Sad thing about JW funerals

joe134cd

I live in a country that has had reasonably low levels of Covid. Bearing this in mind I’d like to discuss my thoughts on 2 JW funerals I attended during this time.

(Funeral 1) Even though there were no governmental restrictions at the time, the official stance of WT was the halls were shut down. Despite this the local congregation decided to open the hall up for the service and a reception at a private premises. This was sensitive to the wishes of the family, and no doubt would of saved a lot of questions been asked with the none JW family. Namely, why is this church closed when everything else is open.

(Funeral No 2) Elder and company man through and through. Lived and breathed WT until his last dyeing breath. Much the same governmental restrictions as funeral 1. Could of had the funeral in the hall, but opted for zoom. I just thought what a terrible way he was treated. Now although I certainly don’t agree with the methods of WT, they could of had a nice in person funeral service for the deceased. But instead opted for the opinion of 8 guys in America, who made an arbitrary world wide view,and who probably had no idea of the local situation. Yup you got it, had it on line, with a break out room to contact the deceased family.

Just my thoughts.

road to nowhere

And it is a Sunday talk with brief mention of the person. Even in person there is not enough interaction, a lot of attendees go for old times week and the reception. Zoom makes it worse.

I would not have anything if I could. Given that a family needs closure a open buffet, maybe drinks, done by a caterer and my choice of music, or at least not the usual kingdom malady ditty.

The best I have been to were a methodist, Presbyterian, and catholic, complete with piper.

If you remember the Jameson " Dear brother" it had a nice sentiment if the crowd is able bodied

Overrated

My Father's service at the Kingdumb Hall was a joke. Pre covid. The first five minutes where about my dad and the rest of the service was about if you want it see him again, you better become a JW. And if you use to be a JW, you'll better come back. That was the jist of it in 30 minutes. Don't get me started on the shunning.

joe134cd

Oh I forgot to mention both funeral services were sales pitches for Wt.

Overrated

Oh yes, Five minutes about the loved one and the remaining 25 minutes is a Watchtower Sales Pitch. That gets the family talking.

BluesBrother

Funerals/ Memorial Services can vary enormously among the JW movement. Of course they all contain an element of “witnessing for the Kingdom “ but the better ones slip it in gently . I have been to some cringe-worthy services and some that were done respectfully.

I tackled the speaker after a relatives funeral for trying to be funny in it.. Jokes are not appreciated when you are grieving. Others have been better. The last one agreed to play conventional music rather than WT stuff, at the bereaved’s request.

joe134cd

Yes blues brother I totally agree. I went to a 3rd jw funeral. Were the family were not religious. The service was held in the hall, and to be fair I thought the person taking the service done a pretty good job. It would of been 50/50 person and jwisim. I thought this was fair considering jwisim was such a big part of his life. After wards they played a secular music song in the hall. However, the two I mentioned above were what I’d expect in JWland

FFGhost

The last few funerals I attended were far more "personalized" than in years past.

Yes, it's still primarily an infomercial, but they do seem to have progressed from "30 second biography followed by 30 minute Sunday talk" to something a bit warmer.

IWant2Leave

There is a new funeral talk outline that's been out about 5 years now that allows for a bit of personalization. The speaker can have 2 persons come to the platform and say something nice and positive about the deceased, kind of a semi eulogy. This has to be done in advance so that there are no surprise comments or statements. I listened to a Zoom memorial for a sister recently and the brother giving the talk did an excellent job. He talked more about the deceased sister and was really skillful in his use of scriptures. Didn't seem like it was a J.W. outline! The brother could have been P.I.M.O.

was a new boy

I've attended several Zoom memorials this year. (password was public, and I didn't know anyone) I

think all had the, 'Just around the corner song' with video of pictures of the deceased life playing

before and after the talk.

The first one, at the end, I got a popup asking how many were attending with me.

I thought they were all fine and balanced. I think the 1975 urgency spirit is over, at least the ones I attended.

The preaching was toned down, compared to years ago.

The last one was a hunter from Idaho, surprised they allowed pictures of his trophy elk from his hunting trip and also a buffalo on it.

Half of attendees had their camera off.

Sad thing about JW funerals

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