Declining Meeting Attendance-CO visit

by TheListener 55 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  TheListener

  So we have our Circuit Overseer this week. We're getting the crap kicked out of us (figuratively) for our meeting attendance. We have attendance in the 70% range for some of our meetings. We're being told to get it up to 100%. But, 100% still isn't good enough because that is 100% of publishers and that doesn't count kids and visitors. Realistically for an organization that is supposedly growing like wildfire the attendance should always be above 100%. Oh well, no logic in dubdom.

  We've decided that next month we'll devote our local needs talk to meeting attendance. We'll see a spike in attendance from the CO visit and the local needs talk and then return to the usual low numbers.

  About 10 years ago the circuit overseers were telling the bodies of elders and servants that attendance was a real problem across the board in the U.S. and other developed countries. Anyone else remember that? That was reiterated on this visit as well. If that is the case perhaps attendance itself will cause the society to restructure the meetings in a real way. They may somehow roll the bookstudy groups into the theocratic ministry school as a 10 minute part with or without questions or something and get rid of either the sisters talks or the speech point and instruction talk. Who knows. - just thinking.
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  RunningMan

  At one of the CO meetings with the elders and ministerial servants, about five or six years ago, our CO referred to low meeting attendance as the Western Hemisphere Disease. So, it's pretty widespread. In fact, my congregation (that is, if I went) is in the process of being disolved. With 75 publishers, we would commonly have 40-45 for the school and service meeting.
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  vitty

  I think your into wishful thinking here.

  It aint going to happen, less meetings shorter times, not a chance
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  95stormfront

  They simply have to get those numbers up don't they......
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  Doubtfully Yours

  People are just tired of listening to the same thing day in and day out. I know I sure am.

  As a matter of fact, I'm not attending the meeting tonight either! Gotta see American Idol!

  DY
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  IP_SEC

  Right now our attendance is about

  89% PT

  90% WT (Some work but get off in time for the WT)

  98% BS (Im sure this will go back down for the Daniel book)

  46% TMS

  42% SVSmtgPbls average 6.9 hours. (I lie by about 5 to 7 hours a month, and I know others do as well)

  Of course the reason for this is that there is a hidden apostate sucking the life out of the congo. Oh wait I've only been an apostate for about a month now and these # have been this way for a lota years now.

  Shorten the mtngs? Hell no, scripture says ALL THE MORE SO AS YOU BEHOLD THE DAY.. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Course they may be able to find that the Greak for all the more so is actually an iperfect past participle of the phrase all the less so and pretend like they always knew that.

  IPSec
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  JustTickledPink

  I had a hard time sitting through the boring meetings back when I actually believed it all... and the end was sooo close.

  I can't imagine sitting through it all now, knowing the end isn't close, and knowing there are much more educational and fun programs on TV.
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  metatron

  In many congregations, the clear problem is the School and Service meetings. I've seen huge swings consistently

  between Sunday and the mid-week meetings. Witnesses are sending a clear message to the Society about the

  quality of these meetingzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........................

  metatron
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  Doubtfully Yours

  Reminds me of how I let out a big yawn in the Service Meeting a few weeks ago. An elder, and my husband of course, gave me such evil look! If looks could kill I'd been dead right then and there.

  Now that I think about it, it was a pretty funny moment! I didn't plan it or anything, it just spontaneously happened! Really, really funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  DY
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  blondie

  The meetings were shortened at some time in the past, not much though.

  1980

  km 11/80 p. 1 Congregation Meetings?Part I /PROGRAM ADJUSTMENTS

  3

  Starting in January a slight change is being made in the length of the Theocratic School and service meeting. Each of the two meetings will be 45 minutes in length, not including the songs and prayers. This may help some elders and ministerial servants who need a little more time to care for their duties and responsibilities after these meetings. Others may find it helpful if they depend on public transportation.

  (That made the meetings 1 1/2 hours plus 15 minutes for songs and prayers, it shaved off a whole 15 minutes)

  I can remember too that both the public talk and WT study were an hour apiece and the public talk was reduced to 45 minutes.

  1978:

  km 2/78 p. 7 Meeting Schedule Adjustments ***

  Public speakers can continue to use their prepared outlines but will have in mind adjusting their public talks by reducing the amount of material they cover in the future so as to complete their talks in 45 minutes.

  The TMS tends to be the most poorly attended. That is why the Written Review was held farther apart, the questions/source material was given to the rank and file in advance, and now there is only an Oral Review.

  There used to be 2 3-day circuit assemblies every year and many times the district conventions (assemblies) were 5 to 8 days.

  Regular pioneers have gone from 100/hrs/mo to 1000 hrs/yr to 70/hrs/mo.

  Auxiliary pioneers have gone from 75 (100 second consecutive month)hrs/month to 60/hrs/mo to 50 hrs/mo.

  The rank and file used to be required to put in 10 hrs/mo; 12 mags/mo; 6 RVs; and 1 bible study.

  Now they only have to put in 1 hour (15 minutes if sick and elderly) to be regular and the national average if a brother and "reaching out" for a position (after you get it you can slide to about 5 hours).

  Blondie