DNCall

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Posts by DNCall

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  48

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 4 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  even though i didnt have the title of elder, i was still active in my work at bethel and the congregation used me as much as possible.

  when the congregation recommended that i once again serve as an elder, one elder raised the objection that that barbara was a low-hour publisher.

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  DNCall

  pwp: Please PM me with your address. I still owe you for the CD!
• 
  48

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 4 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  even though i didnt have the title of elder, i was still active in my work at bethel and the congregation used me as much as possible.

  when the congregation recommended that i once again serve as an elder, one elder raised the objection that that barbara was a low-hour publisher.

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  DNCall

  I've reached my four post per day limit so Part 5 will post tomorrow.
• 
  48

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 4 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  even though i didnt have the title of elder, i was still active in my work at bethel and the congregation used me as much as possible.

  when the congregation recommended that i once again serve as an elder, one elder raised the objection that that barbara was a low-hour publisher.

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  DNCall

  Even though I didn’t have the title of “Elder,” I was still active in my work at Bethel and the congregation used me as much as possible. When the congregation recommended that I once again serve as an elder, one elder raised the objection that that Barbara was a low-hour publisher. There were legitimate reasons for her status. By this time, Barbara’s respect for the organization had eroded significantly. This incident moved her to read her Bible with greater intensity to see how scriptural all of this was. Thus began a process of discovery for her. Her big epiphany was the understanding that Jesus’ teaching regarding the faithful and discreet slave was a parable, not a prophecy, and that the leadership has arrogantly asserted that they are the fulfillment of that teaching. At the same time it was evident that they have blasphemously assumed the role of co-mediator with Jesus by asserting that salvation for the rank and file is not possible apart from them.

  I loved study and research, and the organization’s teachings held together for me until 1995. When the Governing Body rendered Jesus’ words regarding the generation that will not pass away until all these things occur meaningless in order to retain the 1914 chronology, I saw them regard their own tradition as more important than the clear words of Jesus. Over the next ten years I saw the effects on the leadership of having a less defined expectation of when the end would come while trying to sustain a sense of urgency within the membership. The increasing emphasis on the “faithful slave” and its governing body and the increasing demands that we trust and obey them replaced motivation based on the content of their teachings. This, I believe, was due to the Governing Body’s losing a measure of confidence in its own teachings and discerning the need to be more assertive in demanding loyalty and obedience. The emphasis on increased activity for its own sake replaced emphasis on that which properly motivates such activity. Over time, Barbara and I lost any joy we had in connection with the congregation. Our joy returned somewhat when we simply read the Bible. Our prior Bible reading had always been through the subjective lens of the organization’s teachings. A more objective reading provided an understanding of the marvels of God’s grace, as opposed to the limiting, condescending and guilt inducing “underserved kindness” of the New World Translation. It became more evident that, in the first century, it was the power of the holy spirit acting on individuals that made possible the spread of the good news about Jesus, not some central authority in Jerusalem. The importance of faith in Christ and his role as the singular mediator between God and man stood out as never before. Once we had sufficient indication from the Scriptures that there might be another way of understanding them, we made a thorough investigation of our religion, including its history and development.

  By 2007 we could no longer in good conscience support the Organization. We would have probably come to this realization earlier had my mother not lived as long as she did. She was emotionally dependant on me, mainly because I was the only one of her children who had embraced her religion. I resigned from my congregation responsibilities and withdrew my participation in the Society’s music projects. Our leaving was abrupt, not gradual. Our closest friends shunned us from the start as we had shared with them some of our reasons for leaving.

  The first year after leaving the congregation was harder on Barbara than on me. She is a social person who enjoys entertaining friends at our home. Naturally, it hurt us both to lose lifelong friends and realize the conditional nature of those friendships.

  After two years of inactivity, I received an official call from a long-time friend inviting us to a judicial committee meeting. I was told that there was sufficient evidence that my teachings provided basis for judicial action. Our efforts to explain ourselves and even defend ourselves to our close friends and been construed as “teaching”. In reality, we never sought to “draw away” others from the Organization. When asked if I wanted to write a letter of disassociation, I declined. Barbara and I had previously decided that writing a disassociation letter was playing by their rules. This was their initiative and I wanted them to finish what they had started rather than to finish it for them. I declined, on behalf of both of us, the invitation to attend the judicial meeting. I knew, and thus stated, that the judicial committee would do as it is told. A few days later I was informed that we had been disfellowshipped for apostasy. I indicated that we would not appeal the decision.
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  17

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 3 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  by the 1990s it became necessary for me to seek work outside of music.

  barbara, who had to help support our family in the mid-1980s, was working as a legal secretary and suggested i consider doing the same.

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  DNCall

  By the 1990s it became necessary for me to seek work outside of music. Barbara, who had to help support our family in the mid-1980s, was working as a legal secretary and suggested I consider doing the same. Just as she was able to obtain work with no prior experience, I found that I could too. A medium-sized firm hired me in 1992. In 1997, we moved from the Beverly Hills Congregation to the Bay Congregation in Santa Monica, California. In 2001, I moved to a very large international law firm in Santa Monica where I work to this day.

