Vintage photos of Governing Body Members and other things..

[Araujo JW]

8 hours ago, kejedo said:

Thought I'd include this bio of Bro Carey  Barber from our ROM.   Rejoicing Over “Victory With the Lamb”
IN A letter he wrote in 1971, Carey W. Barber reflected on his first 50 years of service to the true God: “The years in Jehovah’s service have been unusually good. The association with his people; the protection from the evildoers of Satan’s world; the prospect of victory with the Lamb, Jesus Christ; and the evidence of Jehovah’s love combine to bring about that sweet peace and inner satisfaction that guard the heart and give sure hope of the final triumph.”
Six years later, Brother Barber, a spirit-anointed Christian, began serving as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In that capacity during the following 30 years, he continued to look forward to “victory with the Lamb.” He achieved that by proving faithful until his death at the age of 101 on Sunday, April 8, 2007.—1 Corinthians 15:57.
Born in England in 1905, Carey Barber was baptized in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1921. Two years later he and his twin brother, Norman, transferred to Brooklyn, New York, to help with a new project. At that time, Jehovah’s people were about to begin producing their own books for spreading the good news of the Kingdom “in all the inhabited earth.” (Matthew 24:14) One of Brother Barber’s early assignments was that of running a small press. Among the items printed were law briefs for legal cases being taken to the United States Supreme Court. In time, Brother Barber worked in the Service Department, focusing on congregation matters and the preaching work around the country.
Having that background, Brother Barber was well-qualified when in 1948 he was assigned as a traveling minister, visiting assemblies and congregations all over the western part of the United States. He said that he particularly enjoyed being out in the fresh air in the public preaching activity. This assignment brought many brothers and sisters into contact with Brother Barber. His quick mind and zeal for the ministry proved very useful when he later attended the 26th class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. During the school term, he became acquainted with a fellow student from Canada, Sydney Lee Brewer. After graduation they married and had their honeymoon on the short trip to serve the congregations in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Sister Barber proved to be a valuable companion and a constant source of support to her husband during their two decades in the traveling ministry.
Those who got to meet Brother Barber and to know him during his decades as a district or circuit overseer or during the 30 years he spent working and traveling as a member of the Governing Body will long remember his talks and lively comments. We have every reason to rejoice over his “victory with the Lamb.”
 

I remember a picture of Brother Barber giving a talk sitting at a table set on a convention stage. I'll find the picture and post here.

I have a talk from him recorded when he came to the International Convention here in Brazil. It was very exciting talking about Jehovah's Heavenly Chariot.

[Araujo JW]

2 hours ago, Araujo JW said:

I remember a picture of Brother Barber giving a talk sitting at a table set on a convention stage. I'll find the picture and post here.

I have a talk from him recorded when he came to the International Convention here in Brazil. It was very exciting talking about Jehovah's Heavenly Chariot.

[jwhess]

On 8/14/2019 at 6:12 AM, jayrtom said:

101! And  I thought Br. Franz was the oldest GBM to die...

Anyone knows what happened to Br. Barber twin brother?

Br. Joao, I met Norman Barber (Carey Barber's twin).  He was a missionary in India at the time.  We had Carey Barber as our CO for a couple of years.  Later, he came as a visiting Bethel Representative to one of our Special Assembly Days.  After the meeting, he was greeting people up front.  I had maintenance duties so I did not get up front to talk to him right away.

 

At the end, he was standing there by himself so I went up to say hello.  I remembered that he did not carry his end of a conversation too well.  He made replies to questions and gave tidbits but then he would stop and wait for you to say something.   So I went up to him and said hello and reminded him that he used to serve our congregation (which a thousand others had already said).  Then I told him that I had met his brother Norman and did not know he was a twin at the time.  He looked at me and said "Norman is dead."  I was caught off guard and didn't know what to say.  So I said, "Well I am sure he is doing a good job for us in heaven."  He stared at me and said, "Malcolm wasn't anointed."

 

Then I was really distressed, so I said, "I am sure he will do a good job for us in the New World." I quickly looked at my watch and said, it;s getting late, I have to go, Thanks for coming and I got out of there before I said anything else that would get me in trouble...😎

 

EDIT: I corrected Norman Barber's name.

Edited August 21, 2019 by jwhess

[JennyM]

I have wondered.. What are the qualities of people of the west that Jehovah saw to further Kingdom good news? 

