Elders appointed by Holy Spirit? (page 4)

MacHislopp

Hello everyone,

A very lively and most interesting discussion. I can see from
the answers that most of us ..do not mix…Holy Spirit (from Jehovah) and
the elders…just frail, imperfect men!

To ozziepost:

"elders don't see themselves as being appointed by H.S. It's the Watchtower magazine and the talks at assemblies where this is heard. It seems the Borg is trying to convince the local elders that they are special! "

Yo've touched a soft spot!

"I can recall asking the question at Bethel: How can an elder be appointed by H.S. when we disfellowship him the next week? "

Very true…in this side of the world we know of some …similar situations!!

To Zev:

"that became evident after i saw the church politics when i was a servant.." Excellent !

Agape to you all, J.C. MacHislopp

ozziepost

G'day Esther,

A CO once told us (a group of pioneers) about an experience he had had. A couple of elders took a dislike to one of the brothers in the congregation, so they concocted evidence to disfellowship him. The brother appealed the decision, and patiently attended all the meetings, preparing his WTs etc. I am not sure of the exact steps, but eventually the CO was one of the ones called to fix the problem. The result was that the entire body of elders was disfellowshipped.

You have a reliable source! I can confirm that this actually happened. All except for one detail. Out of a body of elders comprising 6 elders, 5 were removed. One remained and became the P.O. The removal was announced at a special meeting of the congregation convened on a Monday evening for the entire congregation at the Branch's direction. They sent the District Overseer to give a talk and read the announcement.

We have fun in Oz, don't we!

Cheers,
Ozzie

Freedom is not having to wear a tie.

esther

Ripley, welcome to the board, glad you made it. Did your dad think he was chosen by holy spirit?

Ozzie, thanks for your confirmation. It is possible that the CO said 'all five elders' and that I just assumed it was the whole body. I am not sure, because it was just part of a whole heap of information. It stuck in my mind, though, because it seemed so unbelievable. As I said, the CO was pointing out the wisdom of 'waiting on Jehovah' for things to be cleared up. That 'waiting on Jehovah to clear things up' rubbish is probably one of the reasons it takes so long for people to leave the WTS

esther

Thirdson

Hi Esther,

The Co told us this when he was encouraging us to "wait on Jehovah" to put matters straight, not to deny that the elders were chosen by holy spirit.

Another story I was told by a CO. An elder (PO actually) in the London, England area was disfellowshipped for smoking, He had been secretly smoking the entire 12 years he had served as the cong's PO. Again, we were told we should to "wait on Jehovah" and he will sort it out. It struck me then that Jehovah is very slow and even if it does get sorted out what about all the harm caused in the meantime? Smoking is not that bad, there are a lot worse sins committed in secret by elders in the congs.

One other example. When my brother-in-law was a kid his dad served as an elder. This elder gave the public talk on Sunday about family life and Christian values etc, on the Monday he left his wife and kids and ran off with the wife of a MS. I guess another one got appointed by the mistake of the HS and Jehovah was a bit slow getting him removed too.

This former elder was jailed for sexually abusing his step daughters and was disfellowshipped a second time. My BIL has nothing to do with his dad now. He is an active member in the congregation last time I knew.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

LadyBug

Thanks everyone, enjoyed your posts.

Ripley

What part of Oz do you call home?

Queensland

Tallyman

Bug's a Kool Dude!

Thanks. I totally agree!

BEW

Ripley

Esther,
I don't really know if he thought it was Holy Spirit. I can't say he ever talked much about it.
I do know though, that for a while after our lives where all turned upside down, and he was actually removed as an elder....he did feel as though 'Jehovah' would 'still move him to help others'. He has a great heart, but is /was misguided.

BugEyeWife: I'm Qld too!!!

MacHislopp

Hello Thirdson,

the funny thing is that very similar things...

almost identical ...did happen in other parts of Europe!

Where was ...the Holy Spirit??

Agape, J.C.MacHislopp

BugEye

Ripley,

Welcome to the board!! Rebellion eh, I like that in a person.

Peronally, most of the elders that I know twist and squirm when asked the question. Obviously it is a point that engenders doubt in many and the various explainations are used to dispel the doubt.

BEW

You da woman!!! (But you already knew that didn't you love?)

BugEye

ladonna

Ven.....you trying out a little psychotherapy girl????

Ana

ozziepost

G'day Esther,

I was amused to hear the C.O. identify the process you were describing as "waiting on Jehovah". If that particular brother was really on the Special Committee concerned, then he would would well remember that the process took many weeks to complete. Each person in the congregation was interviewed. It was one hell of a political exercise, not unlike the infamous 'bear pit' of the NSW State Parliament. Where was Holy Spirit in the process. I certainly couldn't see any. Just weight of the Society's authority won the day, nothing else.

Cheers,
Ozzie

Freedom is not having to wear a tie.

Elders appointed by Holy Spirit?

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