Do you remember the 15 minute break at the Sun. meeting?

by 3rdgen 82 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  wannaexit

  Ok so I am dating myself. But I do remember them too. It was great for the kids.
  
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  Bill Covert

  I remember the break. Those that do also remember the paper wall charts where field service were tallied for every month as to whether the congregation quotas were reached.
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  3rdgen

  LisaRose asked if they shortened the meeting by 15 min. or fill in with "more meeting". As far as I can remember the attempt was to keep the meeting to two hours but at first HQ was not clear that the 2 hours INCLUDED the songs and prayers which often added as much as 10-20min.

  I remember my FIL at the time was the WT conductor. He would get steamed if the public speaker went overtime bc it meant he would have to shorten the WT study-sometimes dispensing with reading some of the paragraphs. Which reminds me, were read AFTER the QandAs. Can't remember when it was changed to reading the paragraphs before. He sometimes and told the cong that "We will have to move on to the next paragraph (without reading) because our study has been cut short. (By the speaker). LOL
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  JakeM2012

  Yes, I do. The public talk was always in the afternoon around 3:00 because having it in the morning would be like Christendom. When congregations started having Sunday meetings in the morning, some of the other congregations thought it was very radical. We used to walk down to the corner mart and get a coke with a member of the anointed.

  The Watchtower Study was considered "only" for real witnesses, not bible students. That's why it was kept separate. Yes,, some would smoke during the break. LOL
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  fiddler

  Well this thread certainly has brought up long forgotten memories! Yes, I remember the 15 minute breaks! Yes, we kids used to run around in the parking lot (lots of admonitions about watching out for cars and maybe NOT running around in the parking lot). I also remember some going out for a smoke. At some point (maybe after 1975) when it was the rank & file JW leaving during the break it seems THAT was when they stopped the break because too many witnesses were leaving after the talk...not just studies.

  Anybody here used to go to Sqaw Peak Congo in Phoenix? (Sorry for the politically incorrect name but that was what it was called). This thread brought back all kinds of memories of that place to me.
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  ShirleyW

  It was a time for us kids to load up at the nearest stores with candy to eat during theWatchtower study
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  Dumplin

  this thread dusted off quite a few cobwebs...the mid 60s, teen years, wow! recall 5 or so of us 15-16 yo boys back in the day creating our own little 15 minute breaks. we had a very small, overpacked KH, so we generously "volunteered" to sit in the tiny back room where they kept the literature (no windows, heh). Adjoining this room was the furnace room where we'd hide out and play penny ante poker. We'd take turns at being the "lookout" guy. Finally got busted & shut down by some pesky nose-pokin', uber-suspicious, do-gooder brother. but man, it was worth it gettin' away w/ something forbidden for a while. HA! hadn't thought of those guys for decades! thx for the memory!
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  bsmart

  I remember the 15 minute breaks too. Heading to the restroom or walking (no running) around the hall. I think they stopped the charts in front by the stage in the early 60's.
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  Dumplin

  Ha! i just revisited this thread again...feeling nostalgic (rum-induced).

  I was thinking how witnesses didn't seem to incriminate each other so much back then (late 60s/early70s). In the 90's you had to very "quietly" make your exit between meetings, but the friends back then were standing outside during the break, watched you crank your car and leave, and gave you the benefit of the doubt if you left... I don't know - I was just a teen, but that's how I saw it. The belt got tighter and tighter in the 80s.

  Also, I remember after getting my first car at 16, I would always be 20 minutes early to the meetings (like they recommended), and therefore I got to park right up by the front door - which was a sign that told everyone else that I was first to the meeting. What an SR i was! But one dark, rainy night, the PO got there late and parked behind me perpendicular to my back bumper. Well, after the meeting, I ran out in the rain, jumped in, backed up and smashed his brand new 1968 Impala door good! I slumped back into the hall, confessed my sins, apologized, and said my insurance will pay for the damage. (but it was HIS fault for not parking in a designated spot - I guess he thought he could park anywhere b/c he was PO) But to my surprise, my insurance wasn't good enough for him...he lectured me about how his car was now devalued by having "repair" work done on it. He did a real good job of making an idealistic young teenager feel puny and small. He eventually became a "giant" in the org. but i feel he held that incident against me always. Many years later, he gave me a bad recommendation to my new KH elders. He must've been materialistic is all I can figure. I got my first lesson in pretentiousness.
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  SecretSlaveClass

  Interesting. We never had that ...