Why not an Asian for example? 😁😁

[jwhess]

11 minutes ago, JennyM said:

I have wondered.. What are the qualities of people of the west that Jehovah saw to further Kingdom good news? 

Why not an Asian for example? 😁😁

Jehovah sees us as he created us.  We are all human to him.  And we will come to see this in the New World too.

[Shawnster]

1 hour ago, JennyM said:

I have wondered.. What are the qualities of people of the west that Jehovah saw to further Kingdom good news? 

Why not an Asian for example? 😁😁

The freedoms people have in the United States made it a great environment to start the modern-day movement of Jehovah's Witnesses.  

 

So, it's not about the qualities of the people, but the quality of the government.  Freedom of speech.  Freedom of religion.  Typically other countries, such as Asian countries, have been much more restrictive.  

 

Adding to those freedoms is the ease of access to technology and transportation.  These allowed for the rapid expansion of the Good News from humble beginnings to every corner of the globe.  

[jayrtom]

2 hours ago, jwhess said:

Br. Joao, I met Malcolm Barber (Carey Barber's twin).  He was a missionary in India at the time.  We had Carey Barber as our CO for a couple of years.  Later, he came as a visiting Bethel Representative to one of our Special Assembly Days.  After the meeting, he was greeting people up front.  I had maintenance duties so I did not get up front to talk to him right away.

 

At the end, he was standing there by himself so I went up to say hello.  I remembered that he did not carry his end of a conversation too well.  He made replies to questions and gave tidbits but then he would stop and wait for you to say something.   So I went up to him and said hello and reminded him that he used to serve our congregation (which a thousand others had already said).  Then I told him that I had met his brother Malcolm and did not know he was a twin at the time.  He looked at me and said "Malcolm is dead."  I was caught off guard and didn't know what to say.  So I said, "Well I am sure he is doing a good job for us in heaven."  He stared at me and said, "Malcolm wasn't anointed."

 

Then I was really distressed, so I said, "I am sure he will do a good job for us in the New World." I quickly looked at my watch and said, it;s getting late, I have to go, Thanks for coming and I got out of there before I said anything else that would get me in trouble...😎

Thanks John! You are a wonderful source of teocratic history 👍

[kejedo]

10 hours ago, jayrtom said:

101! And  I thought Br. Franz was the oldest GBM to die...

Anyone knows what happened to Br. Barber twin brother?

Their persevering in their assignments was not because they necessarily found their physical surroundings to be ideal. Norman Barber, who served in Burma (now Myanmar) and India, from 1947 until his death in 1986, expressed himself in this way: “If a person rejoices to be used by Jehovah, then one place is as good as another. . . . Frankly speaking, tropical weather is not my idea of the ideal weather in which to live. Neither is the way tropical people live the way I would personally choose to live. But there are more important things to take into consideration than such trivial matters. Being able to render aid to people who are really spiritually poor is a privilege beyond human powers to express.”

 

Edited August 14, 2019 by kejedo

[kejedo]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governing_Body_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses      Some interesting  footnotes for the research-minded.

.

[retroHelen]

4 hours ago, JennyM said:

I have wondered.. What are the qualities of people of the west that Jehovah saw to further Kingdom good news? 

Why not an Asian for example? 😁😁

Looking at America/UK for instance, these countries  were and are a melting pot of immigrants. These countries have never been one nationality. America has been what they call a melting pot of Nations for 400 years and UK always has been a country of immigrants for thousands of years. 

 

I know this is also true of other European countries - different mass migrations formed them over thousands of years and then came the Romans who transported Legions of foreigners all over their Empire and the Vikings sea trading for centuries from Scandinavia all over Europe taking other peoples from other countries with them. Westerners were always sea-faring, travelling and outward going.

 

 Learning another language has been easier in the West and is encouraged in schools and public libraries, even though many Worldly people don't bother, many Witnesses have taken advantage of this. Foreign language literature was more available before the time of internet as it catered for foreigners living/working here. Africans and Asians sent their children to schools in the West for years now. One private paying school near us has ages 7 - 18 and 25% of their intake has been from China/Asia for as far back as I can remember and the University in the nearest city and medical colleges have many Asians/Africans/Middle Eastern students along with UK citizens of all types since I was a little girl.

 

People in the West had more freedom/necessity to travel between countries to trade for far longer and they became more religiously tolerant  earlier than other countries. This all allowed for the spreading of new ideas of all kinds including the True Faith.

