November 2021 Broadcast

[Hope]

Brother Rutherford sounds like he was a barrel of laughs!    

[jwhess]

Many of us remember studying the "Divine Purpose" book.  It was a forerunner of our Proclaimers book with the history of JWs.  In a "Bible-Study" type conversation, this 1959 publication reviewed our history from 1870 onward.  It is still worth reviewing, in your spare time.

 

 

[Doug]

16 hours ago, Br. Ice said:

A Wikipedia search of brother Joseph Franklin Rutherford gives this:

This is so interesting;  Bro. Rutherford became President in 1917.  New songbooks were produced in 1926 and 1928.

 

In 1938 singing is "dispensed with".   In 1942 Rutherford dies and two years later in 1944 a new songbook was released.

 

It seems they got busy on that songbook right after his memorial service !   I'm sure he took it well   .    .   from his new assignment     

 

 

[Doug]

22 hours ago, jwhess said:

Before we got to grade them ourselves, we used to have to turn them in to the School Servant and he graded them and then he returned the papers to us the next week.  It is my personal copy  of the review I took just a couple of weeks after I turned 10 years old.  

 

If you can read any of the questions, think of a ten year-old answering (we were not allowed to use notes or references,  it was all memory).  

 

 

 

John,  is it true there was a time the audience would swap their written review with the person sitting nearby and grade one another's ?  I remember that Thursday night meeting (every six weeks?) but I can't recall grading someone else's answers.  I almost think that story is folklore.

 

I believe the Bible was allowed, but no other publications, as you said.

 

Good job with the cursive handwriting for a 10 year old !

[Shannie]

57 minutes ago, jwhess said:

Many of us remember studying the "Divine Purpose" book.  It was a forerunner of our Proclaimers book with the history of JWs.  In a "Bible-Study" type conversation, this 1959 publication reviewed our history from 1870 onward.  It is still worth reviewing, in your spare time.

 

 

Is it on jw library 

[jwhess]

17 minutes ago, Doug said:

John,  is it true there was a time the audience would swap their written review with the person sitting nearby and grade one another's ?  I remember that Thursday night meeting (every six weeks?) but I can't recall grading someone else's answers.  I almost think that story is folklore.

 

I believe the Bible was allowed, but no other publications, as you said.

 

Good job with the cursive handwriting for a 10 year old !

Yes, we swapped for a while.   We eventually graded our own.  the box or blank for the "Grade" was done away with and the instructions just said "mark it right or wrong" with no score.  But we all remembered what each question's score (points) were. question so we kept grading them.

 

At the beginning the reference material was noted at the top of the page for review AFTER you took the exam.  NO material was allowed during the test.  Later we could use our Bibles (hopefully you had one with a good index and appendix).  Still later they actually  made the review a part of the Kingdom Ministry and we had the printed copy in advance (maybe a month or so).  That way we could look up the questions and keep a notebook as the parts were given in the meetings.  Then every 3 or 4 months, we would go to the hour-long meeting and spend half of it writing out our answers.  At the end of the time of our organization using this review, we would take time to review this material orally (in question and answer).  It changed from a "written" review to an "oral" review,

 

I miss the roll call...💗

[jwhess]

26 minutes ago, Shannie said:

Is it on jw library 

No, except for the Watchtower, our JW Library does not contain any material earlier than 1970.  This book was released in 1959.  I have a digital copy (and of course my original hard-bound copies from my wife and I.

 

PM me if you need a copy (and you don't need to send the dollar noted in the instructions....💗

 

*** w59 9/1 p. 544 Announcements ***
Announcements

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES IN THE DIVINE PURPOSE
Meeting a long-felt need, the new book Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose has just been released. Its 320 pages contain an authentic, fully documented history of Jehovah’s witnesses in modern times. It is hard bound in a dark-green, gold-lettered cover, is illustrated and has an extensive subject index. Send only $1 for your copy today.

[jwhess]

1 hour ago, Doug said:

This is so interesting;  Bro. Rutherford became President in 1917.  New songbooks were produced in 1926 and 1928.

 

In 1938 singing is "dispensed with".   In 1942 Rutherford dies and two years later in 1944 a new songbook was released.

 

It seems they got busy on that songbook right after his memorial service !   I'm sure he took it well   .    .   from his new assignment     

 

 

Notice the gap between 1928 and 1944 when the next songbook came out?  This was the "cleansing" time period.  This was the year we quit celebrating Christmas.  Br. Rutherford hated Babylon the Great and its false worship.  Remember "Religion is a Snare and a Racket" mentality. Br. Rutherford did not even believe there could be a religion that was not false.  To him the word stood for false worship.  We did not adopt the term "religion" for us as true worship until after his death.  In 1951 we had the book "What Has Religion Done For Mankind" and from then on we had "True" religion and "False" religion.

 

So anything to do with the churches, their clothing, color schemes, their styles, their manner of worship (including choirs singing hymns). was distasteful.  We are not the only religion to think so.  Other "plain" religions (like the Quakers) share such a background.,

 

*** yb75 p. 147 Part 2—United States of America ***

Richard H. Barber gave this answer: “I was asked to give an hour talk over a [radio] hookup on the subject of Christmas. It was given December 12, 1928, and published in The Golden Age #241 and again a year later in #268. That talk pointed out the pagan origin of Christmas. After that, the brothers at Bethel never celebrated Christmas again.”
 

