I last wrote in this blog in 2017! Gosh, time does fly when you’re having fun, and I guess I had said what I wanted to say at the time. There has been loads I could have written about, I frequently catch myself reflecting on how my thinking has changed over time, it is good to recognise the change and growth over the JW think that still inhabits the nooks and crannies of my brain. If you think leaving a cult means that’s it – nope, the indoctrination is a gift that keeps on giving, long after you left. I found I just didn’t have the time to even write, or the inclination to write, so between those two things, five years has gone by!
Something about cake and tea really made me think this week. Each Sunday, except Café Church when refreshments are collected before the service starts, we have coffee and tea afterwards to talk and check in on each other. It is such a staple to a Sunday that I got used to it and didn’t really think about it very much. Why do we have tea an coffee and biscuit/cake after the service anyway? That led to me think about how JW’s deliberately do not do this.
The only time the JW had cake and tea was when the ‘Book Study’ was being held in people’s homes several years ago now. One each month there was cake and tea and each brother and sister (that what we called each other, Brother Smith, and Sister Green and so on) would bring something along and we would all share together. It was something we all looked forward to, a small social occasion and afterwards all the sisters would be in the kitchen cleaning up, washing and drying and chatting up a storm. Cake and Tea could run a bit long and we usually got home late those nights.
Then came a big change from the top (the Governing Body) who decided we would have no more Book studies in brother’s homes. It was too much travelling time for the brothers, and we all needed to help save fuel etc. Our three meetings a week got cut down to two, and the Book Study was included in the School and Service meeting (the old name it was referred to – I don’t even know what it is called now, the Theocratic Ministry School was discontinued as well as far as I know). No more cake and tea at all. There was disappointment about that, but as usual we don’t grumble as that would be wrong and ungrateful. I know I missed those opportunities to socialise. Kingdom Hall’s are not built with kitchens so its just something JW’s don’t do.
My question is – Christians seems to do this cake and tea, getting together to eat and socialise thing as a matter of course (as it should be!) and JW’s do the exact opposite. It’s not like JW’s never get together and socialise, they do – they call them gatherings but it’s always up to the individual to organise these things, a gathering is not held inside a Kingdom Hall in case there is bad behaviour in a sacred space.
My thoughts – The Governing Body doesn’t want ‘Theocratic’ time used for fun. They are scared that if brothers and sisters spend too much time just socialising, they’ll lose their urgency as Armageddon is right around the corner. They don’t want them to form too close an attachment to the people in their congregations as in a blink they may need to cut them off as dead if they get removed from the congregation. I’d need to chew over this for longer to form a more coherent answer, so I’m hoping that others may have some insight into this. What do you all think?
Handy glossary to understand me 😊
Kingdom Hall – The building where JW’s hold their meetings.
Meetings – The scheduled time for Talks and Study
Talks – Sermons
Gathering – a party
Theocratic Ministry School – a discontinued meeting where brothers and sisters learn to speak in public, conduct bible studies and preach to their neighbours.
Governing Body – The ones who decide the doctrine and rules for JWs.
We Chose Freedom 