by freedom96 19 Replies latest jw friends
There always seemed to be such a big stink about making sure you went to the hall that you were assigned to. Whatever territory that you lived in, that would be the hall assignment, whether you liked it or not.
If you chose not to go to your assigned hall, boy was there ever flack. You could get severely counciled for it.
Just seems to be another stupid rule that they would get upset about.
This is right in keeping with other of their "rules." Consider the ban on facial hair, rimless glasses, short skirts and other matters of personal grooming. These are nothing more than little "tests" to assure the scared little men who lead the JW cult that all is quiet and that everyone is obeying every stinkin' little rule, jumping through every little hoop they can think of. This is what it means when we say that the JWs are "high control" cult. And there they go, proving it.
francois
It's all a question of control. When you go to a different congretgation, who knows, you could be DF'd and people would talk to you because they don't know that. You can pass for someone spiritual, and fool everyone. They like to be in control, and know if you went to a meeting or not. By going to a different hall or congregation, they have no idea about your whereabouts.
I remember getting a lot of grief for going out in service at another hall. At my former hall there were a lot of mornings where no one would show up for service or there would be 6 people and they would decide that there was no room for me. So I would drive 5 minutes away to the neighboring congregation where I got a much nicer welcome. But, in the end I got counseled for it of course.
Actually, sometimes they let you slide, depending on the "needs" of the congregation you go to. My sister and her husband are way out of their territory, and always have been, but apparently the congregation they attend "needs" elders, so they are allowed to stay. And I remember, if your job conflicted with meeting times for your assigned congregation, it was acceptable to attend a congregation that met at better hours.
That's something I questioned as well when I was a study.The fact they wanted people to consult the elders in order to switch to a hall that was closer to where they lived or had more people that were in their age group such as friends or even family. I never really heard of any kind of problem with this though . They just seem to want to know where you are and if you are attending the meetings .Ministerial servants do have to report to the elders and show they are still as zealous and such . I don't think it's a big issue .
In my "ignorance", I once abruptly moved from one state to another and changed halls without notifying the presiding overseer of my old hall. I had no idea that I was "required" to notify them of my move so they could send my records ahead. The poop sure hit the fan over that one:)
That "permission" from the elders to move thing always bothered me. Since when do a couple of imperfect men (one retired and well-off, the other living off from a trust fund his "unbelieving" parents set up for his children) have the right to tell me that I can't move to a place where we could make a better living for our family?
This was once the case in the Catholic Church too. You were suppossed to attend the parish in whose territory you lived. While this was never "official" it was pretty much a given. One old fashioned priest (now a dear friend of mine) when he first moved to our parish, lit into me for attending mass in another town. Again, this is not the case and Catholics are even encouraged by some priests and bishops to shop around for a Parish whose style and flavor meet their needs.
I never heard about any "territory" thing in my old church (catholic), to a number of catholic churches when the schedule wasn't working to well at our own. Church sluts, I say!
However a friend of mine was told that she couldn't marry at our childhood church because of some sort of territory issue. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that her father was once in the seminary and had a contentious relationship with the main priest... nah!
Pettiness exsists everywhere, that's for sure. But, I will say that while I was a practicing Catholic, I personally never had any problems with "territory". Then again, I really don't think I would have cared either way. Hmmm... maybe that's why I'm not practicing anymore...
If ever you requested an "Official " answer then you would only be told that it was strongly recommended that you attend where they put you, but individual circumstances may permit........etc.
In fact in my experience the attitude of the elders will vary enormously. At my old congo when I was on the body we were pretty tolerant and welcoming to "strays" from over the border. Dont forget that bodies of elders do not always have a high regard for each other and may be sympathetic .
Other congs I have known have taken a much more rigid line , and made such ones so unwelcome that they either went back or moved on to a third cong.
