At Bethel it was at times ordered that you MISS the meetings due to a hot job

by life is to short 31 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  life is to short

  The poster EX Dub MS reminded me of something I had forgotten. At Bethel especially in construction if there was a hot job going on or a deadline you missed meetings PEROID! No questions asked.

  Now if a rank and file husband who was working a low wage job to support his family or a single mom had to miss meetings due to a hot job at work what would happen to them?

  I know clearly of one elder at Bethel who was demanded to work overtime while 90 Sands was being built because the jobs were hot and they had deadlines to meet, plus his congregation was doing a remodel so he missed EIGHT months of meetings straight.

  He was married so he had a FAMILY his wife never saw him. She was very upset. He was working so much he fell asleep once while on stilts and hurt himself. They were totally overworking him. We left Bethel and I heard though the grape line that they divorced, I wonder why? The wife I heard stayed at Bethel and he left and she remarried. Sad very sad.

  What I do not understand why the clear double standard. Why did I not wake up then? I remember getting into some heated discussions with some Bethel elders asking them why this was going on. Was not this brother's spiritual life important? I was worried that they might make my husband do it someday. The answer was they were doing Jehovah's work and Jehovah would carry them.

  I clearly remember saying you would not allow a family head in the local congregation to work at supporting his family and missing so many meetings to stay an elder how is this any different. The answer was again this is work for Jehovah. The family head is working in the world.

  LITS
• 

  cult classic

  LITS - Many R & F would be surprised at how many meetings Bethelites are allowed to miss. And as you state, if the job is deemed important enough, the Bethelites definitely know what the priority is. The interesting thing is that it doesn't matter what department the "important work" is being done in. From cleaning to bethel office, there are shifts that must be covered so that Bethel continues to run smoothly.

  Congregations that have Bethelites in them know the routine. It is common practise and the locals don't even ask about the Bethelites absence most of the time. Unfortunately, the sisters usually don't have the important jobs so we're expected to be at all the meetings.
• 

  darth frosty

  Its hard to wake up when your smack in the middle of the shitstorm.

  Looking back having us work on hot jobs or to complete runs of new releases serves 2 purposes. The first obviously getting the work done and with free labor to boot.

  The second (and I feel more far reaching) is to enhance the mytho's of bethel and its importance. You have those in the congo who are like oohhhh look how hard they are working and how important their work is. When the R&F get wind of there are jobs SOOOO important that these stallwart brothers have to miss meetings, that just sends out tingles everywhere.
• 

  blondie

  So true LITS...I lived near Wallkill and we had 30 Bethelites in our congregation, some of them "heavy" brothers. It was made clear that we not comment on the meeting attendance. In the summer there would only be 40 people at the meetings. only 1/4 of the elders were local brothers and had to carry the load. There were 3 brothers assigned to each elder position and MS responsibility. The wives had no such problem but routinely missed or went to the congregation at Wallkill because they were afraid to drive by themselves (but turning down rides with other sisters who were not "afraid."
• 

  Found Sheep

  I hated this growing up in a Bethel congregation. The bethelites missed all the time but if a local did they got talked to. Double standard
• 

  Found Sheep

  I was told they were to live Bethel 1st congregation 2nd.. and family 3rd
• 

  GrandmaJones

  btt
• 

  dissed

  It was routine to miss a few at Bethel. When I was transerred to WT Farms, it was a matter of policy to miss several meetings per month. Some of us that worked the schedgule would joke that we forgot God's name, etc...we missed so much. Several of us came up with a plan to lesson the burden and we were soundly rejected as the plan could be potentially devastating to the current operation.

  I never missed before Bethel, but learned there are reasons to miss as it later affected my meeting attendance.
• 

  Think About It

  The bethelites missed all the time but if a local did they got talked to. Double standard

  You got that right. Heaven forbid the guy who's secular employment had a hot job or project that required him to miss meetings. Those stupid bastard elders would even have the gall to tell him he needed to quit and find another job that didn't interfere with JW activities.

  Think About It
• 

  pontoon

  It's the Watchtower Society of Double Standards. It doesn't have to be a hot job for bethelites to be a no show. We had one kid who only made a few meetings a month. He kept saying he had to work overtime. Another bethel elder in our hall spoke to his overseer and found out he kept on offering to work late (just late enough to miss his ride to KH). When CO came attendance was always an issue. Bethelite elders used to play it off like it was a problem with the local bros. I did my own survey, the bethelites missed FAR more meetings than the locals. When it was time to pick blueberries and strawberries at Wat Farm, they would invite local bros & sisters to come help, especially pioners--and yes they could count their time. Put that life saving work on hold because we need our blueberries! Yes, this IS SACRED SERVICE, but only if your a pioneer. If you are just a publisher you can't count you time because it is not sacred service. How about that crap! I could go on and on but I'll stop. Living close to the Wat Farm you see and hear a lot. Double standards and who you know politics.