Weekly Meeting Importance Being Reduced - Your Thoughts?

by JWTom 37 Replies latest jw friends

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  JWTom

  I am PIMO, but now have 40+ years of being a JW as I was raised in a 3rd generation family of witnesses and continue to fake my way through things - fading as I can.

  For the vast majority of my time as a JW, the meetings were the central focus for all JWs to get teaching, association, information and so on. Nothing was more important than being at the meetings!

  Over the last 20 years starting with the elimination of the Weekly Book Study in homes and continuing down to today - my opinion is that the value/purpose of the weekly meetings continues to be diluted or minimized. If the meetings are so important (which is what we have been told for years) why are they no longer the go to place for information? Why is much of the "important information" now shared online in hours and hours of video presentation and the same information may never be shared at a meeting. Or if it is shared only in very brief forms or by reference. It would seem that if you want people to value the meetings then they would remain the place you get all your information (mostly) but that is no longer the reality.

  Not looking for a solution obviously, but curious as to what some others may think on this. Like many things related to current org. structure and actions there is no logic, no plan, etc. This one seems like a big one given the central role of meetings in the orgs. history.
  

  NOTE: I am starting to notice a great deal of replies and comments on this site that are simply one-line "JWs suck" or the "Borg is bogus" type of posts. I have been coming on here for a number of years and this site has been very valuable to me. There didn't seem to be as much troll-like behavior in the past. Sad to see a lot more of that now. If all you have to offer is a one-line joke or snide remark that is of no value - definitely not what I am looking for here.
  
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  millie210

  I think it has to do with several reasons.

  Two things come to mind. One is the fact that meeting attendance is shrinking and they want to hide that. So the meeting compressing and congregation shuffling shell game has commenced.

  Also, there is a lot of expense in maintaining buildings for meetings. If people will just go online for their "spiritual feeding" and download and print their own literature AND STILL DONATE, that is a better system for the org.

  Perhaps the pandemic will help them to move in that direction without being so obvious that it is their intention all along.
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  asp59

  Lots of interested People visit the KHs and see how JWs are and never come back. To much internal fighting in KHs. Think org want People out in district to have as little Contact with JWs as possible . Preaching carts same reason
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  1234

  Well the "world" is changing my friend. It is not just changing. It's changing a lot! You are still in a religion that was formed in the 1800's and though it's changing also it is not changing enough to keep up with modern day thinking. It's still stuck in old dogma.The organization could become a totally a video church with with the latest technological, however the content is old and dated and in many ways very toxic, with it's concepts of shunning, sex, pedophiles, (two witness rule) blood transfusions ect ect.

  Bottom line they are losing most of their young people. You don't see a massive growth with the Quakers and Amish either....Yes they are still around and the reason is the only thing that is making more/new Quakers, Amish and Jehovah Witnesses is them having sex with themselves.

  You might want to read my book "New Boy" I was in for over 50 years and tried to fade too.

  Good Luck my friend but your in a dying religion

  Keith Casarona
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  the girl next door

  Meetings are important to the GB as ever. Liabilities shut down home book studies/meetings for field service.

  Meetings are losing their importance to the rank & file. The internet has put a chill on hearts and a blue sign on every KH. Seats are empty. Enthusiasm wanes. Socializing is no fun with fake people pretending they are happy. Paradise is lost forever around the corner that never comes.

  Information has always been second hand at the meetings. Never an original thought. Every minute was/is based on the mad scribbling of the writing department months or years ago.

  Kingdom Halls are no longer Jehovah’s house, they are real estate tokens to be traded when the time is right. All the little sheep know this. Looking around seeing all the POMOS & PIMIS and fakers, faders, freeloaders, no wonder they dread going to meeting.
• 

  truth_b_known

  It's like the old saying - you reap what you sow.

  The Watchtower is and has always been a business, period. It began as a publishing company pretending to be a religion. Free labor and sales generated revenue from the publications printed by the Watchtower. Then in the U.S., tax exempt statuses were being questioned by the federal government in regards to Christian evangelical tv ministries.

