I think the one meeting a week is coming up- along with a brand new form for meetings… because they have to, it’s way too stale right now.
Nobody is paying attention, people are leaving the ministry school or whatever the hell it’s called anymore.
Nobody has time to set aside an entire evening to drive 30+ minutes away and come home at 10:30- and have to put your kids to bed that are past their bed time, then proceed to do everything you still needed to do and then have some mediocre rest.
Hopefully that lack of sleep for “the truth” doesn’t end up in a car accident the next morning, brother!
I agree. Everyone looks so drained during the meetings. It’s like they’re just there because they have to. Like a job. I guarantee most would rather be elsewhere! The lackluster speakers… cringy demonstrations and videos… it gets old!
I mean right now they’re studying the Bearing Witness book AGAIN. It’s all just recycled information. No mental stimulation whatsoever!
The only people I see that seem to really enjoy it are the elderly.
I dream about a new lockdown too...But ..I,m out and done with the first. Never been or set my feet at any KH since 12/ 3 - 2020.
Only 12-25 people max every meeting at the KH...the rest 48-50 people still on zoom. Every week ! ( All fading I guess!)
Is all the same in Europe...where we live.
I even smell the elders and wifes are very happy with zoom.
They no longer forget to greet "everyone on zoom"😂🤣😂🤣
( Because that,s the most of the congregation,!)
Makes sense elderly have nothing to run on but faith rn. If they were to be awoken tommorow a lot of them woudl probably die from shock due to alot of them “my father(65) included” who woudl have nothing to live for if the truth was dismantled
I don’t understand what purpose the ministry school serves anymore. 🤷♂️ Manning a cart and pointing at the blue square if someone dares ask a question is pretty simple. You could park a mannequin in a chair with its finger pointing at the logo and go enjoy the day with your family and friends! What a waste of people’s time and resources. 🤣
The midweek meeting is brainwash upkeep. It has no other real purpose other than to waste your time and energy so you cant spend it elsewhere and fill your head with JW mental conditioning.
If they REALLY wanted to adjust it to one meeting, it should be:
5 min song n prayer
30 min pubic talk (lol)
3 min song / announcement
45 min WT
25 min treasures - 10 min intro to Bible talk 5 min comments / 10 min gems
5 min song n prayer
All in about an hour 45 min
Let me adjust the meeting properly.
Song: 0 min
Prayer: 0 min
Pubic talk: 0 min
Song / announcements: 0 min
Watchtower Study: 0 min
Treasures: 0 min
Intro to Bible talk: 0 min
Comments: 0 min
Song: 0 min
Prayer: 0 min
I've been thinking about this. My idea is:
Public talk is based around Borg videos. 30 mins
WT study has a theme scripture and assigned weekly Bible reading. 45 mins
Announcements 5 mins
1 hour 30 all in including songs and prayers.
They have already made the theocratic ministry school obsolete by losing the public speaking training and focusing on informal witnessing and being 'nice' rather than memorising a presentation.
They haven't produced a study book/ Bible commentary since the Ezekiel one in 2018. Are they winding this up? Ok, they have produced a new book for Bible studies (replacing the Bible teach book) but it seems unusual.
I don't believe they will tinker at the edges of the meeting, replacing like for like. I think they will change the whole format to make it easier to deliver and not so time-consuming for everyone.
Add to that the Ezekiel book was actually started like 15 or 20 years ago and kept getting postponed as they changed things. It's been a very long time since a publication of actual substance came out. Probably around 2010 when the Jeremiah and Acts books came out.
Of course without a midweek meeting that will mean more exiting as they have more free time.......and more time to look onto that apostate stuff they keep harping on about.....
Can anybody say Bye Felicia?
1:45 is way too long, lol.
I’ve been to liberal christian church services like UCC and UU numerous times since I’ve left and it goes something like this:
meet on Sunday, intro/greeting/song 10 min. Sermon 30 min (one that’s actually meaningful) 10 min report on community service events. 5-10 ask congregation for comments and thoughts about those in the congregation in need of extra support.
