Good topic. Thanks for starting it. I never saw food in a Kingdom Hall except for Memorial and then we were told we were not good enough to eat it. We did have congregation social get togethers and all were invited. Those would get rather large because they were inclusive and I understand the Publishing Corporation has discouraged those of late. So if inclusive get togethers are discouraged, that only leaves exclusive get togethers. Those exclusive events encourage the formation of cliques and provides the environment for those to flourish. It's too bad because it leaves the timid and the fringe people without social invitations and they drift into loneliness and social isolation.
When I had social things as a Witness mine were inclusive and would not be allowed anymore.
Sorry to drift off topic. I have a knack for doing that. GaryB
Strange days at my old hall. please read
by josephus 19 Replies latest jw friends
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garybuss
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Room 215
I've long thought that the JWs because of their obstinate contrariness --``if churches do it, it HAS to be wrong!" -- are foolish in not using their Kingdom Halls as a sort of community center, to foster congregational togetherness and bonding. For all the money spent on these facilities, they are really much undertutilized, even with three congregations sharing it. JWs bemoaning the aloofness of the friends and the absence of a truly familial spirit is an almost universal lament in dubdom, especially here in the U.S.
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benext
In my old hall they would bring food for after hall cleaning or other projects. The bookstudy that met there would occasionally serve something. The parking lot was used to serve a meal after a funeral.
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rocketman
Sounds like a lot more fun than the usual meetings. I'm quite surprised that they'd do something like that actually.
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kgfreeperson
This must vary from congregation to congregation. My JW friend has bible study in the hall and once a month they have a post-study pot luck supper. I am finding it very difficult to understand why the discouragement of social gatherings of witnesses and of the implicit discouragement of helping each other out on a regular basis (because of the pressure for "countable" time). I think reversing those two policies (for example, dividing the required FS into have door-to-door and half visiting elderly and/or sick witnesses and helping out members of the congregation in need) would stop the outflow. If there were a strong social support, people wouldn't have much difficulty ignoring any doubts over doctrinal issues. So I guess I'm glad they don't make those changes, but I can't figure out how they got themselves into this mess in the first place! Why isolate Witnesses from each other, for heaven's sake? Especially since they are supposed to isolate themselves from non-Witnesses? I do not understand this.
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undercover
I remember at one hall, all the book studies had a snack night every so often, usually once a month, at the home of whoever had the "privilege" of having the study at their house. Well, in time, the book study group that met at the hall got jealous. They wanted a snack night too. So they picked one night once a month for all to bring snacks. There was a small kitchenette in the hall, so it wasn't like they wasn't any way to store the food or clean afterwards. But along came the Circuit Overseer who had a cow over the situation. Not only did he ban "snack night" but the pioneers couldn't bring food into the hall and eat lunch between morning service and afternoon service.
Even though I thought the whole thing kind of silly, I didn't really think of how stupid this was until I read the first post in this thread. Every so often something jars my memory to some stupid, silly, ridiculas thing that happened with the "friends" or at the hall and I think, "how did I never realize how stupid all of this is, and how come I fell for it?"
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blondie
It just depends like everything else in the WTS. It depends on the elders in the congregation, it depends on the personal pet peeves of the CO during the current 3-year period. I have been in congregations that allow food for a book study get-together at the KH but not in the main hall in a separate room; I have been in congregations that allow the pioneers and others that break for their packed lunch to eat in a designated room off the main hall; I have even seen the 2-week pioneer school held in a KH where there were the normal breaks and lunches served in the KH. The biggest concern was having food items dropped on the chairs and carpet. For that reason, many assemblies halls now forbid food in the main seating areas and contain eating in the dining area. But....I have never seen food served after a large meeting such as the Public Talk/WT Study or School/Service Meeting; or a reception held there or a going away party. Those were always in other locations/buildings.
Blondie
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Makena1
Hillary - LMAO! I needed a good laugh - thanks!
The only times we had food at the hall, was during the quick build, at the dedication, and sometimes when the congregation got together to do a spring cleaning day. Snacks at some of the book studies I attended were excellent - I was a lemon bar - Christian.
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funkyderek
Hillary - LMAO! I needed a good laugh - thanks!
You wouldn't be laughing if you'd ever had to listen to one of Arthur Matthew's talks. God, that man was boring!
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czarofmischief
My god,
I've HEARD of this Mathews guy! His ability to bore and give long-winded prayers was legendary, being the subject of hushed conversations between my parents as they whispered after a few glasses of wine.
CZAR