SUMMER DISTRICT CONVENTION THREAD (page 6)

SUMMER DISTRICT CONVENTION THREAD

DannyHaszard

Ready for deliverance
Shreveport Times, LA - 3 hours ago
The 2006 district convention of Jehovah's Witnesses starts the final day of its program at 9:30 am today at CenturyTel Center, 2000 CenturyTel Center Drive in ... Ready for deliverance June 11, 2006 By James Ramage
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While waiting for her turn, 13-year-old Nia Ross said she was nervous and cold.

But when she was pulled from the pool, she came up smiling.

"It's like there was nothing else in the world," she said.

Ross, of Bossier City, was baptized during Saturday's program of the district convention of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The ceremony involved head-to-toe submersion in a pool of water before almost 6,400 inside the CenturyTel Center.

According to Walter Brown, an elder from Farmerville, the ceremony represents an ordination service. Now Ross is ready to take on her responsibilities to speak on God's behalf about the congregation, he said.

Ross' outlook suggested she understood what is demanded of her.

"Everything you do needs to be by (God's) standards," she said of her actions and behavior following the baptism. "It makes you think about what you're doing."
The three-day program of presentations, talks, demonstrations and biblical re-enactments launches a series of conventions held throughout the year, according to Carlos Boston, overseer to Shreveport's Witnesses.

The theme for this year's district convention, "Deliverance at Hand," speaks to Witnesses about their need to pray and prepare for God's kingdom to arrive, Boston said. Today represents a pivotal part of history, he added, and people must be ready for God's kingdom to deliver them from the world's unprecedented troubles, including violence, pain and wickedness.

"The conventions are reminders to us that we are living our lives in harmony with Bible standards," Boston said. "Our goal is to make the best contribution to society we can."
Over the years, Maude James, 65, of Shreveport, has seen just that. As a Jehovah's Witness for 43 years, she still remembers the segregated seating at Hirsch Coliseum, where the conventions for the area's two congregations were once held.

Now she looks over the faces around her at CenturyTel and said she can reflect on how individuals and the congregations have both grown and changed. For one, black and white Witnesses sit together throughout the arena.
James also looks back at her own development. She wanted to attain a specific position dedicated to full-time service within the denomination, and she has achieved it.

"I know the importance of the (convention's) programs," James said. "They deepen my appreciation of the hope of the resurrection. It's a lifelong thing; you don't retire from it."
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DannyHaszard

James also looks back at her own development. She wanted to attain a specific position dedicated to full-time service within the denomination, and she has achieved it.

"I know the importance of the (convention's) programs," James said. "They deepen my appreciation of the hope of the resurrection. It's a lifelong thing; you don't retire from it."

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Watchtower corporation puts on a good show

Sun Jun 11, 2006 10:52 am

~Jehovah's Witnesses Conventions dissident commentary~

Over 200 such conventions this summer in the United States, with dozens more in countries around the world.

The WatchTower Corporation is a media publishing, real estate development, and convention sponsoring company and their literature all promotes the corporation and those goals.

Jehovah's Witnesses will suspend the door to door proselytizing for which they are so well known, in order to meet together for a three day program of instruction prepared by the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York.

Few in the community at large know much about the beliefs and activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in spite of their well known evangelical activities to distribute the numerous books, magazines, pamphlets, and tracts they produce by the millions. Once informed of their beliefs, many view them as a high control group

Sometimes referred to as a cult.

Their ranks have grown rapidly in the last few decades, in spite of the documentation of their failed prophecies, constantly changing Bible chronology, flip flopping doctrinal changes, bizarre medical advice, and dogmatic teachings that many consider physically and emotionally harmful.

For further information on their beliefs and activities, please review the information provided by the following sources:

http://www.silentlambs.org

A non-profit group dedicated to publicizing the widespread problem of child molestation within the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion, and their organizational procedures that, in effect, protect some molesters at the cost of the well being and protection of the victims. They are also dedicated to the wider societal issues regarding child molestation, including awareness programs, counseling and recovery for the victims.

http://www.freeminds.org

A wealth of information on all aspects of the beliefs and activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses. PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE SCANDAL INVOLVING THE REGISTRATION OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES WITH THE UNITED NATIONS, AND WHY THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH THE UN IS AN EMBARRASSING SCANDAL FOR THE RELIGION.

http://www.watchtowerinformationservice.org

Another well organized documentation of all issues related to the Jehovah’s Witnesses community.

DannyHaszard

District Convention of Jehovah's click here for photo cache

Paula Wilson, from Crossett, Arkansas, comes out of the water during her baptism at the District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses Saturday afternoon at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, Louisiana

Shreveport Times
13 hours ago

DannyHaszard

Now she looks over the faces around her at CenturyTel and said she can reflect on how individuals and the congregations have both grown and changed. For one, black and white Witnesses sit together throughout the arena.

Hmmmm,excuse me in the USA black & white non-witnesses sit together too

Begging the question (assuming an answer in the way the question is phrased).

Observational selection (counting the hits and forgetting the misses).