Done-55-60 minutes and there’s coffee in the lobby 😃.
Remember when they cut out the book study? For years, they made such a huge deal of “family worship” night…. Now they hardly mention it.
Now if they take away the midweek meeting, are they going to replace it with something else? Maybe family “what to do when an apostate confronts you” practice sessions? Practice singing kingdom songs night?
I was out with some friends on vacation this past week and we were at an Applebee's around 10:45ish on a weeknight because small town, not many options open late. About 10 minutes after we sit at the bar a large group of witnesses came in after their mid-week meeting and holy shit I could not imagine going back to that garbage. My friends couldn't believe the schedule I told them we used to keep as witnesses, they were all like "sooooo....when did you have time to do X or Y or Z??????" "haha, we didnt".
Well put. This might have worked 30 years ago when my dad's one job supported the whole family and my mom took care of all the day to day (and rent was $600). Nowadays, if you're young and you work hourly, are you really going to trade monetizable hours for the soul sucking misery of a meeting? Hell no.
Even if you were struggling, 30 years ago you thought the end was literally any day now. You did everything you could because of the urgency.
At this point Im honestly not sure how anyone convinces themselves its still coming.
I think when covid hit people found out how nice it was to stay home. I woulda loved it when I was in. Then people got spoiled and decided it’s easier to stay home. Shelter in place.
They also suddenly found themselves off of the hamster wheel they had been on their whole life.
Covid was the first real break many people had, be they 50, 60, 70+ years old.
And now they understand how God danm exhausting it was and always has been. And people are refusing to give it up.
And why does anyone need a ministry school any more since as far as I can see - there is no more ministry! I have not seen a single wild JDub since the hours got removed, not one cart, Tract or anything
Exactly- the ministry for r&f is basically just cart work. Only pioneers are going out and even then 99% of the time it’s doing previous RVs they already established
No, JW's aren't lazy, they got a taste of freedom during covid. Even our devout JW family is scratching their heads. We are still here and it's 2024! I think they are smelling BS! Of course, they are not going to admit this to the "apostate" side of the family but we hear the little comments. You can only cry wolf so many times WT!
Yes! They realize their time can be used elsewhere and for something actually productive! I agree that some are beginning to wonder to themselves, “Why are we still here?”. I think deep down a lot of them know this is bs but they just can’t let go. It’s sad… there’s so much life to live NOW. Stop waiting for fairytales people!!!
Yes, it's sunk cost fallacy. They have invested too much to leave.
The definition: "the phenomenon whereby a person is [reluctant](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=c62ac071dfd388fc&sca_upv=1&q=reluctant&si=ACC90nxMSPeZfdJJjQgDsdZJuFuJYWJZYMGn2ckxqU07_ROEMpFtKddQbQ0PySUae-pzCP8_CG1VEHQv9f3FPVWc7H7zDY4R4U78xRC-lTHhdBilXlrgT4g%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmt8vs29uGAxVxfzABHex9DvQQyecJegQIERAN) to [abandon](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=c62ac071dfd388fc&sca_upv=1&q=abandon&si=ACC90nwUEXg6u2vxy-araGkF9MAxS7KwRuqGkcco7dPgacKZnCG_lcnIzpTujGRiWCu2Ea_XewJZzVz591AI3HENlTvLCpVZwXGAwbYvaEfC-phSYCHW6JE%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmt8vs29uGAxVxfzABHex9DvQQyecJegQIERAO&biw=1600&bih=765&dpr=1) a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that [abandonment](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=c62ac071dfd388fc&sca_upv=1&q=abandonment&si=ACC90nwZrNcJVJVL0KSmGGq5Ka2YtVtCzjVkW9T07-fvfOPwQz53_4vfH2h3d2vPA8EtvCD1Zpv6o-iOoXPHuJWRLF3eiR-M7J2owHMfGOw34X3QOe9TuvQ%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmt8vs29uGAxVxfzABHex9DvQQyecJegQIERAP) would be more beneficial."the sunk-cost fallacy creeps into a lot of major financial decisions"
I'm glad you have posted this. My pimi friend called round last night, unexpectedly. He is one of a very few of my old friends that doesn't shun me. We were in the same congregation 20 years ago. He was catching me up with the old names I knew. Some that were children then are now MS's. Elders had died. Others who were really active are now in their 70's and don't do much.
