Re: The Brooklyn Heights Congregation. I was accorded the ``honor" of becoming a ``Heights Conductor" upon completion of Primary School, a coveted position among newbies. Malcom Allen was the Presiding Overseer (Congregation Servant) and Harold Dies his assistant. One of my duties was to help out with compiling the monthly service report, and let me tell you, all- I mean ALL -- of the biggies (people like Knorr and Suiter) were mid- to low one-digit publishers. LIkely the time they reported was from talks they gave.
Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!
by Dogpatch 501 Replies latest jw friends
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cathyk
Re: The Brooklyn Heights Congregation. I was accorded the ``honor" of becoming a ``Heights Conductor" upon completion of Primary School, a coveted position among newbies. Malcom Allen was the Presiding Overseer (Congregation Servant) and Harold Dies his assistant. One of my duties was to help out with compiling the monthly service report, and let me tell you, all- I mean ALL -- of the biggies (people like Knorr and Suiter) were mid- to low one-digit publishers. LIkely the time they reported was from talks they gave.
Thanks, Room 215. Does this fit in with the "spirit of sacrifice" that the writers of articles in things like KM go on about?
***km8/05p.3par.3NowIstheTimetoPreach!***
HowtoPioneer: Recognizing that "the time left is reduced," pioneers strive to keep their life simple. (1 Cor. 7:29, 31) They look for ways to reduce expenses so that they can spend less time doing secular work. For example, some have moved into smaller dwellings. Others have eliminated unnecessary material possessions. (Matt. 6:19-21) Often, they must also curtail personal pursuits. All of this is done with the goal of devoting more time and attention to the ministry. (Eph. 5:15, 16) With persistence, a self-sacrificing spirit, and prayerful reliance on Jehovah, many publishers have been able to arrange a practical schedule that enables them to pioneer.
They'd probably argue that they're already putting in service time, but by the same token so are the other Bethel workers. They don't hesitate to recommend that non-Bethelites put fewer hours into "secular work" in order to pioneer and that they ought to do without "unnecessary" things (who decides that, BTW?), but excuse themselves from the frankly unpleasant door-to-door ministry. That alone would have had me grumbling if I worked there.
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Gamaliel
Frank,
Your story rings so true. I don't have those kind of first hand personal experiences with GB members. But all the second and third hand discussions make a perfect fit to what I've heard.
I rarely interacted with any GB except for Gangas and Schroeder (whom I saw and spoke with regularly). I only had fairly brief conversations with Ray Franz, Ewart and Swingle and an exit interview with Sydlik.
I interviewed Fred Franz for nearly an hour on tape to gather "Bethel experiences" for a public talk I was preparing. Unfortunately that was when I was too much of a naive newbie. In a follow-up on that first interview I once asked him about a mistake in a footnote of a Book Study book we were studying, and he seemed to know all about it and became a bit defensive of the mistakes. That shook me a bit, because although I was only focusing on the incorrect footnote he had correctly understood that I was being critical of the entire tenor of that section on Watchtower Society history. He said something like: "But this is what the publishers need right now." (At that moment he was defending why we would study the same book a second time - not directly related to the mistakes in the section.) What also struck me at the time is how he seemed separate himself from "the publishers".
If I had known for sure about Ray Franz's position on certain Bible doctrines I would have loved to speak at length with him. I ended up have a fairly long conversation with Swingle once on the great value I saw in those articles they were running (at the time) on the Sermon on the Mount because they treated it like a verse-by-verse commentary but still kept the overall context of the entire chapters in mind. He sent me right in to talk to JimNapolitano, not saying that JN wrote the articles I liked, but telling me he was working on other articles like it. I would have sworn at the time from things LSwingle said that LS would have been the first GB member to get booted for apostasy. (He said he liked these types of articles too, but also said "some of us aren't used to them yet", rolling his eyes over to a specific office to his left show he meant someone else specifically.) But then again, Swingle could get away with oddly phrased ideas. The very first thing I ever heard Swingle say at Bethel, on my second day, was "Yeah! Sure this elevator is coming, and so's Christmas!" Except he didn't say it, he growled it loudly, and with convincing anger. Then, on the elevator he immediately told some joke timed perfectly to end by the time we got to the bottom floor.
One of the other writers told me a few experiences he had with multiple childish tantrums of at least one member of the GB. One came in with a book that had just been bound for release at the next assembly. He slammed it down on this writer's desk (R.L.'s desk) with full force for maximum "slam" effect, and then voiced his complaints for half the floor to hear.
