by scotsman 127 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Just came across this interesting thread so thought I would BTTT.
Do you think they will ever still do this?
They are going crazy on trying to train up new replacement/temporary C.O.'s in our circuit. I know there is an even bigger lack of CO's in some places.
I heard this in bethel in the late 2000's as well, but only one person mentioned it to me and he didnt want to talk about it any further and made it seem like nobody was to know about it. i was actually surpised he mentioned this to me, because i read about it here before going to bethel. if i recall correctly, all these elder schools were to train elders to basically be like C.O.'s in their own congregations, though an elder was still expected to visit congregations in his city or something like that. almost 5 years later and it hasnt happened yet, makes me think it was only in consideration or just a rumour that some guys thought was true.
if it doesn't happen with the next C.O. switch (September 2014 in Canada) then i doubt it will ever happen.
But Elders have been practicing going to other congregations for years with the outgoing Public talks. They could do the change over anytime.
Bringing this topic to our current days, I will add that last September the majority of the travelling overseers over 65 were sent packing; they got assignments as Sp Pio and were dumped at local congregations.
This seems to be related to Obamacare and Medicare, it was a cost saving measure; not sure of the details but that is what I heard.
Needless to say some of the dismissed ones are putting a nice face but are full of resentment about what they consider a “broken promise”.
How much do the C.O's actually cost the WT (not the older ones mentioned by Hecce above) ?
Not a lot I would say, most of the cost is covered by the Circuit. But as super-loyal Company men, what are they worth to the WT ?
A lot I would say, we always felt a bit cheated if we got a Temp sent to us, and we definately listened even less to his ideas than we did the proper C.O.
The real C.O, if he was any good, was capable of getting us doing more, for a while, at least.
I think the WT will retain them, as a great control mechanism, a buffer between HQ/Bethel and the R&F, and as being cost effective.
I am inclined to go along with Phizzy. This is a high control religion. Without the COs, who are in essence direct employees of the Corporation, the Society would lose it front-line enforcers. A visting elder from another congregation would not fit the bill.
COs and DOs are, in my humble opinion, simply the cost of doing business. I think that the Society directors recognize this and realize that to do away with the CO/DO representatives they would immediately lose control of the congregations.
BobNC and Phizzy
Please consider this: we were used to the motivational talks by the COs and some of them were excellent at this; that is no longer the case, instead of preparing their material like in the old days; every word that comes out of their mouths is provided by the Branch. They are just readers; a younger CO can do this as well as the experienced ones.
As far as enforcement, the inexperienced and zealous ones will be even worse that the actual COs.
They are not at the point of making a full transition to part time COs but the concept is being tested in some other countries.
At any rate, this is no longer a matter of speculation; most of the older and experienced ones are gone. Keep in mind that the WT is going to be receiving the same amount of revenue as before for the insurance of the COs with tremendous savings in expenses.
Regards
I was thinking about this today for some reason, and I'm gonna make a prediction here: If they do not announce this at this year's district convention (or regional convention or whatever the hell its called now), then they will never change the CO arrangement. I have no idea why they would go back on this though because it would save them some money to keep them in a concentrated area and have regular elders act as a local CO, only they cover their expenses themselves.
The counciling videos that were leaked makes me think they will still go through with this change, and simply train elders every year through elder schools featuring videos of scenarios, but we'll see in a few months time.