Edited November 3, 2021 by jwhess

[Doug]

4 hours ago, Old said:

At that time we were disposing of any and all connotation that we were a religion. Remember "Religion is a snare and a racket." We didn't have congregations we had companies. We did not have pastors of elders, we had servants. We did not sing because hymn singing was connected to religion. No deacons either. The circuit overseer was the "Servant to the Brethren", later the 'circuit servant'. We had talks, not sermons, no giving of testimony. 

If there was even the tiniest connection to a religious practice we didn't do it, or called it by a secular name, thus the term 'pioneer.'

 

It seems we have struggled with Titles as well as other baggage of false religion.  The last adjustment I can think of was dropping "Presiding Overseer" in favor of "Coordinator".

 

We have gotten very far away from BtG in this regard.

[jwhess]

The broadcast mentioned our saving some songs for use in each new songbook as released.  One of my favorites is "Take sides With Jehovah" (currently song 32 in our new GRAY songbook).  But I have audio recordings of the Bethel quartet singing this song in the late 1930s.  Br. Ray Franz sings tenor.

 

So for 80 years we have been singing this song, with some modifications for increasing light.  I have attached a picture showing all the printed versions since the 1944 (RED) "Kingdom Service" songbook.

 

 

[Good-O]

  10 hours ago, Doug said:

This is so interesting;  Bro. Rutherford became President in 1917.  New songbooks were produced in 1926 and 1928.

 

In 1938 singing is "dispensed with".   In 1942 Rutherford dies and two years later in 1944 a new songbook was released.

------------------

Thx for info Bro Doug:  no wonder I don't remember not singing - I wasn't born in 1938!  Love, love, love our singing!

[Dustparticle]

ALL!!!

 

Enough on the Judge. Let us go forward and thank God, Judge Rutherford  is not in the book of Judges. WHEW!!!!!

[Tkyoung]

I loved the broadcast, and how the songs changed over the years, we are privileged to have all the song books from,
1928

1944

1950

1984

2009

2016

And wow have the songs changed over the years.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[Tkyoung]

Here are the pictures of each song book

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[Sofia]

14 minutes ago, Tkyoung said:

I loved the broadcast, and how the songs changed over the years, we are privileged to have all the song books from,
1928

1944

1950

1984

2009

2016

And wow have the songs changed over the years.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 

I know the truth for 47 years

i have seen 4 song books

and some songs with 3 versions !

sonetimes the old lyrics come to my mind when I sing the same music with new updated lyrics!

some songs I miss

 

we used to sing the song 🎶 by the memorial “Hail to the firstborn “

I still sing that song 🤗🤗

and also”  extend mercy to others “

 

extinct

 

but I still sing it 🤗🤗

4 minutes ago, Tkyoung said:

Here are the pictures of each song book

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 

I had a purple cover one

my first song book

is it the 1950?

[Tkyoung]

I had a purple cover one
my first song book
is it the 1950?

Oops I forgot to add this one from 1966

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[Sofia]

23 minutes ago, Tkyoung said:

Oops I forgot to add this one from 1966

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 

yeees!!!

[Tia]

Yes Sofia,

I think my favorite song as a child was in that one "Be Glad You Nation With His People"  I think 

this is it!  I do recall our green bibles though...I was so bored as a child - and would get in trouble 

lots - but that song would always pick me up!  

Edited November 3, 2021 by Chachanee

[Sofia]

34 minutes ago, Chachanee said:

Yes Sofia,

I think my favorite song as a child was in that one "Be Glad You Nation With His People"  I think 

this is it!  I do recall our green bibles though...I was so bored as a child - and would get in trouble 

lots - but that song would always pick me up!  

oh yes, my very first bible was green! I ve placed 66 scotch tape "post its" with the books´s names to help me find them

[Dustparticle]

3 hours ago, Dustparticle said:

ALL!!!

 

Enough on the Judge. Let us go forward and thank God, Judge Rutherford  is not in the book of Judges. WHEW!!!!!

I'm just kidding.

[jwhess]

The songs were written for a more formal (harmony) presentation.   One was selected for special notice in the broadcast.  It was song #1 in my favorite songbook (Green 1950).  It had notation and words for 4-part harmony.  The congregation had to pick which part of the song to sing.

 

Look at the chorus.  This was presented at the 24 minute mark in the video.

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by jwhess

[Luigi62]

I'm greatly looking forward to part 2 of The Gift of Song later this month.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Luigi62

[Dandelion]

I really enjoyed Our History in Motion – The Gift of Song Part 1

It mentions that some songs were written by brothers and shows this picture. 

The brother on the right is brother Erich Frost

Does anyone know who the brother on the left is?

 

[jwhess]

In post #89, Br. Thomas gave us names and pictures of the later songbooks.  Here are the main ones that preceded those.  These are from 1879 to 1924.   The list is taken from the Divine Purpose book of 1959.

 

1879 - Songs of the Bride

1896 - Zion's Glad Songs

1906 - Hymns of the Millennial Dawn

1824 - Kingdom Hymns

then 1928 - The Songbook that Br. Thomas started with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by jwhess

[Dages]

There used to be a Youtube channel with all these old songs (JW music history) but I can't find it anymore.