by dothemath 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
In our congregation there are now more ex-elders than current ones. (Probably very common)
what I notice most of all, is that the ones who were the best speakers (we actually had some good ones) are the ones who have all stepped down.
I'm of the opinion the better teachers recognize its all a joke, and can't be bothered to reach out again.
So the ones left who are taking the lead are the most boring ones available. Is it similar in other congregations?
Perhaps the smarter ones are coming awake looking around and wondering. Also being around other Elders might make for a nasty situation from time to time.
Let's take this back to pre Elder days..... when I served where the need was great...... early 1960's....... We were called Servants, not Overseers and not Elders. The exception was the Presiding Minister and Assistant Presiding Minister.
We had out Ministry School Servant and so on at the congregational level.
We had our Circuit Servant and District Servant
What's in a name........ well we were reminded that we served and ministered to the congregation.
The attitude issue's I read about with Elder's and Overseer's is both disturbing and I am sure for those still in discouraging.
The smart ones stepped down. These are the things that should happify all of us on the forum. More ARE waking up. JW's will never go away but I believe before long there will be a huge exit.
JW Broadcasting, the internet and the GB being more "out there" will and have had an impact. Sit back and watch, this cult is doing all the dirty work for us.
These situations in the English Halls are not shocking. That's why the society pushes the Americans to go to the foreign languages. They tend to be more faithful and more willing to follow the rules mixed with cultural baggage. It's always fun to watch brothers in the English gawking at the growing numbers in the foreign congregations who are mostly poor can't pay the bills for the KH but have twice as many members.
My hall has over a dozen former elders, although I doubt many of them would be considered "awake"
The trend seems to be that these brothers either get burned out or feel guilty about not handling a specific situation properly and have stepped down.
I made a similar thread on reddit a few days ago that linked good speakers with those "woken up"
It seems to me that a number of you on this board were circuit and district speakers or, at the very least, viewed by the congregation as a good speaker. I think this is because good speakers are ones that aren't content parroting exact phrases and thoughts from the WT. You guys know exactly those kinds of talks. Those brothers seek to "get through" their talks and often try to mimic a particular CO or DO, but often without the charisma or gravitas that those brothers typically bring.
