Ask for your "Ordained Minister" ID C...

LDH

With all of the discussion going on on the board lately about "all JW being ordained ministers," I thought I'd point out something that may be NEW to a lot of you.

Your local congregation has WBTS ID cards which states the 'cardbearer is an ordained minister.' They won't volunteer these to you, I had to reg pio for two years before I got mine. You will have to ask for one, and they may want to know why you want one

However, they CAN come in handy when traveling! (THINK of all the "Ordained Minister" discounts you can get!)

Why, you can even have a little banner on your car identifying you as "Ordained Minister."

My sick little mind is thinking of all the fun I could have had if I had saved mine....What with being RUDE in restaurants and not tipping, and sharing the TRUTH instead. Or shoving rudely to the front of the line and saying "It's OK! I'm an Ordained Minister of Jehovah's Witnesses!"

Damn, I wish I'd kept mine. Get yours now if you're still in.

PS--Act now while you're still baptised and in good standing. Those are the only ones who will receive them!

bigboi

Hey LDH:

Is it a little white business card witha blue globe in the background?

I was given one of those by my PO when they were trying to appoint me as a MS. If I'm correct it has to be signed by the publisher and one of the Elders right?

Bigboi

"it ain't what ya do. it's how you do it" quote from the song "True Honeybunz" by Bahamadia

XJWBill

So are they all "ordained ministers" again? I still have my old card--somewhere--from the early '70's. But just before I left in 1977, seems I recall "new light" that only the elders could claim to be ministers, not all us lowly publishers.

Hmmm, wonder if my card is considered a collectible now . . . maybe I'll hang it out on Ebay and see what it fetches. Also, the old orange "NO BLOOD!" card.

Bill

"If we all loved one another as much as we say we love God, I reckon there wouldn't be as much meanness in the world as there is."--from the movie Resurrection (1979)

Skimmer

I remember the "ordained minister" cards from back in the early 1970s. The story I heard was that one of the reasons they were distributed was to help young male JWs in the United States with documentation to support a ministerial exemption from the military draft for the Vietnam War.

It's entirely possible that more than a few draft boards were convinced. There may have been some sort of unwritten agreement between Brooklyn and the elders in the United States that ministerial certification was allowed for draft eligible JWs only if they were regular in the pioneer service. It as if the WTBTS said to the unfortunate young men: "Work for us or work for the Army."

XJWBill

During the Vietname War, only pioneers--full-time ministers--were eligible for draft exemption. I remember writing a letter to the local draft board testifying to the ministry of the brother who started the Truth book study with me. He was a couple of years older, and my best friend. He also had to provide documentation from the Congregation Overseer that he was, indeed, appointed by the local congregation as a full-time minister.

But the rest of us were all considered "ordained"--it just got us no tax breaks or draft exemptions. Come to think of it, what was the point of that?

Bill

"If we all loved one another as much as we say we love God, I reckon there wouldn't be as much meanness in the world as there is."--from the movie Resurrection (1979)

larc

I hesitate to start a new thread, so I thought I would post this here. Do the JWs know that all their expenses in the door knocking trade are tax deductible? We knew it when I was in, but few took advantage of it. They were too paranoid about the government, or as we say in southern Ohio, "a feared of the gummint."

wasasister

Lark: to answer your question...

I was a tax preparer in an office owned by a "brother" for several years. Most of our clients were JW's. Almost all of them used a mileage deduction for service and traveling to conventions. If the Witness client didn't take it, they were urged to by my boss. Using Caesar's laws to our advantage, or some such thing.

Interestingly, I came across more than a few Witnesses who reluctantly admitted to donating funds or goods to such charities as Goodwill, Red Cross (a big NO-NO), or Boy Scouts. Of course, I kept all such knowledge in the strictest of confidence...feeling my obligation as a sister in the congregation did not give me the right to betray what I learned as a result of my occupation. I suppose that made me a rebel, but at least I could sleep at night.

JWD

Can women receive the card ,as well? If so, does that mean that the
WT is ordaining women?

JWD

LDH

Yes, JWD women can ask for and receive the minister card. I had one before I tossed it! (Should have listened to Tally--Never throw away Kult Kollectibles, lol)

Since you are according to JW, and ordained minister (they count all baptised publishers in good standing as ordained ministers) you have a right to have this card. Demand yours today!

GinnyTosken

I remember when the idea of all publishers being ordained ministers was hot. We heard about it all the time at the Service Meeting.

In the early 1970s, I was a 9-year-old literalist and very proud of this designation. I remember going door-to-door with an older brother. I'd begin my presentation with, "Hi, my name is Ginny, and I'm a minister of the good news. Have you ever wondered about . . ."

Inevitably the householder would interrupt me: "Are you really a minister?" She'd look questioningly at the brother.

I would smile and leave the older brother to explain. I was old enough to understand that when I said "minister," she imagined a precocious little girl standing on a stepstool at a pulpit in front of her congregation. Still, the Society said I was a minister, and that was the truth, so why shouldn't I tell people?

Ginny

Ask for your "Ordained Minister" ID C...

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