we all know the sort of thing..... in many congregations, specific "rules" creep in...introduced by the local elders that become set in stone.. years ago, i heard of a congregation that sat down during the first song of the evening but stood for all others (the co changed that very soon after).
then there were the older accounts of congs that had rules to make the public speakers wear only white shirts.... in one cong now, i heard that brothers can only be used for sound or microphones if they do a minimum of 5 hours per month in the ministry!.
another cong has ruled that all appointed men must pioneer for at least one month each year in order to remain qualified.. .
The suit rule only applies to the Public talk, and Memorial, not sure if the letter said Memorial or not! But I well remember that the letter spelled out "Public Talk". In the congregation I was in, we went over that letter in a ms & elder meeting. I still can hear head jerk elder saying "We can all read between the lines here, what the gb is really saying, is all brothers on the platform myst wear suits! " and that stuck for year's!
Dwain
at the international convention here i just got off the elevator with anthony morris.
he was heading to the basement and i was heading up to administration.
i rode one floor down with him before i went up to my destination.
I worked stage security for "The Franz" back in the 70's in Mississippi. Boy the sheeple lining up just to touch him!
Dwain
2014-07-13 appointment and deletion of elders and ministerial servantsto all bodies of elders.
the link removed by request is also available at the forms link.
the congregation secretary should arrange for this letter to be retained in the congregation permanent file of policy letters.
Yea they are trying to put another firewall between the gb and local elderoids!
Dwain
should christians drink tea?.
would you like a cup of tea?.
this seemingly innocent question has been asked countless times, and is regarded as a gesture of courtesy and hospitability in many parts of the world, in both eastern and western culture.
That was good! It had me laughing, because I could see some of the reasoning the borg would use. But I think they know better!
Dwain
an elder in my cong.
test drove a new a car and was entered in this contest to win a new hot tub.
i don't know if he had to enter to was just.
I won $500 dollars in a weekly grocery store some years back. It was in the local newspaper, and radio. All I heard from any of the elders was, "Wow, I wish I could win!"
It's a non issue, as long as your not buying tickets, or in some other way, buying a chance!
Dwain
(a little background info before i ask my question...).
my sister-in-law (non-jw), who manages a popular chain restaurant near a kingdom hall, just found out that my wife and i have recently faded, so she decided to get something off her chest the other day... you guessed it: she wanted us to know that jws are the worst customers ever!
she then told us some really embarrassing stories about how jws would request a table for 15 to 20 people (after a sunday meeting) and then (when the bill came) some of the jws would start deliberating amongst themselves on whether or not the waiter was diligent or not (to justify the low tip he was getting anyway).
One congregation I was in for a few years, I would call the restaurant we all went to after the Memorial, the day before to let them know a group of 30+ would be coming. There were a few that dud not tip, or did so poorly. My brother and I checked with the head waitress, (our sister) she said everything was good.
But I have been around many other jw's that were horrible, as guests, tippers, demanding, and messy! I want be caught with a bunch like that a second time!
I managed fast food restaurant's years ago. I hated any and all church groups. Demanding, loud, took up most if the restaurant from 8pm till closing, left such a mess, it took at least an hour longer just to get tge lobby cleaned and set back up!
Dwain
the watchtower has always praised witnesses who are on welfare and decided to pioneer.
many in my congregation, including my mom, were given kudos, praise and assembly parts because they took advantage of jehovah's provision through the government....did you notice this, or was it obvious to me because i was raised in the inner city and many people recieved government help?.
I was in a cong, back in the late 80's, that had 80% pioneers. I moved there with 13 years of being an MS, and 5 years of pioneering under my belt. but I was told they could not use me in that cong, because i was not setting the right example and pioneering. I ask where that was written from the org. I quickly found out that almost everyone there was on welfair and reciving food stamps, and working part time enough to have some cash to pioneer with!!! I moved in 2 months!!! It took 4 more years for that mess to get fixed. Ppeople in the area still have a bad taste for jw's!!!
Dwain
at the meeting the other night, the elder who had to read the announcements, which included the $$ info for the new donation arrangement seemed downright disgusted as he read the announcements and asked for the vote.
he said, "well, here is another organizational change" as he read the letter about the discontinuation of the 2nd meeting during co visit.
then after they voted, he said if you have any questions ask this other elder as if he wanted nothing to do with it.
I heard that if they kept making loans, then they would come under new banking regulations, and therefore have to open there book to government scrutiny!
We wouldn't want that, now would we!
Dwain
i just wanted to get a feel for how many here have awakened to ttatt but are still carrying on some jw activities to pacify them and keep the peace.
also trying to hear from those who have left, but whose spouse has stayed in the wt and in the marriage.. for me it comes down to my own mental anguish.
i am mentally tortured by attending the meetings, yet i feel compelled to because my wife would kill me with her personality if i had her drag 2 small girls by herself there.
Yep, wifes still in, wants us to pioneer next month : (
Dwain
i've been out so long but many of my ex-jws friends have been telling me of a "new" donation/tithing arrangement the wts is using today.
when i was a jws we had "contribution" boxes at the back of the kh and the elders would give talks about contributing to the kingdom interest.
we were not forced to give but gave as we pleased.
I have already heard of 3 congregation having local needs parts, because, they have not given enough money to cover all the new DEBT!
