by purrpurr 23 Replies latest jw friends
I notice that several of the congs I've been to seem to have a majority of the male roles performed by older men. Very few young men are wanting to be ms or elders etc. It also seems like very few young people are being pioneers either.
Would you agree with this? Are the younger generation not stepping up?
Here they are playing roles. Elders, Ms in their late 20s. No clue about overlapping, 1914, 1919. anti and types, 2nd fulfillments. They see their fulfillment in being bosses. New brooms sweep well. The old have the money, the young the rolls.
Yes and no.
I realize the surveys indicate 2/3 of JW youth leave. And that number seems to hold true in the Congs that we attended. But, that means 1/3 are still there and some of them are indeed "reaching out" and taking on roles in the Cong. I think a lot depends on the Cong and the attitude of the older men there. Do they welcome the young men? Or, are they quick to find fault and resent any young man who tries to advance (and threaten the good OLD boys).
In the cong that I was attending before I left, there where hardly any youth left to take on the rolls. I used to take the meeting counts and basically 2/3 of the cong was 40 and over.
Are the younger generation taking on roles in the congregation.
I suspect the only roles being taken on are the Cinnamon Rolls and Jelly Rolls they consume during their coffee break, 8 minutes after they've knocked on the first door.
What younger generation? What I see is mostly people who joined around the 1970s who are now in their 60s or 70s. Their children and grandchildren have 80% upwards left, nowhere to be seen, apart from the odd memorial.
In the group of kids I grew up with in the congregation I attended this is what I found -
Most of us are no longer Witnesses.
Many who are in are PIMO and no longer "qualify" for "privileges" because they do what they want just to the point of disfellowshipping, but never crossing the line.
We all have children and, whether we are in or our, none of the adult kids are Witnesses.
My sister is the only one who is still PIMI. Her daughters are too. Her husband, who was my best friend in high school is PIMO.
I heard that during the last CO visit, he "encouraged" more young men to "step up to the plate" as far as congregation responsibilities. He noted that out of the 8 elders on the elder body, only one is under 50 (he's in his 40s). From what I know about my former cong., the prospects for new, young elders is pretty slim.
As mentioned above, the first problem they have is only 1/3 of all JW kids stay.
On top of that, we're talking about male roles in the cong. (e.g., MS, elder). So cut that 1/3 into 1/6 or less.
Then say that half of that 1/6 never went to school and have low-paying jobs and families to support. Just from a time perspective, even if these were spiritual giants, serving in the congregation is a huge sacrifice, if not impossible from a time perspective.
Then consider the 1/12 who are left who maybe got a little schooling, have a pretty decent job, etc. They all know that becoming an elder not only entails giving up your personal time, but puts you and your entire family in the congregation "spotlight of judgement." So it's not just a matter of you deciding to become an elder -- your whole family is now "Brother So-and-so's family -- and he's an elder!"
I think the upshot here is that the Society -- with their endless rules and requirements (including no women in congregation "roles"); their culture of surveillance and judgement; and their endless assault on education -- have set themselves up to ultimately fail. They are literally going to die out.
'Not with a bang, but a whimper.'
Depends completely on the congregation.
Plenty of young guys who want to "reach out" in some congregations, and few in others.
I know of several young jw men who actually resented how little they saw of their elder dad's when they were growing up. And they don't want the same for their kids, strangely enough the younger generation want to take an active part in their children's lives. Then there's the huge workload, of which they will have seen their own dad's struggling with. The late night calls from distressed jw's wanting support, the report writing, letter writing, extra meetings, extra training and that's all before the issue of jc's is considered.
A recent co at an assembly actually said from the platform that the wt has lost a whole generation of ms, pioneers and elders. The young just don't want it and really who can blame them?
