The BRCI Conference

larc

Are any of you going to the BRCI conference in Waterloo, Canada? It should be coming up soon, in a matter of weeks. They are a really good group of x's. I tried their website yesterday, but it doesn't seem to be operating. If you are close by and are interested you can call 1-800-WHY-1914 to get information.

thinkers wife

How cool is this Larc?! I just called that number about two weeks ago and recieved a packet of information from them a couple of days ago. It is an interesting read, but they are a little too Jesus oriented for us. But I am glad to have some of their insights!!
TW

larc

TW,

They do believe in a basic Christian ideal, but they do not preach any doctrine. They are very close, as a group, to Ray Franz and Jim Penton. They are good people, believe me. I have been to several of their conferences, including their first one. Ray Franz and his wife were there and Peter Gregerson, the man who Ray had lunch with and was disfellowshipped for having lunch with an apostate.

I have great affection for these people. They were there for me before the internet. Anyone in that part of the country should go and meet them, in my humble, but accurate and proud opinion. -:)

Tina

Hi larc and all,

Yes,they did seem like very nice people. Long ago when I asked about attending a conference one of their members,(from the old h20)pointedly asked me,"You don't believe in jesus'(something close to that).......very abrupt and cold in my perception.(as in,what's yer point in being amongst us?) Just that one pointed arrogant comment said it all for me.

I thought it was all about 'people' and sharing from what I saw on their w/s. Well, Im sorry to say that wasn't the attitude shown me. So I wrote them off as another group who feel they have the truth and all the answers.
I'm glad your experience was so positive larc. Warm regards,Tina

larc

Tina,

I am sorry you had that experience, because the ones I met were really nice people. One man, for example, sends reading material to hundreds of people at his own expense, obviously. He sent me a book, "Spiritual Abuse". He did not ask me for a contribution or follow up to try to convert me to anything. I was amazed by his generosity and willingness to try to help.

Francois

What's BRCI?

Tina

Hi Francois

It's the Beacon w/s- there's a link to it on freeminds 'other sites'. It's ex jw's who want a 'balanced' view of the bible and such.

Hi larc,
Thanks for the response. I have since lost any interest in groups that have a christian orientation. For me it's really a waste of valuable to time to discuss and debate a book I consider merely literature anyway. For me,there's waaaaay to much good lit to catch up on.
It conflicts with my humanistic principles anyway. I was merely interested in meeting ex-jws at the time. And have since met some of the greatest folk who share my personal perpsectives. regards to you and Francois,Tina

logical

I wanna go

We might see our little friend Fred there

AlanF

BRCI stands for Biblical Research and Commentary International. Larc had a pretty good description of most of the people associated with that group. A superb group of people, for the most part. It's in no way a religion, or even a religious group, but a loose association of people with certain similar goals and beliefs. Most of them are Christians, but far from the in-your-face Fundy types. If I wanted to be a Christian, I'd probably associate with them. They're basically non-trinitarian, but don't care much what people privately believe about such details. Most of the people dislike the Fundy types because they're so much like JWs. The Beacon website is only loosely associated with BRCI because Ros, the site owner, is loosely associated with them. Tina, your experience is the rare exception, not the rule, in my experience.

AlanF

ros

Hello, Tina, Larc and all:

I host the BEACON website, and I also serve as a board member of BRCI. As such, perhaps I can clear up what seem to be some misperceptions.

1. BRCI is not affiliated with my BEACON website, http://www.xjw.com , except for a link to it from BEACON. Because I am on the board is evidently why some people make the association. BRCI has its own website: http://www.brci.org

2. Ray Franz in not affiliated with BRCI, however Peter Gregerson is a board member, as is Jon Mitchell and Tom Cabeen who are close to Ray. Ray attends a few of the sessions only if they happen to be held in the Atlanta area because of the opportunity to see quite a few friends who make the journey. In the early years of BRCI, Ray gave a couple or so talks, but not in recent years. When a conference was held in the Atlanta area, he and Cynthia have on occasion hosted an open-house smorgus after the conference closed on Sunday noon. Jim Penton sometimes attends BRCI, and when he does he usually gives a talk. He will be there this year. (I won't be.)

3. Board members are of the Christian faith, some are non-trinitarian, some are trinitarian, and some are non-commital about it. The program does have a Christian theme, but the conferences are open to everyone without pressure to conform (that is, from BRCI--can't speak for some of the attendees). I don't happen to enjoy religious talks, especially those with an evangelical flavor, so I and others of like interest use that time to enjoy informal fellowship.

I have no idea who Tina spoke with, but generally an experience like she had is from an attendee with their own agenda. The conferences always have numerous people of very diverse religious views who attend, mainly to meet other exWitnesses.

I have heard it mentioned several times lately that it seems the BRCI site is not working. Could someone explain? I looked at it a few minutes ago, and the information about the Waterloo conference is there: June 27-July 1. Click on "Conferences" and scroll to the bottom.

Hope this helps.

The BRCI Conference

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