I gave many out of town talks. From what I recall, we were invited to a meal in almost every situation. It was the norm. Our congregation was pretty good about extending the same hospitality. I lived in SW Florida.
Hospitality after Public Talk - ???
by RubaDub 47 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
mynameislame
I remember going to martha's vineyard with my friends dad and someone put us up for the weekend. Other than that I don't remember anything at our hall or places I went with my father. My dad's unsocial nature may have had something to do with that though.
-
coffee_black
Mynameislame,
When did you visit Martha's Vineyard? I lived there in the early 70s. You may have stayed with us.
Coffee
-
Glander
central California, 1970's. I was invited to be guest speaker many times for neighboring congregations, some for a cong. that shared the same KH. No hospitality was expected or received.
Some were for congs. in the Sierra foothills or valley towns like Turlock, Stockton, Merced... maybe 40 mi. away. I can't complain about a lack of after meeting hospitality because I usually arrived 20 mins. or so before the talk and left before the WT study.
The talk that was requested more than any other was "The Godly View of Sex and Marriage". I had given it so many times that I had made it my own, so to speak, and it was pretty entertaining. Word got around that it was a good talk plus local elders avoided giving it like the plague.
I liked the post above by 00DAD
It just reminds me that deep down, the average JW is just a regular person that really wants to be good. Too bad the WT leadership ruins it with their ridiculous need to control and their hypocritical lies.
This is the thing that is so important to people who belong to "vanilla" churches . It is obviously lacking in the WT publishing company. A thread nearby discusses "quick builds" of KHs'. This is about as close at it comes to real 'community' activity. JW's are a cold group, not because of the members but because of the leadership.
-
jam
A question; Sorry, but I have A difficult time in viewing
my PM,s. Others have tried in the past. I tried the double
clicking and it doesn,t work. Sorry.
-
jam
Yes I also agree with ooDAD. There where times when
A brother and I was sitting on the bank fishing (guest speaker,
most loved to fish) and you became real close, good people.
The 10yrs.I served in that town, I really thought this is Jehovah,s
org. The reason I felt it was unique ( in regards to brotherhood).
The people in the community was curious about, why we had
so many weekend guest. The funny thing about the situation,
we were the only family of color in that part of town.
So of course the guest speakers was of all races, Black famlies, white,
Asian family and American Indians.
One co-worker ask, what the hell is going on, are you running
A motel. Iam sad to say, that young man became A JW for
that reason.
That organization have turn good hearted people into cold
and uncaring people.
-
PaintedToeNail
I loved hosting. It was really fun...almost always. We once hosted an 'odd' brother, and we recruited another couple to come with us, as this guy was as interesting as a lamp pole, he simply didn't respond to conversation. He later moved to our cong. and he turned out to be fairly nice, maybe he was having a bad day. We usually had people over, I usually made a ham, which is pretty hard to kill, home made mac and cheese, and other things.
When I was a kid, in the upper midwest, on the great lakes, we travelled long distances in bitter weather to have my dad give talks, he once gave the same talk 7 weeks in a row at various halls. We were always hosted. Everyone was gracious too. Sometimes we ate at the KH itself, because the distances were so far to a family's home and the local, rural restaurants were closed, because everyone was a church.
-
Band on the Run
This is slightly off-topic. I wonder why the WT doesn't do a coffee hour where people can socizlize on the premises. It builds camraderie. People make light and short conversation with the sermon giver. It is mostly chit chat but it is nice. All you need is a coffee pot. I've been to elaborate spreads and also with Nabisco or Entenman's coffee. I also find it equaizes the parish. Church also has various committees such as grounds,mission,worship, etc. I wonder how the WT arranges these functions. Altho there is a professional clergy class, the lay power is spread among a lot of people. Church elections - you can vote for vestry members to represent your interests. Elections are also held for national and worldwide conferences. The WT seems to concentrate power in a few.
-
PaintedToeNail
Band-the cong. I went to in the upper midwest did actually have gatherings in the basement, which was outfitted with a kitchen. That was stopped after a few times by the CO because it wasn't fitting use of the KH. What about the 'christian love feasts' of old, they used someplace, and probably where they were worshipping.
-
Glander
This official discouragement of socializing is an obvious clue to the defensive paranoia the WT (rightly) feels.
Remember, it was private gatherings that led to the DF'ing of Franz.