Do The Faded Jehovah Witnesses Establish A New Group
A year after I left the JWs, I looked around for other former JWs to see how they dealt with all the issues unique to leaving. There wasn’t a support group in my city. I spent many days thinking about the plusses and minuses of staring a support group myself.
I was afraid my JW family could find out. I didn’t want to risk them shunning me, but the need to talk to other former JWs trumped this fear.
You may be in a similar boat. I want to share with anyone thinking about starting a group what I have learned over the years. Also if you have any questions about things I do not cover here, send me a message, on this blog or on Facebook (Jenette S.
Dixon).The ironic part is we are up to 120 members in the Portland Oregon / Vancouver Washington group and I put much less effort into it than I ever did pioneering. As a JW I never made one cold convert but man did I try.The following are some tips on how to organize an Ex Jehovah’s Witness support group:Promoting the group is key. Look for ways to get the word out to others who might be interested in attending. We have used to list our meetup and Facebook to let people know when we schedule a new meetup. Exchange phone numbers and email addresses with other members to help remind of upcoming meetups.
Jehovah Witnesses Information
Also using community media like local newspapers, community boards (these are found in libraries, post office, grocery stores, cafes, college campuses, etc.) I always ask if it is ok with the employees if I put up the flyer first. You could also advertise the group with local movie theaters. Octane render 4 crack. Most sell ad time before movies start.Write a mission statement of the purpose of the exjw support group you are wishing to create. Look online for other groups for ideas.
As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we strive to adhere to the form of Christianity that Jesus taught and that his apostles practiced. This article summarizes our basic beliefs. We worship the one true and Almighty God, the Creator, whose name is Jehovah. (Psalm 83:18; Revelation 4: 11) He is the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The Jehovah's Witnesses are intent on denying the full divinity of Jesus Christ. This denial presents a radical deviation from historic Christian theology and thus places the Watchtower Society outside orthodox Christianity, establishing it as a cult.
Include key words that will come up in an internet search.Consider having 2 or 3 co-organizers. This way not all the work, cost, and responsibility go to one person. In our group with have 3 organizers and we can brainstorm for upcoming meetups.Having a blog is helpful for getting the word out about your group. If you do online interviews, or write online articles, that is a good time to promote your support group.We set up out meetup group to be private rather than public. We did this so more people would feel safe to join without Jw family or friends finding out. We also tell people to not use their real names unless they feel safe to do so.Also we only post the location of our meetups one place in our closed meetup group. This way curious jws will not know where we are meeting.
Jehovah Witnesses Cult
We decided to only post the date and city of the meetup on Facebook. It is free for members to join our group. We also came up with a few questions to ask new members to help screen out those who are Df’d, Da’d, faded, or have family who are jws and need support. We had one current jw who was looking to make more jw friends, we had to explain the purpose of our group is to provide support to those who are exjws. We suggested a few books ( Crisis of Conscience) and similar websites to consider.During the meetups, try to be careful about taking photos of exjws who attend. Some do not want they photos to show up online and be outed.
Others are completely fine with it. Some are ok with photos is they are from farther away. It is good to ask.
Sometimes we take photos of the food or decorations where we meet.Pick a venue that is kid friendly, not too loud, easy to find. Describe details of this place. If they serve food, coffee, tea include it in the description.
We have also met in homes and if the weather is good, at a park. Parks can be tricky, they are mostly weather dependent, unless there is a covered area and many parks take reservations for holding a picnic area. If you pick a park check with who ever runs the park (City, County, State, Private). Some park departments have websites others are first come first serve. It is much better to find out these details in advance.For any venue, call ahead, make sure of the hours and that they will be open the day you are planning. Some places take reservations others do not. We have had good success with picking Sunday afternoons.If you have many people attending, consider finding a restaurant that rents out a banquet from for free or a small fee.
Libraries can work also but call ahead to find out what are their rules, times, room sizes, are snacks allowed.I usually only pick venues that I have been to before. If we have more than 8 people going I will call the restaurant a couple weeks in advance to let them know we have a large group coming.
This way they can schedule more staff in advance to help. Also it is easier on restaurants if people pay with cash than having to run 12 credit cards, this ties up their staff. Let attendees know in advance to please pay with cash is possible.How will people get to you location for the group? Car, public transit, carpool?
If most people get around by bus, then schedule at least some meetups near a bus line.Ask members if they like the place afterwards. Would you like to come back to this place? If not be open to suggestions. Find out a good day and time when most people can make itWhichever online tool (, Facebook, etc) you decide you use, have the RSVP in one spot. It is pretty changeling when you have people saying yes or no to meets when you have to check and post any changes in multiple places.If you want to plan something big, like a Christmas party or a summer picnic, plan to make reservations at least 6 months in advance. Many places are booked up far in advance especially during December and picnic areas during summer months.After a meetup thank the members who attended.