stan livedeath
Graham Carmichael
Yes that name rings a bell. We would have been in Mosely congregation, Birmingham at the time
ronald curzan ( helper to the teaching committee ) gives a talk on the real reasons jehovah's witnesses should attend meetings.
it looks like the zoom meetings have softened up many witnesses.
many are probably turning off their cameras and zoning out.
Graham Carmichael
Yes that name rings a bell. We would have been in Mosely congregation, Birmingham at the time
ronald curzan ( helper to the teaching committee ) gives a talk on the real reasons jehovah's witnesses should attend meetings.
it looks like the zoom meetings have softened up many witnesses.
many are probably turning off their cameras and zoning out.
Hey we used to have Three meetings a week, Thursday, Sunday and the Tuesday Group Study. We all felt that they got rid of the best one when they axed the Group Study ….
Tea and cakes after the group study always went down well. The reason given at the time was to cut the travelling expenses for the brothers, so instead they closed and sold off kingdom halls, merged congregations and made them travel even more.
Also, I remember when circuit assemblies were three days (Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday) and 8 day conventions (they seemed to last an eternity). And then were was the Saturday evening congregation meeting with the circuit overseer. We had one comedian CO who used to say about this 'spiritual meal' - "don't be late, it'd dinner at 8:00, no need to bring your knives and forks, just your mugs".
this came to mind as my 71 year old wife got up at 6:30 to drive 1.1/4 hours to meet the field ministry group.
we live a long way from the kingdom hall and the traffic is horrendous where we live!.
somehow, i doubt the good old boys do much themselves.
Photo OpExactly. These all look so staged. Would a member of the public allow a couple of guys to turn up on their door step with a photographer. Somehow, doesn't ring true.
I don't remember if I ever counted the time from the public talks I gave. They owe me two hours!The counting hours thing relates back to when 'Public Talks' were public talks, i.e. aimed at the public.
As a kid of about 12 (nearly 60 years ago now) I remember being assigned to hand stamp handbills with the time and place of each weeks public talk (the handbills were pre-printed with the title of the talk and some information on the back but each congregation had to stamp them with the date, time and location) to hand to the public. If the householder wasn't particularly interested, we used to give them one of the handbills, with a cheery, "you'd be welcome to attend if you have time on Sunday".
You couldn't count your time if you say conducted the Watchtower study.
But if you think about it, the GB broadcast the rank and file, not to the public, so I assume they don't count their time. But I also suspect they don't put in a 'report at the end of each month on the basis they are in fulltime service. Let's them off the hook for any door to door ministry and I can't imagine the congregation secretary chasing them up for their report at the end of the month.
this came to mind as my 71 year old wife got up at 6:30 to drive 1.1/4 hours to meet the field ministry group.
we live a long way from the kingdom hall and the traffic is horrendous where we live!.
somehow, i doubt the good old boys do much themselves.
This came to mind as my 71 year old wife got up at 6:30 to drive 1.1/4 hours to meet the field ministry group. We live a long way from the Kingdom Hall and the traffic is horrendous where we live!
Somehow, I doubt the good old boys do much themselves. After all, they spend all day in front of the cameras and must be able to count every waking minute of the day as 'field service'. But actually speaking to non believers in the field? Perhaps they are just to high up to get their hands dirty.
Being filmed releasing new language editions of the New Translation is more their style and fuels their egos.
my fave was roy renouf - district overseer.
always had time for me and seemed to keep thigs real.. heard that on a zone vist he told the governing body the branch was told old and grumpy or something like that!.
worst was michael purbrick.
Does anyone know if any named here are still about? In the main, these guys and their wives are at least 10 years older than me, so that is going to put them in their 80s and 90s.
Just to add a couple of more names to the list. John and Pam Andrews a really nice couple. John was the sort of speaker that gave you goose bumps - a very slow and melodic voice. They ended up in London Bethel but the last I heard John wasn't in good health.
Glen McFarland, from Scotland originally. A violin player from the days when we had circuit orchestras! Last I heard he had retired from circuit work and was living somewhere in the north east of UK.
well judging from past prophetic pronouncements....go figure.