 

 Once people of Asia/Africa came to work/trade with Western countries learned the Truth, they went back to their origin countries and took the Good News with them

or they Witnessed to their relatives when they came over to the West

or corresponded with relatives in the West and learned the Good News this way.

 

Jehovah didn't 'favour Western people' He just uses whatever gets his purposes accomplished quickest.

Edited August 14, 2019 by retroHelen

[kejedo]

Job

 

[JennyM]

@jwhess @Shawnster @retroHelen

and the way western people were raised. Independent.. 

Asians people were raised to depend on someone. Its a community based.. It would be hard for an Asian to move away from his own people 

 

The west is more advanced as well. 

 

 

[Bek]

18 hours ago, JennyM said:

I have wondered.. What are the qualities of people of the west that Jehovah saw to further Kingdom good news? 

Why not an Asian for example? 😁😁

 

11 hours ago, JennyM said:

 

and the way western people were raised. Independent.. 

Asians people were raised to depend on someone. Its a community based.. It would be hard for an Asian to move away from his own people 

 

The west is more advanced as well. 

 

 

The Bible says that God does not look at appearance. It just does not matter to him what colour you are. It just so happened that the West is more advanced, and God is just using that to promote true worship. 

 

Most of Asia today is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Communist. There is just no way for the good news to have started in Asia. Even today despite all the political, economic and technological progress, it is still hard to preach the good news in most of Asia, not to mention that some Asian countries have even banned it altogether. 

 

Independence and individualism may have had some role in the establishment of the good news, but they are relatively recent developments. Western civilization is largely based on Judea-Christian values. That is why there is more justice, respect for human life, freedom and rights in Western countries. Thanks to these values, there is democracy and the rule of law, which made it possible for brothers to defend and to spread the good news. 

 

Mind you, I don't think that independence and individualism are compatible with Christianity. The Bible tells us that we should not rely on ourselves and instead rely on God. We are also encouraged to think more of others and seek other's advantage. So Christianity, in my view, promotes a collectivist or group mentality whereas what we see in the West today is me me me me. 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Hun

[JennyM]

3 hours ago, Hun said:

Mind you, I don't think that independence and individualism are compatible with Christianity. The Bible tells us that we should not rely on ourselves and instead rely on God. We are also encouraged to think more of others and seek other's advantage. So Christianity, in my view, promotes a collectivist or group mentality whereas what we see in the West today is me me me me.

western people trained their child to be independent as soon as they were born. 

Asian mothers sleep with their baby until 7 years old.  

 

3 hours ago, Hun said:

Most of Asia today is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Communist. There is just no way for the good news to have started in Asia. Even today despite all the political, economic and technological progress, it is still hard to preach the good news in most of Asia, not to mention that some Asian countries have even banned it altogether.

You are right..  Asian  culture is late than the western.

For example, the treatment of women is worse than the west I think.. 

 

I remember that Apostle Paul was forbidden by an angel to go to Asia. 

 

 

[Bek]

48 minutes ago, JennyM said:

western people trained their child to be independent as soon as they were born. 

Asian mothers sleep with their baby until 7 years old.  

 

You are right..  Asian  culture is late than the western.

For example, the treatment of women is worse than the west I think.. 

 

I remember that Apostle Paul was forbidden by an angel to go to Asia. 

 

 

What kind of independence do you mean? May be you mean responsibility?  

 

The treatment of women depends on parts of Asia. In Islamic parts, women are certainly treated almost like property. In the West, women started having rights only in the last 50-60 years with the rise of feminism, which also has had a lot of negative consequences both for women and society at large. 

 

No, the Asia mentioned in connection with Paul was a small Roman province in the western part of today's Turkey. 

 

Jesus, the apostles, all the prophets and a majority of other Bible characters were Asians. Most Biblical events took place in Asia. The Bible originated in Asia. Judaism and Christianity are Asian religions. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Hun

[davelFL]

Just a couple brief comments - just joined a few days ago and I love theocratic history.

