2024 Governing Body Update #2

[Almursal]

italian transcript

Aggiornamento dal Corpo Direttivo n2-2024.pdf

[Leslie.m]

1 hour ago, Adam! said:

I forgot to mention this, but this may help some.

 

Mark Sanderson did a SKE Graduation in England on 14 January. He did not have a beard then. Evidenced by photos I have seen.

 

2 weeks later, Mark Sanderson did a SKE Graduation in Ireland. Then some facial hair was showing.

 

What we saw in the update is the latest in the past 7-8 weeks. When the GB move fast, they move!

Perhaps a few mentioned to them that older ones / ones with a more restrictive conscience were waiting for GB members / Helpers to grow beards before doing so themselves…

 

Or perhaps, he like how it looked on others in his Cong / HQ / during his travels…

[hatcheckgirl]

@Bluebell You both look very dignified and this is the type of look business ladies wear. If this is the standard of business in our society now, then I can definitely see that it isn’t a lowering of our dress standards (some may be worrying it is a bit). If the GB were allowing jeans, for instance, then it’s no different than Christendom.

 

But they haven’t made the dress code casual. This is still the level corporations require. Do we have to be more conservative than them? Obviously, that is not reasonable. The conservative look was what EVERYONE wore in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. Could you really tell the difference between our dress and the world’s in those days? Men wore jackets and ties everywhere. Women wore hats and gloves. That was the standard for society.
 

Then the 60s came and fashion split. Jehovah’s Witnesses kept dressing in a dignified manner. I think ladies can still maintain decorum in our current days with a look similar to what business women wear. To the world, we would still appear smart and dignified, so we aren’t stumbling them. I think it shows maturity on the part of our organisation to be more accommodating.

 

You know how ridiculous it is in Australia to wear ties and jackets on hot days? How unusual it looks to see sisters wearing skirts in the snow, when everyone else can wear long pants (I know we get around it by wearing them under our skirts - but that’s my point really. Why do we have to do this at all?)

 

Good on the GB! And you sisters who have already plunged in, you look great!👍

[Qapla]

My daughters are very happy about being able to wear slacks to the Convention since they say it can be quite hard to remain "modest" in a dress/skirt while climbing stadium stems and sitting in and standing up from stadium seats.

 

[Sofia]

1 minute ago, Qapla said:

My daughters are very happy about being able to wear slacks to the Convention since they say it can be quite hard to remain "modest" in a dress/skirt while climbing stadium stems and sitting in and standing up from stadium seats.

 

slacks are very useful when attending conventions on a stadium ❤️ 

[Leslie.m]

10 hours ago, Krusso said:

My daughter summarized the subject: the change is now we do not have to be rude to people when they come to the Kingdom Hall. We greet everybody. It did not feel right anyway. I personally always felt that if one of my kids was disfellowshipped I would stop socializing with them meaning having meals , spending time together at the movies or shopping, but I would call to ask how they were doing if they needed anything and to encourage them to go to the meetings. It was going to be between me and Jehovah. Now no need for that. 😊

I know you’re not in that situation, but perhaps something to think about / reason on:

 

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/pc/r1/lp-e/1200271695/5/4

 

*** w13 6/15 p. 28 par. 17 Let Jehovah’s Discipline Mold You ***
17 Disfellowshipping is another type of discipline from Jehovah. It protects the congregation from a bad influence and can play a role in the sinner’s recovery. (1 Cor. 5:6, 7, 11) Robert was disfellowshipped for nearly 16 years, during which time his parents and siblings firmly and loyally applied the direction in God’s Word to quit mixing in company with wrongdoers, not even greeting such ones. Robert has been reinstated for some years now and is progressing well spiritually. When asked what moved him to return to Jehovah and His people after such a long time, he replied that the stand that his family took affected him. “Had my family associated with me even a little, say to check up on me, that small dose of association would have satisfied me and likely not allowed my desire for association to be a motivating factor to return to God.”

 

 

[Sofia]

Disfellowship "procedures" were reviewed based upon the new understandings from Anual Meeting Octob 7th.

I wonder how many more updates to our Christian living will be revealed soon?

This looks like ... 

Edited March 16 by Sofia

[Brazilian2024]

Today I had the circuit assembly. And about 6 sisters were wearing pants.

Very Chic ✨

[Andrey]

 

I have a question: How many more times will I be taken out like this before Armageddon?

 

 

[Dages]

It's nice to be trained with new procedures. We will have a lot of these in the New World.

[Tortuga]

15 minutes ago, Dages said:

It's nice to be trained with new procedures. We will have a lot of these in the New World.

I think we are in for a LOT of surprises. The changes in the last 6 months or so is only the beginning.

[Keep Fighting]

When there are so many changes, brothers and sisters will make wrong judgments.Suddenly a brother forgets to wear a tie when he has a task at a meeting, should he be corrected immediately for that? If a sister comes in a too casual pants,should she be immediately corrected? Where is the love, where is the patience, where is the empathy. Is it allowed to make mistakes, when there are so many changes? We all hope so I think. I do, I forget and will make mistakes. Let us continue to Imitate  Jehovah, his love and mercy is infinitely great, let us not stand in the way of that love. Agape.

[Sofia]

2 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

I think we are in for a LOT of surprises. The changes in the last 6 months or so is only the beginning.

I have no doubts!

[Leslie.m]

16 minutes ago, Keep Fighting said:

When there are so many changes, brothers and sisters will make wrong judgments.Suddenly a brother forgets to wear a tie when he has a task at a meeting, should he be corrected immediately for that? If a sister comes in a too casual pants,should she be immediately corrected? Where is the love, where is the patience, where is the empathy. Is it allowed to make mistakes, when there are so many changes? We all hope so I think. I do, I forget and will make mistakes. Let us continue to Imitate  Jehovah, his love and mercy is infinitely great, let us not stand in the way of that love. Agape.

