Slinboyfat beat me to the mention of "worldling." That and "worldly" always made me cringe as being quite insulting, even when I was an elder. Ironic when you think that the phrase "worldly-wise" is often used to denote someone who is smart enough to avoid making mistakes when dealing with others. I don't often hear bros refer to worldling so much anymore but I still hear worldly pretty often, and that somebody is in the world.
New day
JoinedPosts by New day
-
23
Is the term "worldly" outdated?
by A.proclaimer inyesterday i had to listen to the co from a spanish congregation on the phone.
he said the fds has been gradually moving away from the word "worldly" and teaching jws not to use the term anymore.
has anyone heard this in their congregation or heard the term "non-believers" used before?
-
-
-
19
"Freeness of speech"
by Wonderment inthis was posted on another thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6040010839031808/christmas-tree-word-appreciation), but wondered about how others here would see this with one experience i had as an elder now as ex-jws.. when we were jw's we had to be extremely careful with what we said around the brotherhood.
if someone said anything out of the ordinary, relationships among the involved were halted immediately, or were never the same afterwards.
in this place, one can say almost anything without the fear of having a truck run over us.
-
-
New day
I had a similar experience as you, Athanasius. Always used other translations, quoted Josephus, Winston Churchill and many others. Always welcomed as a speaker and complimented on my interesting talks. Last public talk was less than two years ago. Bros still seemed to like my different take, where we are anyway. -
21
CoBE Joins those Elders Deserting the Sinking Ship
by The Searcher infrom a reliable source:.
a young cobe - late thirties, maybe forty - has resigned in december 2015, both as the cobe and as an elder.
word is that he is a man with a young family who is stressed out and has had enough.
-
-
New day
I mentioned on another thread having stepped down last year and being enraged by a recent CO visit where he said that bros who do not reach out have something wrong with their heart and, like Peter, are following Jesus "at a distance."Quite a few bros in our hall could serve but don't seem to want the stress. At one time we had 11 elders, now there are 5. -
12
A Christmas tree, and a Word of Appreciation
by Wonderment ini am looking right now at my 10 footer christmas tree.
is "wonderment" celebrating christmas?
i am not one of those individuals who dropped the wt agenda years ago to hop on the first bandwagon of worldly attractions to cross my path.
-
-
New day
Wonderment, when l was an elder I always deviated from the outline in some way, large or small. I was always struck by the fact that other bros followed it to the letter. When the title of the talk was announced you would think "oh no, l know exactly what his line of reasoning will be, the scriptures, the illustrations...bore, bore, bore." I think people, being people, love something new, so I was often complimented on my "unusual" talks. Once, l found the whole central section of the talk so boring that l replaced the whole 20 minutes of that part (that was in the days of 45 minute talks). Afterwards, a young bro came up and told me that he had never heard that subject developed in that way before. But he liked it! We have moved to a very conservative cong since but even here when I gave public talks they were liked even though again they were quite different from the norm. I was never counseled about deviating from the outline. So you unfortunately had some Very rigid types to deal with. Whatever the org says officially, individuals welcome something different. I actually felt a responsibility not to be boring. After all, the bros and sis had to put up with all those hours of people talking at them from the platform! -
15
Need advice on fade...
by StarTrekAngel inthe elder that was the coordinator of the boe has just left town to attend one of those infamous schools with this wife.
the view is that he will most likely return to be appointed co. not sure he is going to stick around here for a lot longer.. i am saying this because, despite them knowing he will return when the school is over, they removed him from the coordinator position and appointed someone else.
it was announced last night that the biggest jerk of the group of elders is now the coordinator of the boe.
-
-
New day
Watch out for bullying COBEs! Had plenty of experience wth those. Lie low and stay under the radar is my advice. -
16
Being positively recognized
by menrov inhi, for over a year, i stopped attending meeting and field service.
actually, passively disassociated from the congregation.
but i did not stop reading and doing my own research.