  In the late 1970s, my father and I were asked to submit songs for a new songbook that was being prepared. I submitted four songs including music and lyrics and my father submitted one song, music only. Two of my songs were accepted along with my father’s song. Karl Klein supervised the project, assisted by Vern Duncombe. My lyrics were largely replaced and the music was adjusted to accommodate the new lyrics. These two songs came out the other end as Song 191, “Make the Truth Your Own” and Song 210, “Make Sure of the More Important Things”. The melody that my father submitted was actually composed by him during the Second World War as a jingle advertising war bonds. Lyrics were added and the result was Song 19, “Happy All Day Long”. My father died before knowing that his song had been accepted and published in the new songbook.

  In 1986, I was invited to join the staff of writers that arranged the Kingdom Melodies series of recordings. Over the next 20 years, I traveled back to Bethel, usually twice a year, to work on Kingdom Melodies, dramas, special material for the Gilead graduations and then later, videos. It was a rich experience. Ironically, during this time I built friendships with people who today wouldn’t meet my eyes if we passed on the street.

  Some of the staff writers were and are professional musicians and no one has been more critical of the songbook than these writers. The 1982 songbook was made up of music composed, for the most part, by amateur Witness musicians from around the world, edited by a professional who was past his prime, under the supervision of a Governing Body member, an amateur musician himself, who had a random sense of taste in music. An elderly brother who served in one of the South American branch offices, wrote and edited the lyrics. The result was a collection of organizational instructions steeped in the sterile language of the New World Translation, set to very poor music. Even professional singers would have great difficulty singing most of these songs. When I withdrew my services in 2007, we were working on the new songbook that was announced at the 2009 District Convention. Although I have not seen the finished product, it will be a definite improvement owing to a more concentrated pool of talent, better supervision and the elimination of a large portion of the 1982 songbook.

  I was appointed as an elder in 1975 at the age of 24 and served as such for 26 years. My wife sacrificed more than the congregation could ever appreciate as I gave more time and energy to the congregation than to her and our children. I sincerely wanted to be a force for good in the congregation and worked hard toward that end. Barbara supported me in this, but naturally, at times, it put a strain on our marriage. When our disfellowshipped daughter was married in a civil ceremony held in her backyard, we were in attendance. Gossip about this circulated and our former congregation contacted the Society with their concerns. Our current congregation supported us and there was quite a bit of back and forth with the Service Department over this. The result was that I was removed as an elder. This moved Barbara to write the Society about their draconian policy regarding disfellowshipped family members. The form letter she received in return did nothing to comfort her. It served to reinforce what I had already observed as an elder, that nobody can reason with or question the current polices of the Governing Body.
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  11

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 2 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  i was one year old at the time of my fathers conversion.

  although my three older sisters were required to attend the meetings, they never accepted the teachings.

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  DNCall

  I was one year old at the time of my father’s conversion. Although my three older sisters were required to attend the meetings, they never accepted the teachings. I would describe our family as closer than most, even though we were now divided religiously.

  I was baptized at the age of eight. My two best friends, both of whom were slightly younger, were baptized around the same time. I was genuinely interested in the Bible and tended to be conscientious when preparing talks for the Ministry School. I was also very involved in music, both playing and composing. At age 16, I began dating Barbara, a girl in my congregation who had begun attending meetings when her mother decided to return to the congregation after years of inactivity. We weren’t scrutinized much other than the pleadings of my parents to end the relationship because we were too young to date. They were right, of course, but the forces of nature were at work. We weren’t able to stay apart. We dated off and on, and although I dated others, and so did she, I knew that I would marry her some day. I graduated high school in 1969 during the Viet Nam war. The default for most of us after high school was to pioneer. College wasn’t even considered in our household. My father was convinced that 1975 was all the Organization said it was. I worked hard at pioneering, even making some converts, some of whom are still active today. I was living with my parents and worked in music, performing relatively mundane tasks for Witness composers and producers who were established in the music business prior to becoming Witnesses. By the time I was 22, Barbara and I wanted to get married. Since my income from music was hit and miss and since I was still pioneering, I took up the other default--janitorial work. We were married in 1973. By this time, my father was semi-retired, having invested in the construction of a resort in Jamaica. His foray into the travel business afforded him deep discounts on air travel and hotels. Some brothers approached him with the request that he make travel arrangements for a group that wanted to attend a district convention in Hawaii. The success of this venture spawned other group junkets to Brooklyn Bethel and other destinations. Thus began Kavelin Tours, Inc. I was grateful to give up my stint as a janitor to assist my father in the travel business. It was a very happy time for Barbara and me, as all of our activities centered on the congregation, traveling with groups of Witnesses to many exciting destinations, making contacts at Bethel and so forth. Barbara auxiliary pioneered with me on occasion and we rarely had any financial worries. Then came, and went, 1975.

