Did Anyone Apply To Go To Bethel, And Not Be Accepted?

by LoisLane looking for Superman 31 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  The Brother I loved, married someone else. At the ripe old age of 20, I thought my life was over. If I was Catholic, I probably would have joined a Nunnery. I applied to Bethel.

  I was not accepted.

  I was so upset. I just wanted to serve God. Armageddon was coming, right around the corner. I couldn't handle seeing the Brother I loved, married to someone else.

  Now, when I hear Bethel was so rigid, and run more like a military Boot Camp, and Bethel Elders were so cruel, I can find peace in my heart, that I did not make the "cut".

  Anybody else?

  Just Lois
• 

  LostGeneration

  I went to the Bethel recruitment meeting at the DC...creeped me out. I could never pioneer for a year before applying, just didn't have it in me.

  To those that both pioneered and went to bethel, I tip my cap, you have bigger balls than I ever had. (Or you were brainwashed way more than me!)
• 

  JakeM2012

  I know a family that came in the truth in the mid 1980's and their son applied to bethel when 18 years old in the 1990's. The young man and the family were crushed that he was not accepted.
• 

  zeb

  I applied to work on a quick build and filled in the scrappy application form.

  There was one question that went something like 'Does this person meet the requirements..' and in bold ballpoint in the middle of the space was written "NO". No explanation. Nothing.

  Well after that i removed my trade skills and first aid knowledge from any other work partys as well.. Their loss.
• 

  fizzywiglet

  From what I heard, they usually didn't accept single women, unless they had some "special skill" that they were having a hard time finding elsewhere (i.e., doctor, etc.) Mostly only men and married couples. Because sexism.
• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  Fizzy, I applied a long time ago. 1969. Most of you here on JWN, probably were not even a twinkle in your mother's eye yet.

  They were taking a few sisters. I talked it over with my CO and DO. They had just had a young fleshly brother and sister from our Circuit "taken", so they encouraged me to apply.

  I had to list all the "Theocrtic" books I had studied. Do they still do that?

  Gave a health report, a recommendation from your presiding overseer, take a picture and send it and wait.

  Just Lois...Happy she is neither a Nun or an exBethelite .
• 

  TOTH

  Sorry that you went through such a bad time, Lois. I never got over my first love. But she was older than me and was already engaged when we had our summer of love...Oh well., I found someone better than her and hope you did as well.

  I applied three separate times to Beth Hell.... I was sort of disappointed that I was not accepted. I figured that there was "Something Wrong" with me and was therefore not "Good Enough" to serve at the holy of holies. Now that I know how things are and who I am as a person I am very glad that I never went there. All the guys I ever met that had served there all beat up their wives and had big fat egos on them. I feel blessed.
• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  Hi TOTH,

  I too am now glad you were not accepted at Bethel.

  Bethel should rightly be spelled Beth-hell.

  Backseatdevil posted his story about his life in Beth-hell. His story takes you on his life's journey of up's and down's but you will get the point, Beth-hell is just that. I encourage you to read it. It is on-line and free at Backseatdevil.com

  No, TOTH, I did not find someone better than "him".

  At the age of 22, walking down the aisle, to marry someone I did not choose, did not like, was my complete opposite (not in a good way) and marrying him would mean leaving the area I grew up in and moving many, many miles away, saying goodbye to all my old friends, great weather, my job, my car, everything I held dear...I had my plastered on "Kingdom smile"... praying...praying...praying, that SOMETHING would happen, so I would not have to marry this creature. Obviously, nobody was at home, listening in to LoisLane's desperate cry for help. God? really has been too busy to listen to my prayers all my life. Last summer was my last attempt at seeking needed help, I did not get it. I quit praying then and all things Watchtower. My life got better.

  I am glad you found someone better than your "Summer Love".

  Just Lois
• 

  Band on the Run

  Just Lois,

  Before WWIi my father, about eighteen,attended a Pittsburgh convention

  He livedin a coal mining town, complete with a company store. He secretly admired thr union whem men were murdered. My father was brawny in the extreme

  Unlike family members who mined, he shored up the mine so they could work. Rutherford or someone else saw him from a distance anf voila , he is at Bethel. No application or vetting. Imagine leaving a remote ethnic mining town and going to Brooklyn. The Bethelites laughed at his hill billy persona. Someone more rural arrived. Try as hard as he did, he could never thrive at Bethel. He was an interesting mix of Appalachia and NY cynicism.
• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  Band on the Run, I don't know what to say about your Dad. I wish things would have been happier for you.

  He must have been big and powerful to shore up the infrastructure of a mine. Rutherford and his cronies must have absolutely loved your dad though.

  Yes, no application, no vetting, they saw what they wanted and he was their's for the taking.

  I was told years later by a reliable source, that at Beth-hell, they have a storage room/closet devoted to turned down applications. They don't throw anything away.

  Just Lois