Any words that are in italics or CAPS are used to stress that particular word the way the CO stressed it. I have this talk on audio tape. The quotes are exact! Highlighted quotes are the ones that made me want to puke.
He begins by going over the meeting times for Field Service during the week. He also tell the congregation when the Pioneers will meet and when the appointed elders & ministerial servants will meet. He says this about the book study (which will be held tonight):
"We will meet here on Thursday for our continued study of the Isaiah's Prophecy book. And aren't we enjoying that! My, what an marvelous, exciting material we have now as we are coming down to an understanding of the conclusion of the system of things."
He then states that the talk following the Book Study will center on "our posession of faith". He went on to explain:
"We're going to look realisticly (slight pause) at some biblical examples of faith, realizing that they are all humans descending from Adam just like us! There are some other similarities, too. Their devotion to God, their humility, their willingness to SERVE, to give of themselves rather than to be influenced by a self-centered, egotistical system that surrounds us. They avoided that. We need to avoid it, too, so that we maintain our posession of faith!"
He moves on to tell us that Sunday's talk will be entitled, 'Finding Security in a Dangerous World'. He says that we might want to read in advance Psalm 91. He said Psalm 91 is the basis for that public talk. He said that if we read it in advance then our minds will be tuned in to the thoughts that are going to be developed. He then says that after the Watchtower study, he will deliver a concluding talk entitled, 'Our Precious Heritage' and it "centers on the opportunities we have of building a deepening appreciation for the provisions of Jehovah God."
Next, as always, the CO commends the congregation for the things he sees as "good" and then gives us points on how to improve the things that aren't so good.
"Some very interesting things are noted here in our congregation that we certainly want to commend you for because it's obvious you brothers and sisters have been working hard and it's apparent that there is harmony in our midst...unity...because Jehovah's spirit is accomplishing some marvelous things. You know, the kind of things we're going to call to your attention cannot happen except by God's spirit.
To support this, he cites 1 Corinthians 3:6 (Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow). He also tied in that we are God's fellow workers and God's field under cultivation. "Any increase, any improvement, any prosperity is an OBVIOUS demonstration of God's spirit at WORK on His people! GOD'S spirit prospering the congregation and how thankful we are for that!"
He said that he mentioned that because the percent of attender's of our congregation at the Sunday meetings has increased once again. He said our congregation has "109%" attending the Public Talk and for the Watchtower study "107%". The Book Study also shows "further progress" with "101%" attending. "It's good to see that more of the congergation appreciates these wonderful privileges." He said the School and Service meeting had a slight drop, however he didn't mention the percentage. He said that our congregation was having a greater share in the ministry and more of us are more involved in the ministry. Our congregation averaged (since the last CO visit) 9.9 hours in field service. The national average right now, he said, is 9.4 hours. "You're well above the national average." Our congregation is averaging 9 magazines placed per publisher. The national average is 8.5. "So [your] congregation is a bit above the national average." (How can 9.9 hours (vs. 9.5 nationally) spent in field service be "well above" the national average and 9 magazines (vs. 8.5 nationally) be "a bit above" the national average?)
The CO really got enthusiastic and excited when he mentioned this:
"An area that is REALLY outstanding, at the time of our last visit there were 11 irregular Publishers...we're always concerned about that...now...we're down...to...six! We have a couple of congregations that have NO irregular Publishers, some with just a few like you. And, so, we're moving in that right direction. That means your regular publisher ratio went from 89 percent allllll the way up to 93%. So, those are good things that are taking place. And every way we look at it there is, uh, solid evidence of progress and that comes only because...Who makes it grow?...it's Jehovah's blessing. We work hard, yes, but Jehovah blesses the work."
Later today I will post what we were told we need to work on. The whole thing, to me, is a sales motivation conference. By the way, next month they can expect a decrease in the average because I didn't do any door-to-door in July.
Please point out any incredulous statements made. I can use a good laugh!
(Edited for one typo)!
Edited by - Mister Biggs on 1 August 2002 12:9:24