Are there 'ultra strict' congregations?

by jambon1 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  Christian Gutierrez

  I grew up in a very strict Hall. We had some strict elders and loose ones. One was so strict he treated our congregation like it was boot camp haha.
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  Cold Steel

  But what are the consequences of not grooming according to rules set by the elders? If someone moves from KH-1, where there are liberal grooming rules, to KH-2, where they're considerably more strict, what happens then? Are they counseled to follow the new rules and if so, how would that happen?

  Are people encouraged to visit KHs just off the street, or are they expected to have a few lessons first? If a stranger walked in, I'm sure he'd be welcomed, but would he be openly proselytized? (I'm sure there are certain meetings where visitors would be less welcome, though.)
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  joe134cd

  It seems weird how they are so consumed with dress and grooming and yet totally miss the mark in more important issues e.g reporting of sex offenders to police.
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  tiki

  My father was a drunken elder...the body was divided...the p.o. was a real jerk and his partner in crime was a mean spirited masochist. There were a couple wishy washy elders, then one other sharp as a tack. Diverse group...lot of dissenting views....but my father and the sharp good one were a team ...my father used to say of the cong that "we run a tight ship".....a neighboring cong was viewed with much disdain because they were seen as loose. All so stupid and unnecessary in retrospect.
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  Lostandfound

  Perhaps in time the Exclusive Bretheren of tight control congregations will break away and join the Scots of that name, they had an elder once, Lord Clasky, a Scottish senior judge, who merely attended a funeral , in a Catholic Church, for anotherember of the senior judiciary as was normal for the Queens senior judge in Scotland. The Exclisive Bretheren shunned him in every way imaginable after that and no Scot member of the EB would even look at him.A lifetime of service to the EB counted for nothing, he was discarded like the rubbish, sounds familiar?
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  slimboyfat

  Yeah there are strict and relaxed countries too.
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  punkofnice

  Are there 'ultra strict' congregations?

  Of course there will be because it's run by men. It's nothing more than a man made corporation designed to make money for the corporate shills at the top.

  Each congregation is at the whim of the biggest bully on the BOE. The biggest bully usually determines the 'personality' of the congregation.

  The utter arrogance cascades down from the rock star popes AKA governing body. You find that these days, the COs are vicious 'company men' who are not worthy of the gift of life.
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  blondie

  I live in medium sized city....15 congregations in the area. One had a BOE that insisted brothers wear white shirts on the stage and when conducting/reading at the book studies.

  They also said no mustaches for the brothers and were not allowed any privileges, elders and MS had to be without mustache.

  The other congregations did not have such rules...there was a mass exodus from the strict congregation to the other congregations even to the point of moving into the territory. The strict congregation complained to the CO who told that BOE they could make "rules" in their own congregation but not in other congregations. There was a feud for many years, the strict congregation would not exchange speakers unless the visiting elder wore a white shirt and had no mustache (!).
  
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  punkofnice

  A local congregation to me had white shirts in a cupboard and insisted on no white socks.

  A CO came along wearing a coloured shirt and white socks and told the BOE they were out of line.

  Oh, those were the days.
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  blondie

  punk, I remember a CO that on his first visit in each congregation wore:

  pink shirt

  pink/purple tie

  sports coat/unmatching pants

  white socks

  and white loafers to make a point.