8 Shocking Secrets From JW Elders' Handbook

[Music] elders in the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses are provided with a book of instructions on how to handle certain matters within the congregation especially what is called judicial matters meaning sins that may warrant their counsel this book also instructs them on the appointment of new elders what to do in cases of a natural disaster and so on the book is called shepherd the flock of God it is super secret it is for the eyes of the elders only I have a copy myself this is the age of the internet nothing is secret considered just some of the most surprising information inside some of which I've discussed in other posts and I will leave links to those but these are eight of the biggest shocks that I found when going through this book myself I will leave a link to a post where I talked about how elders can actually cover over their own serious sins the post talks about how elders who committed serious sins quote a few years ago as long as they have some vague sign of God's blessing can continue to be elders with no sanctions again I have talked about how married women have no rights to confidentiality but the elders don't reveal details when a man has committed adultery and has confessed to the elders I will leave a link to a post where I talk about that elders are instructed to preserve the confidentiality of cheating men whereas married women are not allowed to even meet with the elders without their husbands present consider part of a letter that announced this new version of this book when it was distributed that letter said quote we would like to emphasize the importance of keeping these new textbooks secured and confidential the textbook should not be left on tops of desks or in other places where they are easily accessible by family members or other individuals other individuals should not have any opportunity to read the information and quote so it's not enough to simply tell your family that it's confidential you need to avoid leaving it where it may be easily accessible don't even give anyone the opportunity to read the information because after all their promise to leave it alone that means nothing Trust is non-existent in a Christian household consider part of a letter that was sent to elders after the release of the book it said quote since the release of the new shepherding textbook several elders have asked about the possibility of having their textbook spiral-bound if he has another baptized brother who was not an elder do the work for him the elder must watch while the work is being done outside companies unbelievers or sisters meaning female Jehovah's Witnesses are not permitted to do this work the material in the book is confidential and confidentiality must be preserved end quote remember that these women the men who aren't elders and the families that we just talked about they are all also Jehovah's Witnesses they were all provided the same Bible as everyone else now nowhere in the bible does it say that only elders are ones with oversight in the congregation should have special information that's not given to other people but for some reason this book written by imperfect men that is kept secret from everyone in the congregation if God thought his words were good enough for every lowly member of the congregation why wouldn't the words of men be good enough for everyone else to save for those unfamiliar with this process a person is disfellowshipped which is their word for excommunicated when they commit what is considered a serious sin and this happens after a judicial committee of at least three elders after that committee meets with this person and determines that he or she does not appear to be repentant now this disfellowshipping is no light matter because it involves a very severe form of shunning even from a person's own family when it's decided that someone should be disfellowshipped they can appeal this decision they then meet with a new committee of men from a nearby congregation who will review their case if this new committee decides that the disfellowshipping decision if it should stand the book says quote when the disfellowshipping is upheld there is no further arrangement for appeal however if an individual persists in believing a serious error in judgment has occurred the appeal committee should inform him that he may submit his allegations in writing to the appeal committee within seven days for transmittal to the branch office let me digress the branch office is like a little mini headquarters the appeal committee should not mention this provision unless the individual indicates that he believes a serious error in judgment has occurred end quote so if this appeals committee agrees to the disfellowshipping they don't tell the person that they can contact the branch office unless that person indicates that they think that there has been a mistake made so a person in this situation may accept the decision of the appeals committee just because they assume their appeals are exhausted so I would need to ask the purpose of keeping this option quiet is the branch just too busy to worry about these local matters we're talking about something that impacts a person's entire life their relationship with the Christian congregation with their family what is more important than that in the section of the book that covers the evidence needed to establish wrongdoing it says quote confession admission of wrongdoing either written or oral may be accepted as conclusive proof without other corroborating evidence there must be two witnesses to a confession and the confession must be clear and unambiguous for example a statement from a married Christian that his mate is scripturally free would not by itself be viewed as a clear confession of adultery end quote now the book does say that someone who's one of Jehovah's Witnesses and their spouse has confessed to adultery they may write a letter to the elders explaining why they feel the confession is valid but the elders need to still consider if they the elders believe the confession to be genuine now I will agree that some offhand flippant statement it's not always the same as a real confession I get that but saying that there must be two witnesses to an otherwise believable confession that's outright ridiculous I have also heard of cases where the elders have told women that they're unfaithful husbands verbal confession was not good enough sometimes even after he's left the home this begs the questions what else do they need and who are they to determine if a confession is sincere in genuine if a woman or a man of course says that a spouse confessed to adultery I can understand wanting to call up the spouse confirm what they say but if the person doesn't talk to them what else is there the book does say that elders may leave it up to the innocent spouse to decide if the confession is enough but again there have been many cases where elders have made this decision solves this innocent mate is then left in sort of a marital limbo they are not free to remarry unless adultery has been proven and elders elders accept the evidence of that adultery you page 9 of the handbook says quote to be an effective elder you must care for Jehovah's precious sheep in the same way that he does with loving-kindness impartiality and merciful judgment and quote I realized that elders may need to sometimes judge situations or circumstances that arise and determine if someone may deserve disfellowshipping or shunning but they are in no position to judge people themselves the paragraph right before this one says plainly that elders quote cannot read the hearts which means they cannot properly judge anyone keep in mind that outside attitudes and actions are not always a good indication of what is in someone's heart and remember to elders are obscenely imperfect they can be prone to self-righteousness shortsightedness misogyny the love of power and on the other side of the coin maybe they downplay certain sins or become a bit too complacent about things the other thing about the statement that bothers me is that the Bible at John 5:22 says that God has entrusted the judging to his son not to local elders you according to the book when judicial committees meet and they determined that someone will be disfellowshipped they excuse that person before saying a closing prayer among themselves when a disfellowshipped person asks to be reinstated the committee will say a prayer before that person arrives for their meeting if they do decide to reinstate the person they can then say a prayer with that person present after that decision has been made this is confounding to me disfellowship people are not allowed to participate in religious services in their preaching work but prayer if the goal is to reestablish this person's relationship with Jehovah and then bring him or her back into the fold wouldn't prayer be necessary and even advised the general thinking with Jehovah's Witnesses is that disfellowshipped ones have willfully turned their backs on God so they are in essence dead to him but again we're back to the point about judging someone they are not physically dead yet so I would think elders especially would want to do everything possible to bring them back the Scriptures do say not to greet such a person or eat with them but this advice to not greet them and what not is so that their conduct this disfellowshipped one doesn't influence you how can praying with them as elders in these committee meetings be damaging to the elders to the ones who are supposed to be their spiritual Shepherds so these are the eight most confounding and even just a little bit shocking things I found in the book when you think about how insulting these procedures are to women to the families of elders to those who are disfellowshipped when you see how it gives special treatment to men to elders in the Congress Gatien maybe it's no wonder that they prefer to keep it secret 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Length: 14min 16sec (856 seconds)

Published: Tue May 08 2018