i was thinking about this last night, in the year book they publish the number or peak and average publishers.
as we know a publisher could simply be a child getting out in service regularly.
if two parents baptized have to small children that are publishers then they are counted as four.
Hard to tell. You can be a baptized JW but inactive and not included in the publisher count. Or you can be an unbaptised publisher (read JW child).
I know in the congregation here locally, there are probably around 10-15 unbaptized publishers and maybe 5 - 10 inactive. It likely washes if you include those who are technically JWs but completely faded.
leaving the university with my degree!.
exams are finished and it's just a matter of days before i walk.. i was certainly stressed about doing this.
i'm older than my classmates and armageddon was sooooo close!
Billy,
Sorry I missed this earlier but congratulations!!! Well done
ephesians 4:11 makes for a strong case that not every member of the congregation should have to go door-to-door.. "so christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,..".
this shows that different members of the first century congregations served different ministerial functions.
so why don't the jw's say that field service is no longer compulsory for all congregation members, only for those who feel a calling for it per eph 4:11..... the mormons sort of do this with their young men and women 'elders' doing 2 years voluntary, genuinely full-time service (these mormons boys put in some big hours 6 days a week and have their meals provided for them, etc!
We all know that the door to door work is unbelievably inefficient and largely ineffective at getting new recruits in developed countries. We also know the reason for turning in slips each month is for the elders to assess which individuals are "spiritual" (in other words fully with the cult) and which are "weak".
I think the overall reason for continuing field service as we know it is to: 1) make a claim of being unique (not exactly true but whatever), 2) to reinforce an us vs them sort of attitude since most folks hate JWs coming to their doors, and 3) provide an easy method to assess whether or not men are committed enough to give them local leadership positions.
You could certainly figure out another way to accomplish #3, but #1 & 2 are much harder. You'd have to replace field service with an unequally uncomfortable task and I can't think of anything more uncomfortable than going to a strangers hous and peddling religion. And that's way the door to door work will not go away. Change? Yes, it already is changing. Tract campaigns, using the WTS website, etc. Go away? Not in my lifetime.
morales receives 29-month sentence.
http://m.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/article_402b8194-2f32-53a5-af1e-fbe9ba9bd76b.html?mode=jqm.
by matt troutman [email protected] | posted7 days ago.
What a tragic event.
it is more likely to be one attack under different names.. gog of magog is not satan but a coalition of nations.
1. what do talents represent?
so who has the 5 talents?
But it does call into question the 1919 appointment. I need to re-read this because it seems confusing. Maybe when the WT article comes out it will be a little clearer what they are trying to say.
Wait, the overlapping generation makes even less sense so the theory that they really are making this up as they go along without worrying about how it fits into current theology is probably the answer.
here's another buzzword that burns my butt.
worldly.
i refuse to say it.
I think a better word is "normal"
hi folks:.
i've been lurking here all summer and i finally decided to take the plunge and join you all.. i'm a single, 53 y/o black woman living in the nyc metro area (usa).
i was brought up around jws:mom's mom, mom and my favorite auntie were all in.
Welcome! Looking forward to reading your comments.
....well, i was going to wait.
go out with a bang!?
i decided (like many others this week!
RB - well done.
this might be my last post.
i've had quite a few things on my mind over the past few years, mainly my belief in god.
i've tried to move on from the jw past but that's really being foolish.
Obviously therapy would help. The key will be to release that anger. Believe me, I struggle with that as well. But resentment and pent up anger will only hurt you. The WTS could care less whether you live or die. Once you feel the same about them, life will be better.
denial works it horrors on the needless suffering they cause their members.
denial about their god delusion, denial about their faulty policies, denial about children dying in vain over some stupid ban on blood.
if it is one thing the governing body do best it's denial, and denial is a killer in their case and the death toll will keep rising until they can face the facts, instead of pushing them away with denial.. yes they hear but only with annoyance any facts about their biblical interpetation as being wrong and delusional, because the stakes are high; their position as corporation ceos, a better future for their followers, the future of the corporation they are running, i'm surprised that none of them hasn't attempted suicide over the dilemma they are in over this denial thing, surely some must see the 'writing on the wall' so to speak?.
They know, they just don't care
