Age for Elders

Haha! The 21yr old elders might very well all be smoking pot together once they've got their copy of the "Shepherd the Flock of God" book. And, when they read how watching child pornography is not considered to be CSA from a congregation standpoint but the person would still need to be counselled, that knowledge is going to screw up their young and immature minds.. 😱
I am concerned about the effect the Shepherd the Flock book could have on young developing me minds
 
I do think they are morphing into something more akin to the Mormons.
That's being too generous. I've known some pretty good mormons. At least the mormons have a food pantry. Modern JWs rely on the organization for everything. It's kind of disgusting.

 
Appointing a child to a position of an elder and sitting in on serious issues and they have no life experience is tantamount to child abuse. Their conscience will be damaged for years to come..It also proves the GB don't read their Bible or they would know better..
The WT has child abuse, mental abuse, down to a science..Maybe I have witnessed too much, to many of those meetings I've sat through.. I don't believe they , the governing body, even believe Jehovah exists, certainly don't fear Him. Certainly there is no love there for the ones being tried..They ruined my sisters life by wrongfully disfellowshipping her at 15..She told me what they said and the questions were shocking. Just like in Isaiah said they made a pack with death..
 
We have already had a visit from an elder and his newly appointed twenty something son. [On the day he and his fleshly brother were appointed, two older elders resigned]. They came to encourage us to get to the meetings instead of zoom. I gave him a hug.
Elders should be older men.
 
In military school they said at 19 you are a 1 year old adult. I liked that because it emphasizes the transition into the next phase of life
Jahrule - That’s the first and only statement of wisdom I have ever heard uttered about the military.

As for watchtower appointing 18 year old babies as elders: Spirituality is not something someone possesses at a young age as it’s a state of mind, not of experience. It’s neither of experience either, but of understanding wisdom. Watchtower mistakes conformity for maturity, because their motive is control. They refer to themselves as slaves and indeed, they both promote and reward their own slaves for doing as they are told. Thus another army quotation: “You are not paid to think. If you need to think we put a stripe on your arm and pay you for it.” (Or don’t pay you for it if you’re a JW).

On the other hand, the fruit of (mature) love, were it promoted and understood, is freedom and joy in service to Jehovah and that is engendered through insight and understanding of the spirit of love. So what exactly is the Spirit? Far be-it from me to own that knowledge, but what I sense within myself is that it is the living principle upon which the entire creation is founded. It is the only principle that demands one’s life to preserve it, because without it, there cannot be the establishment of the true expression of unity in living together for the benefit of all. Thus the encapsulation of the meaning of the word “love”. Perhaps this is why Jehovah stated that to disregard that principle would result in death because the realisation in the sense of love for all things is the sole principle in which eternity can be tolerated, expanded, and enjoyed by all. It is a positive entanglement that binds everyone to the same principle as a guiding, inwardly experienced desire to live peaceably in a sense of joy and reciprocation of that joy - love in living. One does not need or require instruction for that. It is the soul of our existence - it requires development though.

Maybe then that is the motive of our existence (I don’t claim to know) but what then of the engendering of love within ourselves as the expression of conformity to that principle? We must ask ourselves what the inward price is of our love for righteousness toward all. We are stunted really in our language vocabulary to express this adequately because is an ethereal value toward one another and our creator. An attachment that is both protective and jealous (as Jehovah points out of Himself) - it is after all, right to be jealous of such an attribute to protect both its application and meaning - and needs at all times to be experienced to be of value. Is this not how we feel towards our spouse for example? It is probably wisdom to leave the issue there because at such a point, the expression of love passes into the motivation of the heart and only Jehovah can see into that heartfelt degree of purity within our experience of the gift of life that He has given us. But we know it’s there, do we not? And it is an expression of that, that by degrees is and would be offered to all living people. The Bible points to these “different” forms of love, but it springs from the very same principle. And thus, these are the elements of expressive love that inwardly and outwardly we must develop in recognition of our service and understanding of the attributes of Jehovah and to one another.
 
