Next change?

JW_Rogue

So, first the turning in time got axed, now beards are okay, what is up next? Women wearing dress slacks to the meeting? Birthdays becoming acceptable? College education?

NotFormer

Those seem to be the ones being speculated about. Aren't birthdays as a pagan festival pretty heavily ingrained within the JW mindset? So possibly less cosmetic than the other changes?

The "last minute conversion" thing might be considered meatier, but it hasn't been confirmed yet by an official announcement.

Relaxing the rules on clothing styles is arguably a foreseeable next step.

Tertiary education is still seemingly being railed against, if that video of an elder being raked over the coals for his kid going to college is real.

enoughisenough

Jade can put back the bluegreen streaks in her hair ( in the videos, she has them at the outset, but they were gone in the end)

Beth Sarim

Tertiary education is,,was & will forever be railed against & knocked/discouraged. And,,,,not one scripture cited to uphold such a stance.

The reason why the Borg discourages "higher education" is that of "critical thinking" skills development.

You realize that what you were told most of your life was a sham. And contradicts what the Borg has taught you,,,only to realize what you were taught is,,a lie.

And not one scripture to uphold such a stance slamming higher education. Thats why.

The problem is for the Governing Body, is that everything is a red line. And as such, each issue has received so much negative talk and the consequences of people going over these line so well know, that there isn't any slack in the believe system to ease up on. Thus to me, unbanning 'higher education' looks just as bad for the Governing Body, as allowing people joining the police.

This is problem that you get, when you are a very public all-knowing oracle but your prophecies are just not turning out. They should have kept their collective mouths shut a bit more, but these kind of people just go to make a comment on everything.

Thus, if the goal is to bring new blood into the Brotherhood, then tinkering around the edges (like clothing types or hair styles) is not going to do much, seriously. How about allowing Christmas celebrations. As shocking as that might seem, it would put Jehovah's Witnesses back on the global attention map, and for bang-for-buck, its good value ... and I think that you'd be surprised how quickly it would be accepted by the rank-and-file.

skin

... and I think that you'd be surprised how quickly it would be accepted by the rank-and-file.

Just like how quickly accepting the beard change was taken up, the excitement over how this has been clarified and now all are now wondering which brothers will be first to grow a beard, which brother will be first to give a talk at an assembly or convention sporting a beard. Exciting times....

ExBethelitenowPIMA

“The "last minute conversion" thing might be considered meatier, but it hasn't been confirmed yet by an official announcement.

Relaxing the rules on clothing styles is arguably a foreseeable next step.

Tertiary education is still seemingly being railed against, if that video of an elder being raked over the coals for his kid going to college is real.”

Next broadcast should release the new lite about last minute conversion, and that changed everything. No need to place your bets with GB or you will be killed at Armageddon, now you can wait to see if they were right before you place your bets.

The clothing thing is next, maybe sisters will have more options and brothers don’t always need to wear a tie and things like that depending on situations.

The education thing is very mysterious. There was supposedly a letter sent to some congregations saying they have warned about the dangers of further education but never made hard rules about it.

This letter has never had the original shown to people like Atlantis who are doing a brilliant work leaking letters and checking things. Many are saying the letter is bogus because not all elders have seen it. But I asked this guy and he says the letter is really from the USA branch.

see the letter about 6 mins into this video https://youtu.be/0v5i-I4fHFc?feature=shared

moomanchu

I predict dress codes being relaxed for meetings and field service. Suit, ties and dresses only needed when giving parts on stage.

ThomasMore

I predict a softening of the Judicial Process. They have reached China Syndrome with disfellowshippings and harsh discipline and it has affected their numbers. Despite all the beatings, the numbers have inexplicably dropped!!! (Dripping sarcasm)

They are likely going to raise the bar for justifying a judicial committee and make it more difficult for over-zealous elders to vent their anger on the ones they harbor grudges against.

This won’t save the religion, but it will free up Saturday nights for many who have “transgressed”.

GrreatTeacher

I predict a sifting process among hardliners and more liberal Witnesses.

There are bodies of elders that love that hard nosed control and will have trouble relaxing into the new standards.

Then there are liberal congregations that will likely just jump in and embrace the change and that might not set well with some regular old publishers that don't like the new loosey goosey rules.

You might see some folks moving congregations to find a better fit.

If that becomes a problem as some congregations empty out and others surge, we might go back to hearing that publishers need to attend the congregation to which they are assigned.

The problem is that that was always determined by preaching territory and with the relaxation in time reporting is that also going to be irrelevant soon?

Looking more and more like there was a coup in the Governing Body, so I would expect to see more little coup's filter their way down to local congregations.