RLengtat also told me about how silly a demonstration given by Karl Klein at breakfast was. One morning Karl decided to show just how humble a person in the Writing Department had to be. He showed into the camera a page or two of a manuscript that had been edited so heavily with pen marks and changes that you could hardly recognize the original. Later RL told me that this was hardly the case at least for any article he ever knew about. He said that FFranz's work was pretty much treated as sacrosanct. Then he gave me a "funny" example of what happened for Watchtower subject articles that he was asked to write. He said that he decided what he wanted to say first and often never drafted or typed until he had the whole article in mind, and then just typed it up exactly as he wished it to appear. Very often there was never a single editor's/proofreader's mark. One time when one of the Writing Committee members (or maybe it was another writer) complained about a manuscript article, it was a more vague complaint. He said, "No problem", and just matter-of-factly tore it up down the middle in front of the complainant's widening eyes and a dropping jaw. He just redid a new one on the spot. RL told me something like: There's always more than one way to say the same thing.
Greg -
Tom Cabeen
Hi Greg,
Something you said in your response to Frank's story made me think of another person I haven't thought about in a long time: Dean Pittman. Before I went to Bethel, I thought that the literature offers that appeared in the Kingdom Ministry were somehow tied into Jehovah's "master plan" to warn the nations just before the end came. I had heard statements to that effect, that this particular piece of literature, or this particular article, came just at the right time to accomplish His purpose.
When I became Pressroom Overseer, I met Dean Pittman. Dean didn't like the limelight. Even when I was Assistant Pressroom Overseer, I never even knew who he was. But Dean was the Society's master planner for printing and literature inventory. He also planned the literature campaigns around the need to "move the old inventory". I always thought that Dean was a good man. He wore thick glasses and spoke with a Southern accent that was even thicker. Dean and I got along famously. Maybe it was because I was so different from Richard Wheelock, my predecessor. He and I would sit down every six weeks or so and plan the next months' print runs. He had a big spreadsheet (made by hand, no computer spreadsheets in the late 70s) and we would go over the paper inventory, and plan the printing and binding, and talk about the literature stocks in the warehouse. Then at the end of each session, he would work out the offers to be published in the KM.
About the time the GB Committees were forming, the "Man's Salvation" book was in its first printing. Freddy had his interpretation of one of Jesus' parables, maybe the one about the mustard seed. He wrote the book, so he put his interpretation into the manuscript and that is how the book went to press for the first printing (the convention release). Evidently, someone or ones there had some sort of opposite opinion, for the GB discussed it and decided to overrule Freddy. I believe that was the first time something like that had happened. Whatever the case, in the second printing of the book, (only a month or so later, following the usual pattern for convention releases), the interpretation was entirely different. I don't remember the specific character represented, but in one view the character represented Jesus Christ, in the other it was Satan the Devil, so it was not a minor adjustment.
The first printing had been large, but only the second and subsequent printings were sent to the field. Poor Dean Pittman put the first printing on the offer list for a couple of years, but he couldn't move 'em. I think they ended up giving them away for some pittance, like three out-of-date (or is it dimmer light?) books for a quarter, when they were still selling them. There may still be some of those darned books from the first printing in cartons at 30 CH, who knows?
Tom -
Tom Cabeen
Frank, where are you getting these great cartoons? Are you making them up? If so, you have found your calling, my man! "High double standards" indeed! :-) Tom
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Burger Time
This has got to be one of my favorite threads ever here on JWD. It almost makes me wish I could have endured the pain of going to Bethel...kind of like watching war movies and kind of wishing I was able to go to war and have some fun stories! Keep up the stories...I think it would be interesting to have someone who served in the 2000's in a very "made man" type of position.
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Dogpatch
Cab wanted these posted:
That's mostly my floor and 3-7
Quak on the far left.
FitZ!
OK here is Gloria resident IT psych:
Quackenbush doing his job after tiring from making all the subversive cartoons:
John Earp, Joe Gratzle, and Yours Truly in front of my press, Cottrell 16 These were the three Cottrell press operators in 1971. John ran #6, Joe ran #7 and I ran #16. Joe looks like he is up to something in this picture, but I don't remember now what it was. But I do remember that we wore the same shirts for days at a time.
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Fatfreek
...the interpretation was entirely different. I don't remember the specific character represented, but in one view the character represented Jesus Christ, in the other it was Satan the Devil, so it was not a minor adjustment.
Oh, I remember that one. It was the subject of a question I've posted here to see if someone remembered the book, but there were no replies.
It seems that I can remember pasting replacement text (perhaps from a Kingdom Ministry) over the old text before our Tuesday bookstudy. Several of us looked at each other with raised eyebrows as we noted the drastic teaching reversal.
As an aside, there are thousands, based on the view count, who've enjoyed this thread. It has amazed me that so many had prominent positions of responsibility at Bethel and Gilead in the early 80's and are now out and looking back and sharing these great stories.
Before it's all lost to fading memories and for posterity, I'd like to see an organization chart that includes all you folks and others. It's only possible with input from you old timers. If any of you old timers agree and are willing to help, I'd be willing to do the drawing -- then post back into this thread.
It would help illustrate to the lurker, including current JW's, that their structure is not much different, if any, than any of the businesses of what they call "this old world".
Len Miller
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