Statistics of small numbers (such as drawing conclusions from inadequate sample sizes).

Misunderstanding the nature of statistics (President Eisenhower expressing astonishment and alarm on discovering that fully half of all Americans have below average intelligence!)

Inconsistency (e.g. military expenditures based on worst case scenarios but scientific projections on environmental dangers thriftily ignored because they are not "proved").

Non sequitur - "it does not follow" - the logic falls down.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc - "it happened after so it was caused by" - confusion of cause and effect.

Excluded middle - considering only the two extremes in a range of possibilities (making the "other side" look worse than it really is).

Confusion of correlation and causation.

Suppressed evidence or half-truths.

42 LOGICAL FALLACIES (of the con artist)

Jehovah's Witnesses Spread an Invitiation in New Milford comment box
Litchfield County Times, CT - 13 minutes ago
The convention continues through Sunday, and in anticpation of it the Jehovah's Witnesses had sent out a press release announcing the intention of reaching out ... NEW MILFORD-Although they trace their roots to the late 19th century in Western Pennsylvania, the Jehovah's Witnesses, who take their cue from the biblical verse in the Book of Acts that says, "You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house," have been conducting door-to-door visits in New Milford as a prelude to the district's annual convention that begins today in Newburgh, N.Y. The convention continues through Sunday, and in anticpation of it the Jehovah's Witnesses had sent out a press release announcing the intention of reaching out to every resident of New Milford. "There's air conditioning, nice comfortable chairs and cafeteria facilities," said New Milford resident Mark Voglewede, describing elements of the denomination's new assembly hall in Newburgh. "It's a beautiful facility. Weather isn't a problem." Mr. Voglewede, who began ministering for Jehovah's Witnesses as a child, said 2,000 to 3,000 persons are expected to attend the event.
"Some are from the area. They'll be different states assigned to this convention," he said, referring to the speakers. "They are very qualified speakers from within those states," he said, referring to members of the denomination who will speak. "Basically what takes place is a series of talks that are designed to encourage us, using scriptures from the Bible, and to help us recognize that deliverance is near, which is the theme of the convention," Mr. Voglewede said. "To be a Witness you must be a preacher," said a spokesperson for the religious denomination, speaking from the group's global headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., who asked that his remarks be attributed to JR Brown. "Our ministry is so well known. It's what defines Jehovah's Witnesses," he said, referring to the printed booklets the groups, whose legal entity is the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, distribute.
Several congregations make up a circuit, and two circuits complete a district. There are two congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses, whose membership numbers 6.7 million worldwide, in New Milford, and they began distributing invitations to the Newburgh event June 2. "We do make an effort to reach everyone. The challenge that we face today is that people are so busy with life. They have less time to give to a day-to-day sermon," Mr. Brown said. "There's no dress code," he said, with regard to the conservative manner in which Jehovah's Witnesses seem to dress. "You would typically see someone in a shirt and tie. It varies as often as someone's personality." "That's encouraged," affirmed Mr. Volgewede, who tries to devote two to three hours a week to ministering, of the Jehovah's Witnesses conservative dress. "Let's say, you were going to go to a wedding. There's a certain dignity to the occasion. Since we're respecting God, men wear a shirt, tie and slacks, and women will wear a nice dress."
"I was probably about 5 or 6 years old when I started in the ministry," said Mr. Volgewede, who observed he grew up near Zanesville, Ohio.
He said he was living in Georgia when he met Lucia, who would become his wife. "Her sister had lived in the area. We decided to relocate to this community," he said, referring to New Milford. "We've been here for about 13 years now." Mr. Vogelwede's congregation ministers to northern New Milford, Kent, Washington and Warren. "A lot of people may not be at home," he said, concerning the reception that the Witnesses get when they appear at doorways. "Most people listen to what we have to say. They'll allow us to read from the Bible. Some would just rather not talk to us. Of course, we respect that." "In this area, I would say that maybe 25 percent won't speak to us at all. Another 50 percent will listen to us but not do anything about it. Twenty-five percent want to pursue it," he said, referring to Bible studies with the Jehovah's Witnesses, whose denomination acknowledges salvation for some, but believes that others, as Mr. Vogelwede put it, "lose consciousness and return to dust." "In the more affluent areas, they may be satisfied with their life," he said, when pressed further on the reception the Witnesses get, and why. "Perhaps they're not as directly impacted by things as those that are struggling to make a living. They may be content with how their life is. ..."
Against the backdrop of a society in which religion has become more prominent both culturally and politically, Mr. Volgewede said in some ways the Witnesses' Bible-based ministering has become more difficult. "They see some of the hypocrisy in religion today. That turns them off."
On the other hand, Mr. Volgewede said others find the world tumbling from one problem to the next. "Those types of individuals who are searching for the truth are most interested," he said.
The annual convention, whose theme is "Deliverance at Hand," will extend across 155 countries, with more than 260 district conventions taking place in the United States. The ministry has roughly one million members in this country, the spokesperson in New York said. --------------- [email protected] contact

SUMMER DISTRICT CONVENTION THREAD

District Convention of Jehovah's click here for photo cache

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