by Alfred 82 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
"Is there any truth to the rumor that the Society hired consultants to improve the educational aspect of meetings, and this is what led to the shorter public talk and the symposiums at conventions? "
That's funny. The organization directed by Jehovah God's Holy Spirit hiring outside (read: "worldly") consultants to help them improve the channel in which they, the spirit-anointed leaders, dispense the proper spiritual food at the proper time.
I hope the hell it is true and can be proven...
I think the reason it was poorly attended is the result of the THIRD round of the Revelation Climax (hehe) book; what a turd of a book. And then of all things, they hand out a list of corrections. What a joke. But poor attendance does not seem like a reason for them to cancel; they would just flog the rank and file, and guilt trip then into attending.
My take is this:
Consolidating the book study into the TMS/SM freed up many kingdom halls one more night a week, and took the pressure off to build new halls in areas that can't afford it. One less night a week for 3 congregations in a hall makes the schedule work better.
I think other reasons were the clincher: eliminate the possibility of more liability from pedo's in private homes, and to squelch off the reservation comments made at book studies.
It was my favorite meeting by far, and the only one that was actually like the first 'christian' gatherings; the early congregations were all in homes.
I only read page one so if this has been mentioned, sorry.
Could it have been because several of the multimillion dollar pedo settlements were cases where the perv took advantage of the book study arrangement in private homes to get at kids?
If "liability" was the reason for discontinuing the book studies they wouldn't be sending people running around town and knocking door-to-door.
http://www.144000.110mb.com/directory/jehovahs_witnesses_research_resources.html
What struck a chord with me, and isn't 100% on topic, is that the number of meetings was reduced. I was already inactive before the change and I heard that a change was coming. I fully expected there to be another meeting added.
I remember Hebrews 10:24, 25 being harped on as the "meeting scripture". It supposedly shows that we need to meet more as we behold the end drawing near. Wow! So, be deduction, less meetings = the end is further away than previously thought. However, "The End is Nigh" drum is still being beat on.
I think the two most important reason were:
1.) to reduce the workload for the elders.
2.) to make it easier for new ones to join the organisation; people in Western countries were not even willed just to start a bible study if they heard that JWs would attend meetings on three evenings per week...
Attendance of book study was not such a huge problem; in some areas book studies had even best attendance of all meetings (much nearer than kingdom hall; easier for interested ones to visit private homes than to attend a kingdom hall). But the organisation has less and less willed, healthy and capable elders, so their workload had to be reduced.
For reducing the number of weekly meetings, they had two possibilities:
a) to end one meeting in KH, and to develop the book study groups into real field service groups by combining book study and a short service meeting in private homes. (A shorter TMS could have been added to a 30 minutes talk + 45 minutes WT-study, to train brothers to talk in KH) I think that would have been the better solution: strong small field service groups; content of service meetings more flexible according to local field service needs; easier to combine theory of service meeting and practice of field service as group.
But: they have not enough elders anymore for such a change. So they choose possibility
b) to end study groups.
I have to agree with everyone who has posted.
I think they ended the book study for liability reasons and also because the didnt want the witnesses to meet in small groups to discuss so they can monitor what they do.Child molestation reasons, and also to keep everything in the opened.
LOL @ Designs.
'b' and 'c' are the most probable answers - together with the need to create family night so that the crushing, abject failure of the organization to retain young people could be more thoroughly blamed on parents.
metatron
I side with DOC and Pistoff: They did it to stretch the space availability in the existing Kingdom Halls so they wouldn't have to build any more costly structures. It was all about the money.
In the Western U.S. during the 1980s and '90s we worked on a KH building project somewhere in our area at least once or twice a year, every year. But here in one of the fastest growing regions in California, it's been nearly ten years since the last KH was built.
