Jehovah's Witnesses immerse in the spirit

by Kent 1 Replies latest jw friends

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  Kent

  Jehovah's Witnesses immerse in the spirit

  Sunday, June 24, 2001
  By WILLIAM SWEET

  AMHERST — "Finally," Annette McFaline of Springfield said upon being baptized yesterday during the first of five weekend gatherings by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society at the University of Massachusetts' Mullins Center.

  McFaline was among about 20 people out of 5,000 Jehovah's Witnesses who donned shorts and a T-shirt, stepped into a makeshift pool and were fully submerged.

  "It's just 'Count to three and hold your nose,'" said Peter Reid of Shelburne Falls, one of the men doing the baptizing.

  Not that this isn't a pivotal moment in these people's lives, the decision to be baptized having been made by each individual following a period of Bible study.

  "It was just a wide range of emotions," said McFaline. "It was like I was feeling everything all at once. It was all there. It was all good."

  Hans Hollis, news service spokesman for the group, said the Witnesses hold the baptisms at large forums such as the convention so candidates can share their declaration with the masses.

  The baptism followed a talk by a minister about the seriousness of the occasion and the responsibilities being accepted by the ones being baptized.

  Believers from Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut are spending this and the following four weekends at the Mullins Center. A different group of about 5,000 Witnesses will attend each Friday through Sunday, with the same program being presented.

  The conventions are among 189 being held in 62 cities in the U.S. this year.

  "The reason we like (large gatherings) is we get to see old friends," said George Zinsmeister of Sunderland, who is overseeing the convention program. The group, which now has some 6 million members worldwide, considers Jesus the chief witness of God, or Jehovah. The movement has no clergy; each member becomes a "minister" upon baptism.

  "One of the things that's unique about the Jehovah's Witnesses is the unity," Zinsmeister said. "We have friends worldwide."

  "We're here for the spiritual food that Jehovah God feeds us," said an excited Wilfred Corey, down from Whitingham, Vt., with his wife, Pearl. "It's a spiritual feast for everyone," Pearl chimed in.

  The convention continues today and is open to the public.

  http://www.masslive.com/newsindex/springfield/index.ssf?/news/pstories/ae624bap.html

  Yakki Da

  Kent

  "The only difference between a fool and the JW legal department is that a fool might be sympathetic ."

  Daily News On The Watchtower and the Jehovah's Witnesses:
  http://watchtower.observer.org
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  dedalus

  Interesting ... I used to attend the district convention at the Mullins Center in Amherst. It's a nice facility, and from one side of the stadium, if you're walking along the corridor, you can watch the kids playing soccer. During the session, Witnesses tend to gather and watch the game -- so "rich" is the spiritual feast being served within.

  Every year a local newspaper, usually the Union-News, does a saccharine story like this. The reporters never stick around for the Sunday session, I've noticed. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Organization saves its bloodiest, most bigoted vitriol for the last day of the convention. Last year it was the now-famous Zechariah’s (or was it Zephaniah's) prophesy symposium, in which the speaker went to great lengths to describe exactly what would be done with the innards of those outside the Organization (and even some of those inside the Organization, who are secret leading double lives, not turning in enough time, not making all the meetings, watching R-rated movies, etc.).

  Anyway, I found this little exchange priceless:

  "We're here for the spiritual food that Jehovah God feeds us," said an excited Wilfred Corey, down from Whitingham, Vt., with his wife, Pearl. "It's a spiritual feast for everyone," Pearl chimed in.

  LOL!

  Dedalus