Went to a JW meeting

[Daniel9v9]

As part of my theology studies, I've had to visit a couple of different denominations and religions, and today I went to a Jehovah's Witnesses meeting. The congregants were kind and welcoming, but the service - What can I say! Yikes! I'm familiar with the basic tenets of JW doctrine, but it's quite something to experience their doctrine in practice. It's entirely stripped of Christ and void of God's grace. Though I knew this going in, it was still quite shocking and offensive to my Lutheran ears. I have never witnessed such militant dedication to the distortion of Scripture before!

I don't know if anyone has had any similar experiences, but I'm left with a very troubled and saddened heart.

 

[JohnAshton]

More than thirty years ago, I had a debate with a JW "elder" and one of his acolytes.

Quite interesting. I have found most of them to be endearing people, but one lady I knew and liked actually 'shunned' her daughter, willingly, when directed to do so by the leadership of the congregation because her grown daughter would not give up her non-member boyfriend.

 

[Dave G.]

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end leads to destruction ( some versions say death)". That's Proverbs 14 the 12th verse. It popped in my head as I read the op here.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

As part of my theology studies, I've had to visit a couple of different denominations and religions, and today I went to a Jehova's Witnesses meeting. The congregants were kind and welcoming, but the service - What can I say! Yikes! I'm familiar with the basic tenets of JW doctrine, but it's quite something to experience their doctrine in practice. It's entirely stripped of Christ and void of God's grace. Though I knew this going in, it was still quite shocking and offensive to my Lutheran ears. I have never witnessed such militant dedication to the distortion of Scripture before!

I don't know if anyone has had any similar experiences, but I'm left with a very troubled and saddened heart.

My Pastor is a former JW and embraces Lutheranism with great joy and enthusiasm!

 

[Daniel9v9]

My Pastor is a former JW and embraces Lutheranism with great joy and enthusiasm!

Ah, wow! Good on him! That's certainly quite a leap, and I pray more will escape the JW and find God's grace through Christ.

 

[tampasteve]

I have never witnessed such militant dedication to the distortion of Scripture before!

That about sums it up. I find their form of belief sad, and many people get trapped in it based on their culture and shunning techniques.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

What are their services like? Always been curious myself about their actual worship.

 

[Daniel9v9]

What are their services like? Always been curious myself about their actual worship.

In a word - Peculiar! Their services are neither what is often called liturgical nor non-liturgical. JW come out of a non-liturgical tradition, but they've taken a leap further and created their own form of service. I think theologically the concept of a Divine Service in the orthodox sense is denied, and therefore they express their gatherings simply as "meetings".

As I understand it, they meet twice a week, and all congregations around the world follow along with the same materials prepared by the Watchtower. The meetings (at least as I experienced it) consist of:
- Several brief instructional or motivational speeches by different people.
- Instructional videos on how to disciple people.
- Instructional performances acted out by laypeople, teaching people how to disciple.
- A couple of songs (neither hymns nor contemporary worship)
- Bible studies with Watchtower commentary
- Q&A, which forms a significant portion of their meeting. It's a kind of catechesis where questions are spoken from the stage, and the congregants raise their hands to answer questions. From what I can tell, it's a means of (1) conforming everyone to the same belief, and (2) publically test people's understanding, making sure everyone aligns to Watchtower doctrine.

 

[tampasteve]

In a word - Peculiar! Their services are neither what is often called liturgical nor non-liturgical. JW come out of a non-liturgical tradition, but they've taken a leap further and created their own form of service. I think theologically the concept of a Divine Service in the orthodox sense is denied, and therefore they express their gatherings simply as "meetings".

But isn't that the case with most "non-denominational" or similar churches? They think they do not have a liturgy, but then they all follow the same pattern - a liturgy. I have even heard it called the "New Evangelical Liturgy" by people that are not in that circle.

• Casual welcome and announcements
• Stand up for 4-5 songs
• During the set, or at the very end, add a short prayer
• Sermon
• Closing song
• Dismissal

In essence these denominations, and the JWs throw out the tradition in order to start a new one.

 

[tampasteve]

As I understand it, they meet twice a week, and all congregations around the world follow along with the same materials prepared by the Watchtower. The meetings (at least as I experienced it) consist of:
- Several brief instructional or motivational speeches by different people.
- Instructional videos on how to disciple people.
- Instructional performances acted out by laypeople, teaching people how to disciple.
- A couple of songs (neither hymns nor contemporary worship)
- Bible studies with Watchtower commentary
- Q&A, which forms a significant portion of their meeting. It's a kind of catechesis where questions are spoken from the stage, and the congregants raise their hands to answer questions. From what I can tell, it's a means of (1) conforming everyone to the same belief, and (2) publically test people's understanding, making sure everyone aligns to Watchtower doctrine.

Thanks for the information, there is a WT meeting place near me, but I have never been to it.

I would assume that you are correct that the Q&A is to ensure conformity and that people are reading the WT provided information. Interesting, thank you for the information! I have said it and will say it again, I admire the JW and LDS for actually getting into the community, even if their efforts are not that successful - we all know about them. We should take note about that and be present in our communities more.

 

[Daniel9v9]

But isn't that the case with most "non-denominational" or similar churches? They think they do not have a liturgy, but then they all follow the same pattern - a liturgy. I have even heard it called the "New Evangelical Liturgy" by people that are not in that circle.

• Casual welcome and announcements
• Stand up for 4-5 songs
• During the set, or at the very end, add a short prayer
• Sermon
• Closing song
• Dismissal

In essence these denominations, and the JWs throw out the tradition in order to start a new one.

Yeah, it's true that all churches have a liturgy whether they can appreciate it or not. However, when I said "what is often called liturgical nor non-liturgical" I implied essentially what is an orthdox and what is an unorthodox Church service.

JW comes out of the Reformed, and they, along with several other Reformed daughter bodies are often dubbed "non-liturgical". I wanted to make a distinction between what is often called liturgical worship among the orthdox bodies, and what is often called non-liturgical (service styles you often find in contemporary Evangelical bodies - often Baptist, Charismatic or non-denominational), and meetings in JW. In a word, I experienced JW meetings as very distinct from both a Divine Service and a contemporary service. It's a radical departure from the Reformed and way beyond a typical non-denominational service.

Thanks for the information, there is a WT meeting place near me, but I have never been to it.

I would assume that you are correct that the Q&A is to ensure conformity and that people are reading the WT provided information. Interesting, thank you for the information! I have said it and will say it again, I admire the JW and LDS for actually getting into the community, even if their efforts are not that successful - we all know about them. We should take note about that and be present in our communities more.

Yeah, JW are certainly very unified and well structured, and they have a visible presence all around the world. I think you're right in that we should take note of it and pray that we may be more accessible in the world as well.