by Shepherd Book 73 Replies latest jw experiences
Good story and I'd be pleased if I'd coursed such inconvienence to fellow JWs.
What I don't understand is that the community centre is obliged to have a security guard just because there will be one bottle of wine. It just seems strange and a waste the people hiring the centre's money and the security guard's time. Mind you I am presuming this happened in the USA, so maybe I shouldn't be suprised by such an odd rule.
Back in the day all congregations had their own Kingdom Halls. They would open up a new one on the other side of town when growth required it. Every KH in medium to larger towns was sized for about 125 persons. In my town we started out with one KH downtown, added another on the far southend of the city, then another in between those two, and finally one on the westside in an attached suburb. All that growth in about 15 years. Population of that city and surrounding suburbs was around 35-40,000. Four Kingdom Halls served the area well.
Yes, only 85-100 JWs would show up for meetings, but that allowed a few extra seats for coats and handbags - and yes, even occasional visitors. When we had the Memorial or a special talk by the CO or DO (in those days CS and DS) all the seats would be taken, we'd have to break out some folding chairs, and a few of the brothers would have to stand up in the back.
But we didn't have to drive 20 miles (or further) to go to the KH. We didn't need MSes carrying portable microphones or holding them on long bars. We even had room for a piano so that someone could play our Kingdom Songs.
Sixty years later, guess what? Still just four Kingdom Halls serve the area. Population is well over 300,000. I am sure that there are Spanish congregations sharing KHs with English, and maybe a couple of other languages (Vietnamese) as well. There is no longer a KH in downtown, so everyone living near the center of town has to drive about 8 to 10 miles to the edges to go to meetings (can you guess where the ethnic and poorer neighborhoods are?).
So for my old home town, growth has obviously been stagnant, and access has been diminished. Yes, the KHs are newer and probably larger, but not ten times larger. My guess is that Memorials were also held in the JW assembly hall about 20 miles away to handle some of the overflow, but then you have to add in populations that are around the AH as well.
I guess the good news is that in the 60 years since I was in the area, JWs as a percentage of the total population has nose-dived. Maybe there is a god...
JV
One more thing. The day for the memorial runs from sunset to sunset. So, they could have avoided the late night meeting by moving it to the next day. As long as it took place before sunset of the next day, it would have been fine, scripturally. This is something that i have never heard mentioned, but its a fact.
S
Since this day is so important, why not take the whole day off friggin work? Thats what they want people to do for assemblies.
S
Way to strike a blow against the Alliance, Preacher man!
You may turn out to be a browncoat in disguise after all.
LOL!
Dear ShepherdBook I applaud your wherewithall!
You inconvenienced them because they sought to get around the rules to use a public place.
If they insist on their own rules being followed to a T then they should likewise follow a community center's rules.
I see no problem with that and if the "Quiet One" likes to make noise about it then s/he's making an oxy-moron of him/herself.
Getting them to follow rules and laws is not childish and is a completely effective strategy to reduce cult activity.
I have done this in the past. Are they preaching on a college campus that doesn't allow preaching? Are they leaving religious reading material in a state hospital waiting room that doesn't allow religious material (separation of church and state)? Are they leaving literature in mailboxes without postage (violation of federal law)? Exercise your right to notify your officials.
Looking the other way while they live by different rules than the rest of us gives the cult more power.
"All rental agreements for halls CLEARLY spell out rules regarding Alcohol. The JWs tried to commit fraud if they said no wine was being served. No doubt some theocratic strategy Some usudpecting smuck was saved as a result of this quick thinking. Shouldn't a good JW be willing to sacrifice a late meeting for what they believe in?"
I'm with balaamsass. He already said he felt bad anyways.