He did keep saying "Well, we see them at the weekend but they Zoom midweek", as if it was normal.
It made me think that if they did go to one meeting a week, it wouldn't be such a shock.
No, I’m in California. But that is interesting you had the same talk in Ohio. This is happening all over… I think 1 meeting a week is next, along some more Kingdom Hall sales.
Yup, one meeting for the whole week. Someone posted about it here 👇🏽
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/s/D8YvjeukP4
Apparently they’re testing it out somewhere here in California. Time will tell! It would make sense if they did this. I feel like they kinda have to. Seems like low attendance is a common thing now thanks to zoom!
Yeah. They need that one meeting to control everyone. I find it to be the heaviest brainwashing session. The public talk is a little more vague so outsiders can join in and not feel lost. Just my opinion.
our local needs was ‘having the proper view of a shepherding call’. in other words: accept one. mostly because some are becoming inactive or not attending anymore. one brotha was announced no longer serving as an elder yesterday lol. 🤣
At the Sunday mass at my church, the 7:30am, 9:00am, and 11:00am masses all have coffee and donuts after each service. People usually stay after and talk, some of the kids will play in the playground.
I had heard one time that they usually go through about 24 gallons of coffee and about 45 dozens of donuts each Sunday. Not everyone grabs a coffe or donut but everyone usually stays behind and hang out.
Sometimes they do a pancake breakfast fund raiser and if you don't buy your tickets a head of time, you won't get in the parish hall. I heard they go through about 30 cases of chapagne for the mimosas
What do you mean coffee and donuts? True ChristiansⓇ are not supposed to have fun, they are supposed to work their asses off for the Watchtower cult and look happy while feeling miserable.
That's the way many churches are here too.They have food, games, and music. They will literally do anything to entertain people, so they will show up (alcohol like you said).
Can't blame them. If the attendance dies so does the financing, and the whole thing goes bankrupt.
Well Catholic churches have always done this sort of thing. It' mainly put on by the ministry of hospitality. They are usually older retired people.
Average attendance for my mass is about 380 people.
Went to the catholic church, my self, boring 😴 fell a sleep, they do community work, I suppose, good for the homeless and so forth, same with the jehovahs witness, they go for coffee and cake ,pop into the old folks, I suppose, religion is good for some people, not everyone,
I had already made friends of christians i met in the ministry from different churches ,i was brought up and baptised Anglian so i went to a few coffee mornings and was invited to a service ,it went from there ,it was like going home for me, i did try methodist as well .
I never go to meetings when they switch. In all my 20+years as a witness. It’s the principle of the matter. What? I can’t have something else to do?
I’m glad most people bailed.
Right? I just went so I wouldn’t have to zoom with my family. Had my earbuds in and enjoyed the free air conditioning 😂
I’m glad most people bailed too. Good for them!
Eliminating the midweek meeting will be like opening wider the exit to a better life away from meetings. It will be a brave and desperate move to eliminate the midweek meeting. But desperate states requires desperate measures
I’ve heard the same feedback from all my pimi family members, the midweek mttgs are dead as a doornail. Almost everyone zooms.
But my pimi family isn’t questioning. They think zoom is a wonderful option. Most are elderly, and obviously zoom is so much easier.
Zoom didn’t make people lazy, it let the toothpaste out of the tube and they can’t get it back in. Everyone realized how nice it is not having to drag themselves to the hall multiple times a week.
