by Seeker4 74 Replies latest jw friends
Zack, on another thread, said he heard this figure from the platform at both the 2006 Elders' school and his recent Pioneer School:
That there were 93,000 elders in 1994, and less than 60,000 today, in the United States.
I thought these figures deserved their own thread, as they are shocking to me, and to see if anyone else has heard anything similar.
I'll post a link to the other thread as well.
S4
This is a good thing. The fewer the better. Hope this is just the beginning of the downfall. Let the domino effect continue.
The Claw.
The Society thinks nothing of removing elders if they aren't 100% theocratic men. I believe some have been pushed out whereas those like moi got out because they just couldn't take it anymore.
Seek 4 thank you this is interresting.
Most of the Elders that were Elders while I was in are no-longer Elders At least half of them in the local area since 2001 there are a few new Elders to replace them but not many. In a town near were I am from there are two congregations in 2001 had 20 Elders between the two. My dad told just the other day there is only 5 left. The ex-elder have not moved away but been removed or stepped down. Dad said there is talk of combining the two congregations.
If there is 35% less elders for the same number of Witnesses, then it will put an additional strain on the remaining elders. One more reason why I didn't want to go up the ladder.
Good ! ... and sad at the same time if they can only fade
my sister told me about an Elder from Martinique we knew very well ... as she said he is not going to the KH anymore ... she went to see him, and he didn't say much (nothing about religion anyway - he looked very depressive), but what he said to my sister which actually talked a lot was that :
I feel for your poor mother
Even if my sister thought that at first it was just a way to say he reminds my mother. I guess he knows my mother and have some regrets (5 kids no husband, JW ... Well ... too much for that kind of woman and Lots of time wasted)
This is no surprise to me, knowing how hard the elders are made to work in the Kingdom Hall I used to attend.
It should worry the Society that so many are stepping down, and even leaving the Organisation altogether, but I doubt they will do much about it, apart from piling more work than ever on those left, and trying to appoint some of the young wannabees who are more interested in the power, prestige and position, and have no idea of the work involved.
I know elders who are drunks, who have marital problems, and who are worn out by their many duties, but doggedly cling on to their position because they love the power more than their families. I find myself wondering how long these men can carry on.
I don't know the figures for the UK, but I imagine they won't be much differrent from those in the USA. I know several elders who have stepped down in the last few years, and unfortunately they tended to be the ones who were more interested in helping the flock than the power their position gave them.
and what is worse there will have been many new ones appointed in that time so the true figure for elder loss is even greater than the figures suggest
By the way, was this the same period of time that crankypants Jaracz led the elders?