Appointing a child to a position of an elder and sitting in on serious issues and they have no life experience is tantamount to child abuse. Their conscience will be damaged for years to come..It also proves the GB don't read their Bible or they would know better..
The WT has child abuse, mental abuse, down to a science..Maybe I have witnessed too much, to many of those meetings I've sat through.. I don't believe they , the governing body, even believe Jehovah exists, certainly don't fear Him. Certainly there is no love there for the ones being tried..They ruined my sisters life by wrongfully disfellowshipping her at 15..She told me what they said and the questions were shocking. Just like in Isaiah said they made a pack with death..
“There is no limit to the amount of harm that can be done by a person when they think they are doing good.” (Said of Catholic nuns in Ireland over their horrific abuse of and toward unmarried mothers and their babies). The watchtower “elders” tore my family apart and the results are still extant to this day. The watchtower are adulterers to the Truth, and their victims are of all ages and in every walk of life. Winder though assures us that they have “No need to apologise”. There is comfort to be had though for all our lost ones in that Jehovah is aware of it all and He is perfect in justice, knowing full well the injury and outcomes caused by the watchtower intransigence to the Word.
 
The male brain is not fully developed until around 25 years of age.These elders will have adolescent, immature brains. Just who I would turn to for guidance on how to handle my 19 year old pot smoking, horny teenager.
You made a typo error there Jay . The male brain is not fully developed - there is no “until ….. years of age”. I think spell correct suggested the end of your sentence and autofilled it for you. Probably something to do with AI . When archaeologists opened one of the canopic jars belonging to Akhenaten, (1336 BCE) used to store the organs of deceased pharaohs of the Egyptian era, they found his brain in one of them and it was STILL not developed after 3,300 years. However, when they opened the jar containing his entrails, they found the rectum was fully developed and even had a strange attachment that, after analysis (pardon the pun) they found to be fully developed vocal chords. This development may suggest how the GB came to explain how a 21 year old may advise those with a little more life experience. It really has nothing to do with male brain development at all.
 
You made a typo error there Jay . The male brain is not fully developed - there is no “until ….. years of age”. I think spell correct suggested the end of your sentence and autofilled it for you. Probably something to do with AI . When archaeologists opened one of the canopic jars belonging to Akhenaten, (1336 BCE) used to store the organs of deceased pharaohs of the Egyptian era, they found his brain in one of them and it was STILL not developed after 3,300 years. However, when they opened the jar containing his entrails, they found the rectum was fully developed and even had a strange attachment that, after analysis (pardon the pun) they found to be fully developed vocal chords. This development may suggest how the GB came to explain how a 21 year old may advise those with a little more life experience. It really has nothing to do with male brain development at all.
So if I were a doctor or scientist and I had to theorize based on the remains of this young Egyptian, I would have to guess that he died with his head up his ....
 
How would you have felt Robert when you were an elder, at a meeting, discussing something very serious, that needed to be considered through older and wiser eyes, only to have a few 21yr olds sitting round the table with you? Would you have been able to ask for their advice etc?
There is nothing wrong with age. I mean feeling not comfortable asking for advise to a younger person might mean you have arrogance in your heart. It's like when the Wt despises younger anointed. I've seen young men and women giving better advise than many old people. The problem is not that, the problem is that an elder is someone with a lot of experience and wisdom and to be experienced needs YEARS to become a reality. There are a lot of examples of that in the Bible. I think they should at least have 30 years old like when Jesus was anointed.
 
There is nothing wrong with age. I mean feeling not comfortable asking for advise to a younger person might mean you have arrogance in your heart. It's like when the Wt despises younger anointed. I've seen young men and women giving better advise than many old people. The problem is not that, the problem is that an elder is someone with a lot of experience and wisdom and to be experienced needs YEARS to become a reality. There are a lot of examples of that in the Bible. I think they should at least have 30 years old like when Jesus was anointed.
Exactly, that's what I meant to say, you put it better. I'd take advice off of a 21yr old, about which mobile phone has the better camera, or which social media app is a good one to use for marketing your business etc But, me personally, I wouldn't ask for advice about the real problems in life like marriage, bringing up kids etc
 