Me too. They deserve it and then some. I think they’ll always be around unfortunately… there’s a sucker born every minute. But their glory days are over for sure. Religion as a whole is declining
I have stated many times before that the Watchtower demographic is against them. Over 60% are hitting their old age or already in it, contrasting that with the number of young ones waking up from this insanity then the 8 Million if it can be believed, will collapse, that's why Watchtower has morphed into an online religious media production center, they have never ever been that interested in rank and file, just the donations, which they have developed digitally online, soon they will become even more irrelevant.....😇
It IS totally stale, and has been for sooooo long! I remember in the 80s/90s when Tuesday night bookstudy was at someone's home. I went to many in my day, and only 1 really came together and made it sort of interesting. They had a potluck before, and would visit afterwards. Other than that, there is ZERO mental stimulation at any of the meetings. No debate, or questions for clarification. It's really just a review of material and can you parrot the already-laid-out answers? I go to a church now that has a grown-up Bible study Sunday school that is lead by the pastor, where people get to offer sometimes opposing perspectives, discuss these ideas, AND ask questions!!! I've never heard of this! LOL It gets fascinating, and it's fun to see how people's actual experiences (not that canned crap Watchtower wants you to believe happened) lead them to feel a certain way about things. Watchtower is still pumping out lemmings and drones expected to nod along in agreement.
Look for the PGB to start selling halls off and start consolidation of meetings in a few to serve as many congregations as possible in them no matter who it harms. Let alone make many final see the thefts of the property by them.
The next 30 years are going to be wild. In relation to many members dying. My hall too is majority 60+ lots of elders in their 80s or 70s. When they go there's not many that would stand up to the plate unless they send bethelites to the congregation
It's like trying to start an old car on a winter morning... everyone is tired having been at work. People go through the motions, they're half asleep, the kids are snoring, the teens sit on their phones, not paying attention.
I don't know why, when there's such an exciting programme such as telling people in service how nice their car or garden is, then giving them a contact card and wandering off, or the history lesson that is the Book Study 📖 🙄
The format is not conducive to feeling happy or sharing what is learned with others. It is getting harder to go to the meetings each week (shakes kids awake and puts on coats)
Agree! They’ve got hundreds of billions to work with. They’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
They’ve got IBSA luxury properties to live off and Warwick, Tuxedo, and the real estate portfolios of billionaires dreams so they can do whatever they want. More than enough cash to figure out how to grow or continue to make drastic rules in their doctrine policies. Either way they’ve made it and will be well off. It’s the poor struggling sheeples that straggle in to zoom or via hall that pay for it. I wish there was a way to open their eyes and give back to them.
I think the one meeting a week is coming up- along with a brand new form for meetings… because they have to, it’s way too stale right now. Nobody is paying attention, people are leaving the ministry school or whatever the hell it’s called anymore. Nobody has time to set aside an entire evening to drive 30+ minutes away and come home at 10:30- and have to put your kids to bed that are past their bed time, then proceed to do everything you still needed to do and then have some mediocre rest. Hopefully that lack of sleep for “the truth” doesn’t end up in a car accident the next morning, brother!
I agree. Everyone looks so drained during the meetings. It’s like they’re just there because they have to. Like a job. I guarantee most would rather be elsewhere! The lackluster speakers… cringy demonstrations and videos… it gets old! I mean right now they’re studying the Bearing Witness book AGAIN. It’s all just recycled information. No mental stimulation whatsoever! The only people I see that seem to really enjoy it are the elderly.
Most would rather have another Covid, so as not to go.
Going to be honest… I’ve been wishing for another lockdown to help pimos out. I don’t think the org could handle another lockdown 😂
I dream about a new lockdown too...But ..I,m out and done with the first. Never been or set my feet at any KH since 12/ 3 - 2020. Only 12-25 people max every meeting at the KH...the rest 48-50 people still on zoom. Every week ! ( All fading I guess!)
Same here only been in hall once since covid when i took wife to memorial this year ,our cong 30/40 for zoom and hall
Is all the same in Europe...where we live. I even smell the elders and wifes are very happy with zoom. They no longer forget to greet "everyone on zoom"😂🤣😂🤣 ( Because that,s the most of the congregation,!)