  Not surprisingly our services as tour operators were less and less called upon as the friends were in the process of regrouping and readjusting their thinking regarding day-to-day survival, post-1975. Fortunately, I was able to reconnect with my Witness contacts in the music business and was able to eke out a living and provide for my growing family. Our daughter, Sara, was born in 1977 and our son, Peter, came along in 1981. My father died in 1982. Fortunately, my mother was able to live quite well on my father’s music royalties and Social Security for the remainder of her life. She enjoyed much love and support from the congregation as well as the love and support of all of her children. My sisters and I were at her bedside when she died in 2005 at the age of 91.
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  11

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 1 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  prompted by the thread started by wha happened (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/179005/1/a-good-friend-of-mine-was-dfd-this-week), i thought i would introduce myself and tell my story.. i am frank kavelin.

  my wife barbara and i were recently disfellowshipped for apostasy.

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  DNCall

  Prompted by the thread started by Wha Happened (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/179005/1/A-good-friend-of-mine-was-dfd-this-week), I thought I would introduce myself and tell my story.

  I am Frank Kavelin. My wife Barbara and I were recently disfellowshipped for apostasy. Long before we became inactive, I was mentioned in one thread and was the subject of another thread. I was the elder who was quoted in the Los Angeles Times defending an article that appeared in the 1987 Watchtower dealing with doctor/patient privacy issues. (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/107603/1/A-Time-to-Speak-When-with-scans). I am also the brother who was seriously injured in the Santa Monica Farmers Market tragedy of 2002.

  My parents became Witnesses in the early 1950s. My father, Al Kavelin, who had been a successful bandleader in the 1930s and 40s, was, by the 1950s, struggling to support his family. I have three sisters, so there were six of us altogether. One day, while my father was networking in Hollywood, he ran in to Henry Russell who had formerly headed up the music department at NBC, West Coast. My father asked Henry why he was no longer at NBC and Henry replied that he had a better job. It was hard to imagine that there could be a better job than the one Henry had, so my father’s curiosity moved him to inquire further. Henry’s answer was, “I’m working for Jehovah.” Although my father had a sense of where the conversation was going, he asked, “Who is Jehovah?” Henry knew my father was the son of a rabbi, and so chastised him for asking such a question. At this point, my father wanted to end the conversation and said, “We’ll have to talk about it some time.” Henry replied, “Alright, when?” Outmaneuvered, my father invited Henry for dinner the following Wednesday evening. Henry arrived at about 6:00 p.m., and after a marathon debate, left at approximately 6:00 a.m. the next morning. These all-night sessions continued for the better part of two years. Based on these discussions and my father’s independent research, he became convinced that what Henry was sharing was The Truth.

  My father was baptized, and, close to a year later, so was my mother. News that a former bandleader and his wife who had formerly been a fashion model had become Witnesses spread in the Witness community. Bonnie Boyd Heath included my parents in her list of “Celebrity” Witnesses. Over the years, my parents’ generosity and hospitality earned them many Witness friends including a good number of the leadership, most especially Ted and Melita Jaracz. My father served as an elder for many years. He was quite visible in the Witness community because he conducted the orchestra at the large district conventions in Los Angeles. (Remember how much more of an event those occasions were before the Jaraczic “streamlining”?) My mother survived him by 23 years and was greatly loved and respected.
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  75

  A good friend of mine was df'd this week.

  by wha happened? in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  a good friend of mine was df'd this week.

  he did so much for this organization.

  as an accomplished musician and composer, he has contributed so much over the years.his work is in most of the homes of an avg jw.

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  DNCall

  Thank's, Wha, for this thread and all of you who have contributed to it.

  I will start a new thread, referencing this one, and share my story. I'll attempt to post it under "Friends" because it will go beyond my personal experience and address some general interest topics.

  'til then . . .
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  8

  Anyone remember going to Leimert Theater or the Valley Music Center?

  by Pandoras cat11 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have had tough week with reasons that i will not get into.

  it made me wonder if i could remember anything positive about this religion when i was growing up.

  the only few "happy" memories i can come up with were going to the leimert theater.

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  DNCall

  Hey Fark,

  I worked on a Roger Williams album once. He was a nice guy . . . a good Morman. He worked out of his home and his wife wanted him to have an office so he wouldn't be under foot all the time. He didn't like the idea of an office and since he had always worked out of his house, he simply bought a house across the street and moved his piano there. Problem solved!
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  8

  Anyone remember going to Leimert Theater or the Valley Music Center?

  by Pandoras cat11 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have had tough week with reasons that i will not get into.

  it made me wonder if i could remember anything positive about this religion when i was growing up.

  the only few "happy" memories i can come up with were going to the leimert theater.

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  DNCall

  Hey Gregor,

  You don't mean "Tubby" Coleman do you?
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  33

  RUSSIA deports and bans JW Attorneys

  by skeeter1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  his article was published by f18news on: 23 july 2009. russia: jehovah's witness lawyers deported for defending extremism cases?by geraldine fagan, forum 18 news service <http://www.forum18.org>.

  four lawyers defending jehovah's witnesses have been deported since march, forum 18 news service has learned.

  a leaflet by a traditional mari el pagan priest is among the latest additions to the federal list of extremist materials, meaning it is banned throughout russia.

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  DNCall

  Wow! The King of the North is attacking God's people . . . and right on time!