Exactly, that's what I meant to say, you put it better. I'd take advice off of a 21yr old, about which mobile phone has the better camera, or which social media app is a good one to use for marketing your business etc But, me personally, I wouldn't ask for advice about the real problems in life like marriage, bringing up kids etc
And not because I'm arrogant 😄
 
Just before the jab rollout, our elders appointed 2 young ministerial servants (30ish) as elders and 2 slightly older ones, late 30's early 40's, all at the same time! When it came to the actual rollout the brothers were probably still so high from their appointments that they must've ran all the way to the nearest injection centre 😬 One of the early 30 ish ones starting laying down the law and being very "exacting" a few elders meetings later.. 🙄
We have already had a visit from an elder and his newly appointed twenty something son. [On the day he and his fleshly brother were appointed, two older elders resigned]. They came to encourage us to get to the meetings instead of zoom. I gave him a hug.
Elders should be older men.
 
My 22 y/o is very mature for his age, but he doesn't have the necessary life experience to be an effective elder. If I were in charge, I would institute an elder apprenticeship that would last 7-10 years. I would assign the young elder in training to be the apprentice of the older elders for a couple of years each, starting with the longest serving elder. This way they could see the good and bad in each one and hopefully learn from them. The young elders could then mentor the youth in the congregation.
 
We have already had a visit from an elder and his newly appointed twenty something son. [On the day he and his fleshly brother were appointed, two older elders resigned]. They came to encourage us to get to the meetings instead of zoom. I gave him a hug.
Elders should be older men.
What reason did you give the CO for not going to the actual hall Chloe?
 
Sorry, Robert. I don't mean to laugh. It's just funny because I can relate. Not that I was DFed or anything. I just can't imagine being a spiritual teacher in my 20s. Those years weren't exactly my most cognizant. If I wasn't higher than Niel Armstrong, lost in a cloud a smoke, I was probably passed out on the couch or watching cartoons with whatever brain cells I had left.
Excellent... Just what we look for in a 21 year old elder.
 
My 22 y/o is very mature for his age, but he doesn't have the necessary life experience to be an effective elder. If I were in charge, I would institute an elder apprenticeship that would last 7-10 years. I would assign the young elder in training to be the apprentice of the older elders for a couple of years each, starting with the longest serving elder. This way they could see the good and bad in each one and hopefully learn from them. The young elders could then mentor the youth in the congregation.
Isn't that what a ministerial servant does?
 
There is nothing wrong with age. I mean feeling not comfortable asking for advise to a younger person might mean you have arrogance in your heart. It's like when the Wt despises younger anointed. I've seen young men and women giving better advise than many old people. The problem is not that, the problem is that an elder is someone with a lot of experience and wisdom and to be experienced needs YEARS to become a reality. There are a lot of examples of that in the Bible. I think they should at least have 30 years old like when Jesus was anointed.
The qualification for an elder is not (or in my opinion, should not be ) head knowledge of the bible. And at a young age, at least the age that watchtower are suggesting, neither should intelligence. It cannot be, in the case of a young person, experience, because they do not have the insight to balance experience with reason. And for older people, balance would be the first necessity in reasoning.

The age you speak of for being electable material for the Israelites of 30 years is relevant for much the same reason in that in those days a man would be established mentally and physically, but few would be mature enough in practice. It was a starting age. And Jesus started out at twelve years of age and by his remarks to his mother, was already fully aware of his obligations. The same cannot be said of a child today. Mentally, the expectations of children today are somewhat based in an artificial world where truth is going to be very hard to establish and reasoning in a balanced way with achievable expectations all the more so. The watchtower are putting a huge responsibility upon fragile minds - all the more so because they are not being honest with them in teaching the truth. Quite the opposite in fact. As Cathii rightly points out, it’s abuse of youth, and an insult and disrespect of mature adults. It appears that even Insurance firms have a far greater insight into maturity of mind than watchtower do and they are only interested in keeping their business viable and money……….er………..wait a minute…….
 
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