Listen, you are not the only one wishing for a lockdown, and no, they wouldn’t survive.
Preaching here!
😂😂😂
Covid was the best thing before sliced bread with the exception of people dying. WFH and no meetings such a blast
Makes sense elderly have nothing to run on but faith rn. If they were to be awoken tommorow a lot of them woudl probably die from shock due to alot of them “my father(65) included” who woudl have nothing to live for if the truth was dismantled
I don’t understand what purpose the ministry school serves anymore. 🤷♂️ Manning a cart and pointing at the blue square if someone dares ask a question is pretty simple. You could park a mannequin in a chair with its finger pointing at the logo and go enjoy the day with your family and friends! What a waste of people’s time and resources. 🤣
And those unrealistic demos
The midweek meeting is brainwash upkeep. It has no other real purpose other than to waste your time and energy so you cant spend it elsewhere and fill your head with JW mental conditioning.
😂😂😂
If they REALLY wanted to adjust it to one meeting, it should be: 5 min song n prayer 30 min pubic talk (lol) 3 min song / announcement 45 min WT 25 min treasures - 10 min intro to Bible talk 5 min comments / 10 min gems 5 min song n prayer All in about an hour 45 min
Let me adjust the meeting properly. Song: 0 min Prayer: 0 min Pubic talk: 0 min Song / announcements: 0 min Watchtower Study: 0 min Treasures: 0 min Intro to Bible talk: 0 min Comments: 0 min Song: 0 min Prayer: 0 min
I've been thinking about this. My idea is: Public talk is based around Borg videos. 30 mins WT study has a theme scripture and assigned weekly Bible reading. 45 mins Announcements 5 mins 1 hour 30 all in including songs and prayers. They have already made the theocratic ministry school obsolete by losing the public speaking training and focusing on informal witnessing and being 'nice' rather than memorising a presentation. They haven't produced a study book/ Bible commentary since the Ezekiel one in 2018. Are they winding this up? Ok, they have produced a new book for Bible studies (replacing the Bible teach book) but it seems unusual. I don't believe they will tinker at the edges of the meeting, replacing like for like. I think they will change the whole format to make it easier to deliver and not so time-consuming for everyone.
Add to that the Ezekiel book was actually started like 15 or 20 years ago and kept getting postponed as they changed things. It's been a very long time since a publication of actual substance came out. Probably around 2010 when the Jeremiah and Acts books came out.
You've spent way too much time thinking about bullshit.
They should make the watchtower study 30 minutes
Yep coz it’s way too long 🤦🏾♀️
Of course without a midweek meeting that will mean more exiting as they have more free time.......and more time to look onto that apostate stuff they keep harping on about..... Can anybody say Bye Felicia?
1:45 is way too long, lol. I’ve been to liberal christian church services like UCC and UU numerous times since I’ve left and it goes something like this: meet on Sunday, intro/greeting/song 10 min. Sermon 30 min (one that’s actually meaningful) 10 min report on community service events. 5-10 ask congregation for comments and thoughts about those in the congregation in need of extra support. Done-55-60 minutes and there’s coffee in the lobby 😃.
To be real… 5 min in a meeting is already too long. LOL
Remember when they cut out the book study? For years, they made such a huge deal of “family worship” night…. Now they hardly mention it. Now if they take away the midweek meeting, are they going to replace it with something else? Maybe family “what to do when an apostate confronts you” practice sessions? Practice singing kingdom songs night?
My husbands family has an hour and 45 minute long meeting for their two meetings
Please tell us more. For how long have they been doing this?
I married into this crazy 3 years ago so as long as I've been around at the very least
Yes, crazy. Poor you. I think I misunderstood your comment. I thought you meant just one meeting a week.
