reading something else on jwn and remembered why i started questioning wts definite statements of fact.. i was asked by a non-jw to prove these 2 points from the scripture:.
1. when did the 2,300 days in daniel 8:13,14 start?
this scripture therefore suggests that jesus himself is the archangel michael.. https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102005160?q=jesus+michael+archangel&p=sen.
Evidently then we here surely are likely to conclude that the Watchtower is full of it (italics ours).
around 1976 i got the wild idea i'd like to learn greek (for my study of the christian greek scriptures and to 'get to the bottom' of whether i was wasting my time being even a token jehovah's witness.
) i would read the actual text and avoid my denomination's opinion commentaries, you see.. .
i learned the characters in the greek alphabet rather quickly and started reading an interlinear (english/greek) bible aloud - practicing my enunciation.
I haven't seen a Greek or Hebrew word in a JW publication in quite a wile. Of course I only give a cursory look every year or two.
I remember back in the early 80's when I was in an out of Crooklyn working on special projects that I sent notes to both Teaching and Writing committees suggesting that if were going to keep citing Greek and Hebrew words in the study articles we could at least include some phonetic pronunciation guides to assist the readers at the Watchtower Study. Went over like a dead rat and readers continued to slaughter the reading without making an effort to find out the correct pronunciations.
Now days it's Watchtower pablum for all.
the video at he mid week meeting tonight shows a video on how teaching must be based on hard researched fact and that we are encouraged to look at watchtower literature to get up to speed on a subject.. here is the link to it https://www.jw.org/en/publications/videos/reading-teaching-videos/accurate-and-convincing-video/.
i find this quite disturbing when you look at the feb 2017 watchtower which explains the governing body errs in their understanding of subjects yet they claim to be god's channel of communication to his people.. what are the thoughts on this?.
i know there are other topics on new light etc...
The Tower has always quoted itself as the authority on a subject..... The blah..blah..blah issue of the Watchtower said such and such. As if that makes what they want to say in the current issue correct on whatever blather they want to prove at the time. Evidently this likely makes the Truth the truth at the time written. Surely no one would think otherwise.
the longer i am out, the the less i understand the logic of this organisation.. i thought that the kingdom hall my wife attends was perfectly fine and adequate, in fact i liked that it sat in grassy grounds, surrounded by trees.
it probably wasn't in any dire need of re-decorating at this point.
others, obviously, thought otherwise and so the hall has recently been subjected to a make-over.. the parking lot has been extended in true joni michell they've "paved paradise and put up a parking lot".
In the past those chairs came from a company named Church Chairs of America out of a small town in Georgia. I remember us sending a truck from N. Florida to pick up a load. That was 15 years ago, don't know about now, maybe they have a shill corp. now that does all that.
did you have one or two brother with way too long prayers in your congregation?
when i was a child we had a brother who would go on and on after the watchtower study for at least five minutes.
many elderly sisters just sat down and a lot were complaining after the long desired amen..
Those end of convention prayers were the worst. A rehash of everything and council to everyone included. Never did approve of prayers that counseled everyone.
It wasn't a prayer but a comment at a Crooklyn Monday night Watchtower study that stands out for me. I believe it was Russ Kurzin(sp?) who droned on for 7 minutes by my watch. He was known for long comments so I checked the time when he started. Couldn't tell you a thing he said, just that he went on and on, a real Genesis to Revelation moment
is there any transparency in how many hours on the ministry the governing body members do on the ministry?
by this i mean the physical act of going door to door in their area.
i guess it is plausible that they would count overseas trips and working on publications as part of their ministry, but this is not what they encourage from the jw on the street.. is it possible for a gb member to be reproved or otherwise for not going out in service?
When working at Crooklyn on some special projects, I remember seeing Martin Poetzinger and his wife standing on the corner down by Cadman Plaza holding up magazines like little soldiers but can't recall ever seeing them converse with anyone. Maybe they got a 2 for one hour credit for going out in service right there for all the visitors to see.
https://m.facebook.com/100002613343180/posts/2271710659592690?sfns=mo.
would the old-timers even recognise this religion anymore?.
this is from one of the international conventions held this year.
I believe it was Ted (The Boss) Jaracz who put a stop to all 'secular' entertainment after a Zone/Branch visit he made. Even the Gilead graduations stopped having demonstrations of local culture and became boring as hell.
i bring this up now because i haven't seen any postings about that practice because i got out in 1977. when did wt quit soliciting private homes for accomodations?
or have they stopped?.
i hated it, but it was the only way we could afford to go.
The last time I recall doing "rooming work" was for the Washington, D.C. convention in 1968. Beyond that time either my memory or the work has disappeared.