-
-
New day
I think what has been mentioned about returning to your authentic self is spot on. I have pulled back a lot in the last year or so from involvement in the cong, resigning as an elder, partly due to family stuff, which I gave as the reason. When I was a teenager, before getting baptized, the future seemed very interesting. Unknown, exciting, out there. After many years as a witness I felt all my personality being sucked out of me, as especially as an elder you are expected to act in a certain way. Now, even though I still attend meetings, I am seeing "worldly" people in a different light. They are just other people, some good, some bad. And I can feel aspects of my younger self reappearing. I am actually feeling things again! -
24
Following Christ "from a distance."
by New day inluke 22:54.
"then they arrested him and led him off, and they brought him into the house of the high priest; but peter was following at a distance.
" i am still raging because this verse was used at a recent circuit overseer's visit.
-
-
New day
Thanks to all for replies. You make a very good point Nicholaus, about how it seems the "encouragement" to reach out didn't work, so now it is the hard line. I don't remember that article from 2011 you mention. Must look it up. I agree that becoming an elder is bad for relationships. With your wife, with the other elders ,who will always include at least one bully, so cue the power struggle. As somebody who honestly is not very ambitious, I always looked on in amazement as the big beasts fought it out! I think I probably don't want to go back into that again, even though my wife would like me to serve again.
-
24
Following Christ "from a distance."
by New day inluke 22:54.
"then they arrested him and led him off, and they brought him into the house of the high priest; but peter was following at a distance.
" i am still raging because this verse was used at a recent circuit overseer's visit.
-
-
New day
And that's not even touching on the thought that the org should simply be encouraging bros to reach out, not loading on the guilt-tripping, which is a very sick way to try to get somebody to do anything! -
24
Following Christ "from a distance."
by New day inluke 22:54.
"then they arrested him and led him off, and they brought him into the house of the high priest; but peter was following at a distance.
" i am still raging because this verse was used at a recent circuit overseer's visit.
-
-
New day
Luke 22:54. "Then they arrested him and led him off, and they brought him into the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance." I am still raging because this verse was used at a recent circuit overseer's visit. The C.O. referred back to when this was used at a district convention to stress that if a baptized bro was not reaching out to be an ms or elder, then he was following Christ 'at a distance.' He then went further and said that if a baptized bro wasn't reaching out, there was something missing in his heart. He backed this up with 1 Cor. 13:5 where "love does not look for its own interests." So he was telling the congregation that if a bro was not actively reaching out then there was something wrong with him spiritually. No allowance for circumstances. I resigned as an elder over a year ago, mostly due to family responsibilities but also some doubts. As a result of this, every bro not serving will be viewed as a waster and an unfaithful git. I am still reeling from this. -
37
Elders who dislike other congregation elders
by RULES & REGULATIONS inmy congregation had four elders who had different personalities.you would see a little friction among themselves.. #1 self-righteous and the 800 pound gorilla.he would push everyone around in the congregation and even some fellow elders.. # 2 elder was around 80 years old and looked like he stuck around a little too long.it looked like he was around because he never decided to give up the position.his duty became very light as he aged.. # 3 elder was in his early 30's and newly elected.he made no waves and whatever was asked of him in the congregation he would do.easy to push around like a little puppy dog.. #4 elder (who everyone liked ) was easy to get along with and had a family who everyone loved.
he didn't like elder # 1. they had a power struggle amongst each other which everyone observed while the meetings were in session.. here are 2 small verbal fights that i observed while the congregation meetings were in session:.
while elder # 1 was giving a talk ( heavy rain storms are brewing outside with loud thunder and lightning ) the microphones and lights are knocked out.we lost all power and could barely see.
-
-
New day
The revolving position was a great idea. It stopped power hungry men from having too much power. I have only been with two congs in over 30 years as a Witness and in both of them the presiding overseer had to be "taken out" as he got way too big for his boots. In both cases the revolving position idea had been changed to what it still is now, where a presiding overseer, or coordinator as he is called now, serves indefinitely, and unless the circuit overseer gets involved and takes action, it is very difficult to remove these men. This can take a long time. One of the two I mentioned was bossing everybody around for well over a decade.