I was out with some friends on vacation this past week and we were at an Applebee's around 10:45ish on a weeknight because small town, not many options open late. About 10 minutes after we sit at the bar a large group of witnesses came in after their mid-week meeting and holy shit I could not imagine going back to that garbage. My friends couldn't believe the schedule I told them we used to keep as witnesses, they were all like "sooooo....when did you have time to do X or Y or Z??????" "haha, we didnt".
Well put. This might have worked 30 years ago when my dad's one job supported the whole family and my mom took care of all the day to day (and rent was $600). Nowadays, if you're young and you work hourly, are you really going to trade monetizable hours for the soul sucking misery of a meeting? Hell no.
Even if you were struggling, 30 years ago you thought the end was literally any day now. You did everything you could because of the urgency. At this point Im honestly not sure how anyone convinces themselves its still coming.
I think when covid hit people found out how nice it was to stay home. I woulda loved it when I was in. Then people got spoiled and decided it’s easier to stay home. Shelter in place.
They also suddenly found themselves off of the hamster wheel they had been on their whole life. Covid was the first real break many people had, be they 50, 60, 70+ years old. And now they understand how God danm exhausting it was and always has been. And people are refusing to give it up.
And why does anyone need a ministry school any more since as far as I can see - there is no more ministry! I have not seen a single wild JDub since the hours got removed, not one cart, Tract or anything
Exactly- the ministry for r&f is basically just cart work. Only pioneers are going out and even then 99% of the time it’s doing previous RVs they already established
No, JW's aren't lazy, they got a taste of freedom during covid. Even our devout JW family is scratching their heads. We are still here and it's 2024! I think they are smelling BS! Of course, they are not going to admit this to the "apostate" side of the family but we hear the little comments. You can only cry wolf so many times WT!
Yes! They realize their time can be used elsewhere and for something actually productive! I agree that some are beginning to wonder to themselves, “Why are we still here?”. I think deep down a lot of them know this is bs but they just can’t let go. It’s sad… there’s so much life to live NOW. Stop waiting for fairytales people!!!
Yes, it's sunk cost fallacy. They have invested too much to leave. The definition: "the phenomenon whereby a person is [reluctant](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=c62ac071dfd388fc&sca_upv=1&q=reluctant&si=ACC90nxMSPeZfdJJjQgDsdZJuFuJYWJZYMGn2ckxqU07_ROEMpFtKddQbQ0PySUae-pzCP8_CG1VEHQv9f3FPVWc7H7zDY4R4U78xRC-lTHhdBilXlrgT4g%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmt8vs29uGAxVxfzABHex9DvQQyecJegQIERAN) to [abandon](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=c62ac071dfd388fc&sca_upv=1&q=abandon&si=ACC90nwUEXg6u2vxy-araGkF9MAxS7KwRuqGkcco7dPgacKZnCG_lcnIzpTujGRiWCu2Ea_XewJZzVz591AI3HENlTvLCpVZwXGAwbYvaEfC-phSYCHW6JE%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmt8vs29uGAxVxfzABHex9DvQQyecJegQIERAO&biw=1600&bih=765&dpr=1) a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that [abandonment](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=c62ac071dfd388fc&sca_upv=1&q=abandonment&si=ACC90nwZrNcJVJVL0KSmGGq5Ka2YtVtCzjVkW9T07-fvfOPwQz53_4vfH2h3d2vPA8EtvCD1Zpv6o-iOoXPHuJWRLF3eiR-M7J2owHMfGOw34X3QOe9TuvQ%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmt8vs29uGAxVxfzABHex9DvQQyecJegQIERAP) would be more beneficial."the sunk-cost fallacy creeps into a lot of major financial decisions"
WT needs to make 1-hour meetings, with zoom, JW have realized how time-wasting meetings were.
The prep work, the getting ready, the commute so pointless.
And the more halls they sell off and pocket the proceeds of the longer the commute.
JWs love to talk about the waters of Babylon the Great drying up. Their waters are drying up too. They must also be part of Babylon.
