Terminology: Congregation vs. Unit

by Gram 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  truthsetsonefree

  I remember hearing old timers called the congregation a unit. Never knew if it was official or not at any point in WT history.

  Isaac
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  Bonnie_Clyde

  The congregation I attended between 1961 and 1963 was referred to as ******-North Unit. The congregation on the other side of town was *******-South Unit.

  Bonnie
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  undercover

  I remember the term "unit" being used before "congregation" was used. I too was in the "North Unit".

  The term "unit" was coined by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, but he was referring to his best friend and his favorite and very private toy.

  Rutherford was a unit...
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  coffee_black

  That's from wayyyyyy back. I was from the Boston Congregation, Hyde Park Unit.... I think the last time I heard that term, I think I was in my early teens...

  Coffee
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  garybuss

  Congregations were called companies and the "unit" terms were only applied if there were more than one company in a region (city). In Sioux Falls there was just one company. The officers were called "company servant", "assistant company servant", and (I think) "book study servant". I might be wrong on the third one.
  
  Later in the 50's the company divided but shared a Kingdom Hall building. The were called the "east unit", and the "west unit". The meeting people attended depended on their address. West of Minnesota Avenue was the west unit and east was the east unit.
  
  We were not a religion. Our literature was promoted as "non-denominational". Our meetings were advertised as "non-denominational". Our weekly invitation handbills had "FREE" in bold type twice and "No Collections Taken" printed on them. We were proud of that, like "no collections" had a direct tie to truth. We were not politically neutral, we were political separatists, and we were politically very active. We staged separatist demonstrations by disrespecting the established governments every chance we got.
  
  We were really a political group with a political agenda with a political message. We were not a religion and the Bible was just justification for our bizarre behaviors.
  
  
• 

  blondie

  *** yb70 p. 141 Country Reports (Part One) ***The Witnesses asked permission to use my home as a meeting place for an isolated group, which is now the Southwest unit of the Santo Domingo congregation

  *** km 6/71 p. 2 When the Circuit Servant Visits ***Congregations are growing, and in some places the increase has been such that three or four groups meet in the same hall. So, when the circuit servant visits, it may be necessary to make adjustments in the schedule for the week. For example, if another unit has its service meeting in the hall on Tuesday evening, there is no objection to the circuit servant’s having his first meeting with the entire congregation later in the week, probably on their regular service meeting night.

  *** w58 9/1 p. 516 Blind Man Helps Others to See ***Working with the Hollenbeck unit of the Los Angeles (California) congregation, Cauthron has become efficient in the handling of Bible discussions as well as preaching from door to door.

  *** w56 5/1 p. 271 Pursuing My Purpose in Life ***In seven years I have seen that congregation grow and divide five times and our Santurce unit last month had an average attendance of 110 at the Watchtower study

  *** yb73 p. 114 The British Isles ***"Wake Up Britain!" was the stirring call for 1938. In a letter the Society’s president outlined changes in organization in London, whereby the one large congregation would be divided into nine "units," meeting in seven Kingdom Halls, each "unit" with its overseer
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  AllTimeJeff

  I have not seen another religious group more nutty about semantics and words then JW's. The Rutherford strategy of making sure JW terms that refer to familiar church words, like church for example, is all over the place. It's all about trumpeting your case about yourself that you are different. For example

  Kingdom Hall = Church

  Unit/Company = Congregation

  Bishop = Elder/Overseer/Older Man/Whatever they will call it next year

  Deacon = Ministerial Servant

  This is just off the top of my head. They call it the "Theocratic Language", the "Pure Language". Its nothing more then good advertising. If you can seperate yourself as different from the pack, you are easily remembered. The borg has netted many a members thanks to their "whatever we do, make sure its different" strategy.
• 

  minimus

  you said unit.
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  ferret

  I remember it the same as garybuss in the 40's and 50's congregations were all known as

  companies.
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  truthsetsonefree

  Actually Blondie's post just brought it back. Units were Book Studies. They were units before they were groups. Amazing the lingo, how it changes. It becomes easy to tell how current a JW is, whether they are in or out. How cultish.

  Isaac