What is the mood in the Kingdom Halls nowadays?

by JH 40 Replies latest jw friends

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  cruzanheart

  Yeah, that's what I'd like to know! As I was leaving that day (I was pretty steamed), the P.O. came up and said brusquely, "what happened to him?" I started to explain about the virus, and after about 5 seconds he interrupted me and said, "well, Jehovah will give you strength to endure," and walked off! That really did it. I stomped out of there, went home, and told Big Tex I was never going back. He poured me a glass of wine and said, "I've been waiting a long time for you. Welcome home." Bless his heart, he was patient for 15 years, waiting for me to catch up and see the things he had already seen. He didn't want to tell me what to do because he knew it would be best for me to decide on my own (he says I'm the second most stubborn person he knows).

  That incident made an impression on the kids too, particularly Jackson, who noticed how total strangers would stop to ask what happened to him, and how all the little girls fought to be in charge of pushing him around in his wheelchair for the last week of Kindergarten. He has also noticed that, after we stopped going to meetings and (horrors!) started celebrating birthdays and holidays, his "best friend" suddenly stopped getting to come over. Hmmmm.

  Nina
• 

  J.R.R.Watchtower

  Later on in the 90's while I still attended once in a while, people were starting to be less zealous and were starting to put their needs before those of the Kingdoms. People started to buy houses, instead of living in apartements, they were buying nicer cars, taking vacations far away, and mostly, the women started to work, to help pay for the better life style they were living. There is nothing wrong wanting to have a better life style, but for the witnesses it seemed that the priority at first was preaching and not being well off.

  Well I can talk about things going on here, in Spain. I go to a congregation where there are 100 ACTIVE jw. There will be 5 or 6 inactive and I can remember 2 or 3 DF's and 1 DA. I can remember a time where the brothers where 'awating' the end of the world. Now it seems that they have forgotten it. I mean... jw, INCLUDING THE ELDERS, buy new houses, spent a lot of time on vacations, buys cars, buys another house outside the city (in the beach, in the montain...).

  Now the jw go to the meetings as if they were going to work, they have done it all their lives and they continue doing it whithout doubt. Even their answers at the WT study are 'tainted' with a form of 'godly devotion' but all know that they don't spent the hour-2hours that we used to spent in the 90's to prepare that study. They don't like go preaching, but they do to fill in the monthly report, not for nothing else.

  So, Jw are becoming lazy and they don't wanna wake up from that dream... this armaggedon.
• 

  Singing Man

  Move ahead move ahead always follow through... Blah Blah Blah...
• 

  justhuman

  I believe the mood it is the same in all the Western Countries...

  JW's became like a Club...They seem that they got tired hearing the same thing all the time:

  ARMAGEDON IT IS NEAR, WE ARE AT THE DOOR OF THE NEW SYSTEM

  In Greece the only increase we had was from the foreiner workers(Shri-Lanka, India, Albania)Without them there is no increase...
• 

  brooklynNY

  The congregation that I attended in the early to mid 80's was like a social/religious organization. The various clicks would always have something going on like concerts, plays, and weekend trips to varied places. "Friends" from around the circuit would call us the party animal congregation. The CO eventually discovered we were having too much fun and had the elders present a Local Needs Talk to put a stop to us from making too much merry. At that time our congregations had the highest number of publishers, pioneers, averaged hours per publisher, magazine placement and meeting attendance in the circuit. Now that I think about the reason we excelled as a congregation was because we enjoyed a life outside of the Kingdom Hall. I was talking to my former brother-in-law about six months ago, his wife is still in, the Sunday meeting averages about 85- 95. This is down from about 175- 200 back in the mid eighties early nineties when I was attending that congregation.
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  wednesday

  Nina,

  I had much the same experience when i was bringing my elderly mom to the KH in a WC. She faithfully set in the back and only 1-2 people ever talked to her. She waited and was so hopeful. hoping people would come up to her. It broke my heart. JWS are col blooded heartless people.
• 

  stillajwexelder

  cruzanheart -- thanks for your story
• 

  fearnotruth22

  AS always thesre is a facade of love but it is based on loyalty to an organization. People care about themselves, and this love thing that the congs say they have really means meeting and field service. If you can breathe you can preach and if you can walk you can come to the meetings, if you cant then the elders will see that you get a ride but only if you are a criplle or someones great grand mom. Some bros are genuine but the majority are onbnoxious and sarcastic and competitive pushinng their personality and wanting to control. Sure the bros mean well, but most of these guys are in it for themselvers to have a title and ro rule and the sis to be the respective wife of an elder or a pain the a- - who wants to take the lead and be a jw sis. They cannot deal with each other at the same level. Some one always has to be higher. I am down to earth person that gets fef up with this garbage. So mums the word. They wont get any info ou of me because it will only be sued to against you..

  Things are not the way they were in the old days. Too leagl now. Its not fun anymore
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  cyber-sista

  First of all, Nina I am so sorry for what you have been through--that is some pretty tough stuff. I haven't been to a meeting in about 10 months now. It was really bad at the hall where I attended. The young people (the few left there) sat like cardboard cutouts with expressions on their faces like they were undergoing some painful dental work. I honestly fear some of them might do themselves in--they look so miserable. I attended this congregation for about 5 years. It was a small one in a rural area with about 45 publishers--many of them related with a lot of family feuding going on. An elders wife asked the only young pioneer sister in the congregation to move away because she didn't want her to date the elder's wife's son (she actually shook her fist at her). This young sister left--I missed her because she was one of the only ones who had any life in there. Other family members in there wouldn't speak to each other. There were some others disfellowhsipped for who knows what. Some on reproof--though I had thought being "on" reproof was an old term. Some were off reproof but with their privleges removed--it was hard to keep up with it all. While I was there I saw 2 teenagers end up in the mental hospital and then another sister had a breakdown and ended up there too. Two boys died from the same family--they had left the "truth" and went off the deep end and both had ended up in drunken accidents. Of course they were used as examples of what happens to you when you "leave." Many others were inactive in the community and hiding out. There was something seriously wrong with everyone in that hall.. I coundn't take it anymore and was myself suffering from elder abuse though I had commited no sin ( a long and twisted tale) I truly began to feel as if I was going crazy in there. Everyone seemed so confused and the talks were getting weird too, with the elders putting their own strange spin on everything. I was getting so frustrated and upset I felt like I was going crazy. I finally had to leave and go into therapy. I didn't want to spend another day with these people and the thought of spending an eternity with them made me feel really crazy. I had some friends outside of the Org that were good people who had their lives together and I would much rather spend time with them. I am better now that I have removed myself from the insanity. I see the few young people left there being dragged around town out in service and they look so unhappy. I couldn't take watching them anymore--watching the young people was especially painful. Hope some of them can escape.
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  Atilla

  I know for a fact that my old kingdom hall isn't doing great. After I left, everything went downhill. Actually, I lot of young people that were my age got married and moved away, not sure if they are still in the "truth" though. I would say that we had as many as 10 regular pioneers 3 years ago, (myself inclueded) when I was going and now I know from my parents that we only have maybe 1. My parents never seem too excited to tell me about what my old friends are up to.....why? because they are all losers because they still live at home with their mommy and daddy and never went to college. Also, you can forget about outside growth, because even when we had 10 pioneers, no one was coming. I'm now hoping my old hall goes out of business and gets absorbed by another KH where everyone who is left has to drive 45 minutes just to get to meeting.