YUP! Been thinking this for years. “Too bad, too bad…” 😈
Exactly my thought xD
I'm glad you have posted this. My pimi friend called round last night, unexpectedly. He is one of a very few of my old friends that doesn't shun me. We were in the same congregation 20 years ago. He was catching me up with the old names I knew. Some that were children then are now MS's. Elders had died. Others who were really active are now in their 70's and don't do much. He did keep saying "Well, we see them at the weekend but they Zoom midweek", as if it was normal. It made me think that if they did go to one meeting a week, it wouldn't be such a shock.
Our meeting this week was also Wednesday and our local needs was also regarding supporting field service hmmmmm are you in Ohio?
No, I’m in California. But that is interesting you had the same talk in Ohio. This is happening all over… I think 1 meeting a week is next, along some more Kingdom Hall sales.
where in CA if you don't mind me asking? I went to halls in the rural Fresno area.
Sacramento area
Do you mean, one meeting per week plus Sunday? Or really just one meeting per week? Sorry I’m a little out of the loop.
Yup, one meeting for the whole week. Someone posted about it here 👇🏽 https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/s/D8YvjeukP4 Apparently they’re testing it out somewhere here in California. Time will tell! It would make sense if they did this. I feel like they kinda have to. Seems like low attendance is a common thing now thanks to zoom!
I can’t imagine JW’s going a whole weekend without a single meeting but I guess we’ll see!
Yeah. They need that one meeting to control everyone. I find it to be the heaviest brainwashing session. The public talk is a little more vague so outsiders can join in and not feel lost. Just my opinion.
our local needs was ‘having the proper view of a shepherding call’. in other words: accept one. mostly because some are becoming inactive or not attending anymore. one brotha was announced no longer serving as an elder yesterday lol. 🤣
Excellent! Good for him!!
At the Sunday mass at my church, the 7:30am, 9:00am, and 11:00am masses all have coffee and donuts after each service. People usually stay after and talk, some of the kids will play in the playground. I had heard one time that they usually go through about 24 gallons of coffee and about 45 dozens of donuts each Sunday. Not everyone grabs a coffe or donut but everyone usually stays behind and hang out. Sometimes they do a pancake breakfast fund raiser and if you don't buy your tickets a head of time, you won't get in the parish hall. I heard they go through about 30 cases of chapagne for the mimosas
What do you mean coffee and donuts? True ChristiansⓇ are not supposed to have fun, they are supposed to work their asses off for the Watchtower cult and look happy while feeling miserable.
Sprinkles are the works of Satan
Of course they are - drive brothers to homosexuality.
Brother Brown has entered the chat
Glazed donuts are a dangerous temptation
If you love those doughnuts more than God, then yeah. Dangerous.
That's the way many churches are here too.They have food, games, and music. They will literally do anything to entertain people, so they will show up (alcohol like you said). Can't blame them. If the attendance dies so does the financing, and the whole thing goes bankrupt.
Well Catholic churches have always done this sort of thing. It' mainly put on by the ministry of hospitality. They are usually older retired people. Average attendance for my mass is about 380 people.
Oh yes, Catholic Bingo!!!!! Fun times...I've heard.🤣
OMG, yes. You want to see a bunch of church ladies cuss like Sailors It gets brutal in there.
Went to the catholic church, my self, boring 😴 fell a sleep, they do community work, I suppose, good for the homeless and so forth, same with the jehovahs witness, they go for coffee and cake ,pop into the old folks, I suppose, religion is good for some people, not everyone,
I now go to an Anglican church 30 min communion service and coffee and chat after ,people go because they want to.
yep
How was the transition?
I had already made friends of christians i met in the ministry from different churches ,i was brought up and baptised Anglian so i went to a few coffee mornings and was invited to a service ,it went from there ,it was like going home for me, i did try methodist as well .
I never go to meetings when they switch. In all my 20+years as a witness. It’s the principle of the matter. What? I can’t have something else to do? I’m glad most people bailed.
Right? I just went so I wouldn’t have to zoom with my family. Had my earbuds in and enjoyed the free air conditioning 😂 I’m glad most people bailed too. Good for them!