 

Re: Don Adams - I was privileged to be in the Lower East Side Congregation in lower Manhattan as a "new boy" at Bethel in the fall of 1971 and Brother Adams was the congregation servant. After a year and a half I was transferred to Wallkill and saw Don and his wife Dee off and on over the years. He bore heavy responsibilities as he worked in what was called the "10th floor Offices" (at 124) with Brother Knorr, Brother Henschel, Brother Wallen, Brother Sinclair and other dear men. We younger men admired him so much - nothing ever rattled him "cool as a cucumber."  We last saw him at Wallkill in May of 2017 at 92 years of age - still cool!. I assume that he stepped aside as president of the Society because of poor health and I believe that one of the helpers - Bob Cirenko is now president of the WTB&TS of PA. To the best of my knowledge Don Adams is still alive.

 

 

[ChrisC]

On 8/13/2019 at 4:35 AM, kejedo said:

And  maybe 14 (?) if you count Judas, replacement and Paul, apostle to the Nations

If we are counting apostles then Hebrews 3:1. So there were 12 apostles in the upper room after Judas was dismissed. But I’m being annoying now!

 

[Guri]

9 minutes ago, ChrisC said:

If we are counting apostles then Hebrews 3:1. So there were 12 apostles in the upper room after Judas was dismissed. But I’m being annoying now!

 

Initially there were 12 apostles. 

After Judas left, became 11. 

Judas place took Matthias. (12 again). 

Appstle Paul was called the Apostle as he was chosen by Jesus himself but Paul (when he was Saul) wasn’t with Jesus when Jesus was on earth. So if we include apostle Paul as well it makes 13. 

[Guri]

56 minutes ago, ChrisC said:

If we are counting apostles then Hebrews 3:1. So there were 12 apostles in the upper room after Judas was dismissed. But I’m being annoying now!

 

No, there were 11 in the upper room: 

 

Acts 1:13 — «When they arrived, they went up into the upper room where they were staying. There were 1) Peter as well as 2) John and 3) James and 4) Andrew, 5) Philip and 6) Thomas, 7) Bar·tholʹo·mew and 😎 Matthew, 9)James the son of Al·phaeʹus, and 10) Simon the zealous one, and 11) Judas the son of James.»

[jwhess]

Meanwhile back at the photos...Vintage photos may represent an idea or time which has come to be clarified and eliminated or changed.  New students may not be familiar with some of our older cherished beliefs or customs.  Here are four listed in the "Proclaimers" book.

 

I have two matching photos for each paragraph. (The last "Pyramid" picture is the monument -not tombstone- at Russell's grave site)

 

*** jv chap. 14 pp. 200-201 “They Are No Part of the World” ***       Practices That Have Been Abandoned

 

  This Christmas celebration at Brooklyn Bethel in 1926 was their last. The Bible Students gradually came to appreciate that neither the origin of this holiday nor the practices associated with it honored God

 

  For years, Bible Students wore a cross and crown as a badge of identification, and this symbol was on the front cover of the “Watch Tower” from 1891 to 1931. But in 1928 it was emphasized that not a decorative symbol but one’s activity as a witness showed he was a Christian. In 1936 it was pointed out that the evidence indicates that Christ died on a stake, not a two-beamed cross

 

  In their “Daily Manna” book, Bible Students kept a list of birthdays. But after they quit celebrating Christmas and when they realized that birthday celebrations were giving undue honor to creatures (one reason that early Christians never celebrated birthdays), the Bible Students quit this practice too

 

  For some 35 years, Pastor Russell thought that the Great Pyramid of Gizeh was God’s stone witness, corroborating Biblical time periods. (Isa. 19:19) But Jehovah’s Witnesses have abandoned the idea that an Egyptian pyramid has anything to do with true worship. (See “Watchtower” issues of November 15 and December 1, 1928)

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by jwhess

[kejedo]

On 8/20/2019 at 4:40 AM, ChrisC said:

If we are counting apostles then Hebrews 3:1. So there were 12 apostles in the upper room after Judas was dismissed. But I’m being annoying now!

 

okay, we know the usual 12, then Mathias (13) Then Paul, apostle to the nations (14) then Hebrew tells us that Jesus was an apostle- total =15 (not necessarily listed in chronological order.)

[kejedo]

On 8/14/2019 at 10:06 AM, Araujo JW said:

Is that brother Barber on the lower right? I am making an acrostic poem for his widow and might like to include it. 

[kejedo]

Thank you brother Brother Araujo

[Eejay]

4 hours ago, kejedo said:

Is that brother Barber on the lower right?

Yes

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Is that Bro Albert Schroeder top right?

Just Older