Baptisms only at regional ( district ) assemblies from 2014 / 15 service year?

by dozy 33 Replies latest jw friends

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  dozy

  Just a rumour but I guess it makes sense - I've a friend on a circuit committee ( he knows it's not "the truth" but for family & work reasons he stays in ) & he says that the WTBTS have told them not to book a swimming pool for next years one day assemblies as the plan is to have only one baptism a year at the main regional ( what they used to call "District" ) convention.

  With the drop off in baptisms so that sometimes there isn't anyone baptised or just a handful , I guess this is inevitable. I remember going to a baptism a few years ago - we had hired a municipal 25 metre swimming pool and only one person ( a rather confused and scared middle aged lady who hadn't been in a swimming pool since her youth ) was being baptised - it was all something of a farce with the "worldly" staff looking on very puzzled at such an elaborate & expensive ceremony for one person. ) Also with both assemblies being one day with just short morning & afternoon sessions , I suppose it is sensible to ditch the baptism talk - it tends to be something of a snoozefest anyway at the end of the morning session. And of course it looks better when there are a lot of JWs getting baptised in one go.

  But as I said - just a rumour - I haven't had this independently confirmed.
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  sir82

  That would make sense from the perspective of saving the time devoted to the baptism talk.

  But that would present a heck of a hardship for the poor sods who actually want to get baptized.

  Currently, if the elders deem you unworthy of baptism, you have to only wait 3 or 4 months, until another assembly or convention rolls around.

  If baptisms only happen once a year, and somebody "doesn't get the answers right", he has to wait a whole other year for his next chance. That would have to be discouraging.

  Of course, the emotional state of its adherents has never been of the slightest concern to the JW leadership, so it would not surprise me if they did this.
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  Heartofaboy

  Why should you have to wait a year & for an assembly to get baptised?

  The early christians seemed to use any body of water for baptism at any time a person wanted to be baptised.

  The Borg is all powerful..................we are your mediators...........The Borg is all powerful................We are your mediators...............
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  dozy

  Re people having to wait a year if knocked back - that might be true , but in reality how many candidates are actually knocked back from being allowed to be baptised? Not many , in my experience.

  We had a candidate once who had got to the "16 & my mother thinks I should get baptised and all my friends are doing so " stage. I had the first set of questions with him - he turned up late in a tatty t-shirt with a pop group logo and jeans. Maybe he didn't get the dress code memo. I asked him when he had made a dedication & he seemed quite baffled by the question. I asked if he realised that baptism was supposed to be a public declaration of a private prayerful dedication & he said that hadn't actually made a dedication - he just felt that he should get baptised & his parents were basically telling him he ought to. He kind of bumbled through the questions & I suggested that he might put on a suit & tie when meeting with the other 2 elders for the sessions later that week.

  I was of the mind that as he hadn't actually made a dedication , then he probably wasn't up for baptism. A novel thought , I know. But on discussing this matter with the other 2 elders after they had gone thorough the questions with him , they felt that as he had managed to answer all the questions ok & was very keen to be baptised & wasn't doing anything wrong , then he should be put forward. We voted - they won 2 - 1. He was baptised a few weeks later.
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  AFRIKANMAN

  Of course if Baptism is such a requirement for a ticket on the Ark of Salvation you could get some folk getting quite panicky that they havent been dipped and the end is "just around the corner" / imminent / upon us/ near / etc etc

  Most candidates I did questions with never had a handle on:

  1 What is the Kingdom

  2 Who are the GB / FDS [This was up to 3 years ago]

  3] Who are the anointed

  and as you mentioned What is Dedication what must I do for it / how etc etc

  The 3rd set of Questions with my daughter [I declined to do the questions ] took 3.5 hours ! I asked her why she had so much to say and of course it was because the Bro spent most of the time gassing on about ................nothing !
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  designs

  Makes sense. I have heard of CAs with one person baptized. I guess it would be really embarassing to have none.
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  DesirousOfChange

  Makes sense. I have heard of CAs with one person baptized. I guess it would be really embarassing to have none.

  At the last SAD we attended only one young teenager was baptized. The previous day, the circuit having the SAD had NO ONE baptized. They delivered a baptism talk to "No One".

  If it turns out to be true, it's a logical way to get by this embarrasing situation that seems more and more common.

  Doc
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  carla

  This could be a good thing for those who have to wait for baptism! Waiting may give them time to find the TATT. Imagine a kid who has to wait, discovers it is a cult and never ends up getting dunked, his/her parents would technically never have to shun them! (depending on current light at the moment)
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  mynameislame

  folk getting quite panicky that they havent been dipped and the end is "just around the corner"

  Good point, one would assume that there should be a rush to get all on board that ark, especially since this might just be the last memorial. Or is it caluclated? They may use that panick to rush people into making a decision. If this is the last memorial maybe they are pusing this DO as the last chance to get on the ark before the door closes.

  Carla also seems to be reading my mind, the disappointment of missing the once yearly opportunity might give someone enough time to cool off and wake up.

  The baptism questions are really just a test to see if you can read a question from a book and answer that question by reading the paragraph that follows it. I remember going over my questions with another candidate and half of my answers were “what she said”. If there was anything spirtiual about it there is no way they would have let me get baptised. I only know of one person they made wait because they weren't ready.
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  Honesty

  The poor sods who have to wait a year are going to be nervous wrecks thinking armageddon will arrive before they get dunked.