"surely there is not the slightest room for doubt in the mind of a truly consecrated child of god that the lord jesus is present and has been since 1874;…" watchtower 1924 jan 1 p.5).
"the prophecy of the bible, fully supported by the physical facts in fulfillment thereof, shows that the second coming of christ dates from the fall of the year 1914.
I remember, around the time of 1975, a circuit overseer using the illustration of waiting at a bus stop. 'If the bus doesn't turn up when you expect it to, do you wander off?', he asked. 'No you wait as you know it will be a long in a few minutes' was his follow up.
All I can say is I know a lot of people who have since died waiting at that bus stop.
https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/08/24/charity-commission-data-shows-mass-merger-of-over-1000-jehovahs-witness-congregations/.
Yet another scam no doubt.
Years ago, the congregation we were in had very little money. We were in a mining community at a time when the miners were on strike, followed by mass mine closures. I don't recall any funds every being sent from Bethel but one thing I know for sure is the local congregations rallied round. So, even though we had next to no money, I know because I was the accounts servant at the time, we managed to buy an old church. Again with virtually no money, and no support from Bethel, we renovated the place. We made it a beautiful building that was admired by the local community - often folks would stop by and tell us they got married there or went there to Sunday school. A few years down the line we were told by the Circuit Overseer that the effort in maintaining the old place was too much and rather than spend a weekend a month on property maintenance, we should consider a 'quick build' and re-locate to hall with minimal maintenance needs. I was an elder by then and was the only one who spoke out against idea.
So we in the end we sold the old hall and built a new one. I had stepped down as an elder at this point but still helped out with the build. Again, no cost Bethel everything was funded, including a loan from the society by the local congregation.
Since then, and I haven't attended in 20 years now, the new hall has become home to three congregations with at least one of the congregations being forced to sell their existing hall and travel further to this new hall.
This hall, paid for with the money, labour and pride of the local congregation has since been given away to this Kingdom Hall Trust entity.
One thing for though, should there every arise the need for any expensive maintenance, the first people asked to put theirs hands in their pockets isn't going to be the Kingdom Hall Trust but the locals. Seems to me the cash flows in just one direction.
set up 2 sisters 70 and 21 year old.
standing on a dead street next to the cemetery.
buzzer goes off liar.
Cart witnessing seems pretty soul destroying to me!
click the image to enlarge.. sister carrying microphone at kingdom hall in pants!.
https://postimg.cc/jdjysmgt.
brother in blue jeans out in service.. https://postimg.cc/z36bj89h .
Not sure the sister in pants is anything unusual this congregation. Notice the sister a few rows ahead in turquois she is wearing long pants. My guess is this is somewhere in Asia.
Different countries have different cultures. In India it is considered bad manners for women to show any shoulders but at the same time a bare midriff is acceptable - i.e. wearing a sari and blouse.
i've not heard anything from pimi wife about going back to the khs yet let alone the door to door work.. many churches round here have re-opened if only for private pray and i am guessing that things like singing may be a factor in the reluctance of the witnesses to get back together again.
i also detect that many older ones are still quite afraid to go anywhere they may come in contact with people, even for shopping.
on the other hand, here in uk you can now go to a football match with 70,000 others shouting and chanting.. the door to door work may a total different issue.
I've not heard anything from PIMI wife about going back to the KHs yet let alone the door to door work.
Many churches round here have re-opened if only for private pray and I am guessing that things like singing may be a factor in the reluctance of the Witnesses to get back together again. I also detect that many older ones are still quite afraid to go anywhere they may come in contact with people, even for shopping. On the other hand, here in UK you can now go to a football match with 70,000 others shouting and chanting.
The door to door work may a total different issue. JWs at the door weren't really welcomed with open arms pre-pandemic and now any callers are viewed with a certain amount of caution. Perhaps the publishers would be told to wear a face mask and mumble some sort of short presentation and leave a tract.
Re-starting is going to be a difficult process.