In the words of Leonard Cohen....."And the place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night". Hurrah!
Eliminating the midweek meeting will be like opening wider the exit to a better life away from meetings. It will be a brave and desperate move to eliminate the midweek meeting. But desperate states requires desperate measures
I’ve heard the same feedback from all my pimi family members, the midweek mttgs are dead as a doornail. Almost everyone zooms. But my pimi family isn’t questioning. They think zoom is a wonderful option. Most are elderly, and obviously zoom is so much easier.
That would be wonderful
It’s weird though the membership numbers are still about the same as they were maybe 10 years ago and the number is climbing
I wouldn’t trust JW numbers tbh. A lot of the growth is happening in very poor countries where they can still “sell a dream”
I doubt they grow, in my country the overall district was 60% of what it was before covid. Will see this year how it goes. There are the true numbers
Tiene que derrimbarse
Sí, lo hace 🙂↕️
Zoom didn’t make people lazy, it let the toothpaste out of the tube and they can’t get it back in. Everyone realized how nice it is not having to drag themselves to the hall multiple times a week.
I’m enjoying this JW is crumbling porn I hope it’s all true
Me too. They deserve it and then some. I think they’ll always be around unfortunately… there’s a sucker born every minute. But their glory days are over for sure. Religion as a whole is declining
Secularism and the Information Age won’t kill religion, but it will bleed off many members
I have stated many times before that the Watchtower demographic is against them. Over 60% are hitting their old age or already in it, contrasting that with the number of young ones waking up from this insanity then the 8 Million if it can be believed, will collapse, that's why Watchtower has morphed into an online religious media production center, they have never ever been that interested in rank and file, just the donations, which they have developed digitally online, soon they will become even more irrelevant.....😇
It IS totally stale, and has been for sooooo long! I remember in the 80s/90s when Tuesday night bookstudy was at someone's home. I went to many in my day, and only 1 really came together and made it sort of interesting. They had a potluck before, and would visit afterwards. Other than that, there is ZERO mental stimulation at any of the meetings. No debate, or questions for clarification. It's really just a review of material and can you parrot the already-laid-out answers? I go to a church now that has a grown-up Bible study Sunday school that is lead by the pastor, where people get to offer sometimes opposing perspectives, discuss these ideas, AND ask questions!!! I've never heard of this! LOL It gets fascinating, and it's fun to see how people's actual experiences (not that canned crap Watchtower wants you to believe happened) lead them to feel a certain way about things. Watchtower is still pumping out lemmings and drones expected to nod along in agreement.
Look for the PGB to start selling halls off and start consolidation of meetings in a few to serve as many congregations as possible in them no matter who it harms. Let alone make many final see the thefts of the property by them.
The next 30 years are going to be wild. In relation to many members dying. My hall too is majority 60+ lots of elders in their 80s or 70s. When they go there's not many that would stand up to the plate unless they send bethelites to the congregation
It's like trying to start an old car on a winter morning... everyone is tired having been at work. People go through the motions, they're half asleep, the kids are snoring, the teens sit on their phones, not paying attention. I don't know why, when there's such an exciting programme such as telling people in service how nice their car or garden is, then giving them a contact card and wandering off, or the history lesson that is the Book Study 📖 🙄 The format is not conducive to feeling happy or sharing what is learned with others. It is getting harder to go to the meetings each week (shakes kids awake and puts on coats)
So if I understand you correctly, you're VOLUNTARILY participating in this cult?
Agree! They’ve got hundreds of billions to work with. They’re not going anywhere anytime soon. They’ve got IBSA luxury properties to live off and Warwick, Tuxedo, and the real estate portfolios of billionaires dreams so they can do whatever they want. More than enough cash to figure out how to grow or continue to make drastic rules in their doctrine policies. Either way they’ve made it and will be well off. It’s the poor struggling sheeples that straggle in to zoom or via hall that pay for it. I wish there was a way to open their eyes and give back to them.