It would be the course of love to correct someone immediately if they are too casual - this will prevent them from continuing to make a wrong judgment and will also “adjust onlookers” so that we all don’t become too casual…

[ChrisC]

1 hour ago, Qapla said:

My daughters are very happy about being able to wear slacks to the Convention since they say it can be quite hard to remain "modest" in a dress/skirt while climbing stadium stems and sitting in and standing up from stadium seats.

 

That’s what Emma said. It must be a relief.

 

 

28 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

I think we are in for a LOT of surprises. The changes in the last 6 months or so is only the beginning.

That sounds exciting! 

[AH173]

5 hours ago, cme said:

One brother showed up with a "Hawiian shirt, short sleeved.  Ummmm.....we had the visit of CO and he talked about the the Update 2 announcement and, said that we still should dress modestly and in good taste.

 

He looked at the brother that was wearing the Hawiian shirt and then looked else where.  Needless, to say 2 elders approached him after the meeting and mentioned that perhaps this was "over the top".

 

It actually was.  I  was surprised because, I always thought this brother more spiritual conscience or a brother that would think things through.

I guess for the USA mainland territory it would probably not be a good idea. I have been seeing Hawaiian Pidgin on Jw stream for many months and enjoy how they give public talks in their nice Hawaiian aloha shirts. From public talks, to watchtower conductor and brothers having other meeting parts all have those shirts. I would hope that the counsel was not too much.

 

They just had a local needs last week about dress and grooming for their congregation that streamed last week or two ago.

[Leslie.m]

At our meeting today, roving mics / AV didn’t have jackets or ties. Platform attendant had both. Hall attendant had a jacket / no tie…

[Keep Fighting]

33 minutes ago, Leslie.m said:

It would be the course of love to correct someone immediately if they are too casual - this will prevent them from continuing to make a wrong judgment and will also “adjust onlookers” so that we all don’t become too casual…

Ok, immediately it may for some be like a strong reaction, so if a brother forget to wear a tie, is it not alowed to forget? Are we elders to judge a brother for having to long beard. If someone continue, I agree, but we all are imperfect. Forgive me if I dont totally agree with you brother.

Today a brother and myself visited a Dfs, she was dfs for 19 years ago, been to jail, she know acccepted a Bibelstudy , we prayed with her and she will attend the spesial meeting today. We are so happy we could use the new things from the update to show love from Jehovah. 

[carlos]

21 minutes ago, Keep Fighting said:

Ok, immediately it may for some be like a strong reaction, so if a brother forget to wear a tie, is it not alowed to forget? Are we elders to judge a brother for having to long beard. If someone continue, I agree, but we all are imperfect. Forgive me if I dont totally agree with you brother.

 

Rune, I am not sure I am understanding your point.

 

Of course every counsel must always be loving and kind, not judgmental. What did we do until now if a brother forgot to wear a tie, as you say, or if they came to the meeting in work clothes? Usually no advice was necessary if this just happened once. We just assume the brother forgot his tie or had to come directly from work, and would praise them for coming anyway. It would be different if the brother usually came to the meeting dressed that way, then maybe he would need some kind advice.

 

On the other hand, would we allow that brother without a tie or in work clothes to have a part on the platform? We wouldn't before and we won't now. So nothing has changed in that sense.

[carlos]

5 hours ago, LeolaRootStew said:

Also, jackets and ties are not "required", it's cultural.

 

Where I live, in Madrid, Spain, jackets have always been required on the platform, but they were not required to attend meetings, or for service, or to conduct meetings for service. A tie was required in all those situations.

[Leslie.m]

43 minutes ago, carlos said:

 

Where I live, in Madrid, Spain, jackets have always been required on the platform, but they were not required to attend meetings, or for service, or to conduct meetings for service. A tie was required in all those situations.

In my home country - South Africa, jackets weren’t required for roving mics in some cities, such as Durban - where temps can reach 35 degrees Celsius in summer with 90% humidity, making it feel like 45 degrees… and not all halls have air-conditioning! 

[puddum_queen]

8 hours ago, Cushi said:

Had our first meeting since the announcement. I saw 2 elders who didn’t wear ties. I only spotted one sister in my congregation that wore pants. As I was pulling up to the Hall, I did see a sister from the neighboring congregation coming back from service. She had on pants 😊 

 

I assume many sisters in my congregation may not have dress pants and will wear them once they shop for some. 

I don’t have but maybe 1 pair of dress slacks. I have skirts/dresses or casual pants. So in the future instead of buying more dresses, I’ll just buy slacks. No big deal.

[DancesWithWife]

I am considering lowering the number of suits I have. I have 7. I have 7. I also have close to 100 ties, lots of tie bars and tie tacs plus pocket squares. I got them at second hand stores for a really good deal, not at all at once. My wife is an expert in alterations so any adjustments she makes them. But most fit me perfectly off the rack. I think I am going to reduce them down to 3. 

[Thomas Walker]

In my territory, there are plenty of suburbs where people will just not answer the door to someone in a suit and tie. Is it someone from the Council? A landlord? A Cop? Someone sent by Child Support, or to solicit money?

 

If nothing else, it'll shake up the territory a little.

[Dustparticle]

2 hours ago, DancesWithWife said:

I am considering lowering the number of suits I have. I have 7. I have 7. I also have close to 100 ties, lots of tie bars and tie tacs plus pocket squares. I got them at second hand stores for a really good deal, not at all at once. My wife is an expert in alterations so any adjustments she makes them. But most fit me perfectly off the rack. I think I am going to reduce them down to 3. 

Or if you have a dog, have him chew on the ties and the suits you do not need. He be glad to do it. He will be the happiest dog in the world.