As an elder and judge at a judical committee hearing, their main job is supposed to be determining if the person is repentant, not guilty or innocent. In the JW judicial system the guilt is almost always established prior to the hearing. They either have two people that saw you commit the sin, or a confession. Then the hearing is called.
In order to determine repentance first we would consider what caused the person to sin in the first place. This is key as it could determine the persons fate no matter how repentant they are. From the answers given by the accused and from the evidence before the committe, we are to ask ourselves if the accused sin was because of Weakness, or Wickeness. Wickness is almost always resullts in DFing. Weakness was always more understandable. Also if a person freely confessed before anyone else brought the incident to the elders, that goes along way sometimes. We would also ask several questions that are designed to tell if the person is repentant such as:
Do you think Jehovah has forgiven you? I suggest not answering this one yes or no, becaue either way could look bad on you. If you say NO, then they reason if you think Jehovah has not forgiven you then he knows in your heart you are not repentant. If you say YES then you have bypassed the committes decision, you went over their head so to speak. Rather I would say something like this:
"Brothers I truly belive if it were not for Jesus' Ransom I would be deserving of death, I thank Jehovah everyday for sending his only begotten son to die for me. I only hope in the future I can show better appreciation for the love that has been shown to me."
Do you think you should be forgiven? You can say YES to this one, but give detailed reasons why and fully accept blame for committing the sin. Also mention how much you've prayed about it, and why you think you are still in Jehovah's favor (this is good for the first question too) mention how he's blessed you as far as starting a new bible study (believe it or not this goes a long way in cases I've sat on)
Do you think you should be disfellowshipped? Again don't asnwer yes or no it's not your place to make that decision but rather say something like:
Brothers especially at a time like this I need to be as close as I can to Jehovah's righteous Organization, I need to be spiritually upbuilt and to spend my time in Jehovah's service so as to avoid the many distractions this old wicked system provides.
If you are disfellowshipped what would you do? You can something simular to the above answer here but always include, how you're going to spend more time in field service. If you committed be a sin of a sexual nature, they might ask:
Did you enjoy it?
Did you have and ogasm?
Did you perform oral sex? Always answer NO to all three questions. I think the reason is self explanatory lol. Here are some questions that the elders ask themselves after you have left the room. The commettee takes the evidence of the case and your reponses to their questions, into consideration as they answer the questions put to them from the Flock book. The asnwers help determine if you are repentant or not. Here are some of the questions the committe must answer. They come right from the KS (flock) book pg 112:
Is there evidence of the person's craving wrongful things
or courting trouble? Or did the person momentarily
succumb to weakness? (Jas. 4:1 ) Was he aware of the gravity of his sin? (Gal. 6:1 )Had he been admonished that his course was leading
toward danger? (1 Thess. 5:14)Are there extenuating factors, such as emotional or
mental disorders or having been a victim of some type
of abuse in the past, that should be considered?Was his confession voluntary, or did he have to be ac-
cused by others before confessing?Was it a single offense, or was it committed more than
once?
By the way never say you did it more than once, especially if it was sex.
There are many vaious questions the elders ask the accused, the ones I asked here are but a sample and by no means are my answers the only ones that should be given. I am just letting you know what has worked out best in my experience serving on judical committes.
William,
Former member of a Non-Prophet Organization