  The Watchtower answer was to stop selling its publications and go to the voluntary donation model. This killed the company. It use to be that JWs (i.e. "publishers") would pay $0.25 U.S. for each magazine. If a "householder" purchased the magazine the publisher normally sent that money back to the Watchtower via the World Wide Work fund. So, each magazine grosses $0.50 U.S.

  Soon, publishers stopped asking for donations and even stopped donating for the literature they took themselves. The Watchtower tried combating this by stopping practices such as only publishing books with paperback. Then they started reducing the number of issues published of their magazines. Then they started reducing the size of the magazines. Now, they are making members print their own copies of literature previously printed by the Watchtower off their online website.

  Then the high control model of the Watchtower increased. Meeting in small groups, such as the weekly Book Study, or even having social events were ended. Everyone had to go to the Kingdom Hall, which is also the only location where contribution boxes exist for weekly meetings. This was to discourage any teaching that did not line up exactly with the Watchtower.

  Next came talks for meetings, assemblies, and conventions produced in video format. This only bolsters the idea that headquarters wants one narrative and no individual thought. With the introduction of the internet and with access being made even easier thanks to cellular phone technology, the control of narrative is become near impossible. Add in the news media publishing one story after another of child abuse cover up by the Watchtower.

  Witnesses are strongly discouraged to do an personal study. They are literally told that the 8 members of the Governing Body will directly tell them what they need to know. This means that Witnesses are no longer capable of carrying on public ministry because they lack both the knowledge and the training. The cart "Witnessing" and directing the public to JW.org has replaced the door-to-door ministry.

  I do see the Watchtower eventually going completely paperless. The JW ministry will soon consist of Witnesses simply walking around with sandwich boards that read "Find Happiness at JW.org". Meetings will be nothing more than showing up to the Kingdom Hall to watch streamed or pre-recorded talks by Governing Body members.
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  Giordano

  JWTom I know there is probably family issues so leaving could be difficult. However one could cite the JW pedophile issue as a major stumbling block to further attendance.

  "Until Jehovah cleans up this issue there is no reason to attend meetings or go out in service until every single pedophile is cast out."

  Lets put it this way....... Jesus in Luke 18:16-17 "Do not hinder the little children from coming to me. Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”…

  So what are your family and friends going to say to you other then ' wait on Jah'.

  Sorry my friend there is no waiting when a child is being raped.

  Step away JWTOM....... it's a sick religion with many dangerous beliefs.
• 

  JWTom

  Great comments. As some have suggested my life is a spaghetti bowl related to being a JW all my life. Even though I am fading my life is still largely entrenched within the pasta bowl.

  A PIMI elder friend who is very astute and gives attention to policy/direction made the comment about all of the online content being created and why there is so much being produced, how could you possibly consume all of it, etc. The PIMIs realize that the meetings are a thing of the past but can't bring themselves to realize what has happened.
  
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  waton

  Great topic, really insightful comments.i see meetings dominated by fewer and fewer characters, devoid of real content, except cult indoctrination, force fed.

  if young people can't legit socialize, and do it "on line " anyway, where is the benefit for the members?
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  Finkelstein

  Becasue the JWS religion was framed upon a false commercialized gospel created by men who ran their own publishing house, this is the real reason this relgoius organization is starting to fade away, add in corrupt self serving tactics of non discloser of pedophilia within their organization and its eventual decline is not surprising.

  People have access via the inter-net to do some research about the organization , noting the deaths, the suicides, the questionable doctrines, the fact that the original leaders of the organization were not highly trained bible theologians.
  

  As Millie210 said the organization's decline is starting in spite of the GB leaders saying more and more Kingdom Halls are going to be needed because of the growth in numbers.

  Pretentious dishonest lying has been an integral part of this organization for a very long time, people are starting to "Witness" that .