As we consider how to relate to Jehovah’s Witnesses and how to get through to them, it’s important for us to understand the legalistic society that is the Watchtower religion—specifically, the degree to which local elders exercise control over the Witnesses in their congregation.

The first time I attended a meeting at a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Witness in his twenties held a microphone on a long pole. Whenever the person in charge of the meeting called on a member of the congregation to make a public comment, this man would go to the appropriate row and reach out with the pole so the commenter would have use of the microphone as he or she spoke.

The job seemed to me rather boring and tedious, and I found myself thinking, “I wonder what this fellow did that he got stuck doing this job.”

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that being assigned this task is considered a “privilege” and that the person who does it is selected by the congregation elders! This responsibility of the elders is set out in the published elders’ manual entitled Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition.

It certainly makes sense that some positions require special qualifications, such as serving as an elder, ministerial servant, overseer,[1] or teacher[2]. It seems strange to me to call them “privileges” as opposed to being styled offices or positions.

What else does the Watchtower consider a “privilege” to be controlled by the elders? Representing the congregation in field service (the door-to-door witnessing)[3], being listed as a “publisher,”[4] getting assigned witnessing territory[5], having one’s field service reports accepted and counted, and getting organizational literature at a lower rate.[6]

Other “privileges” include:

• Commenting at congregational meetings[7]
• Addressing congregation from the platform at the front of the Kingdom Hall[8]
• Being taught in the company of others[9]
• Presenting assignments at the midweek meeting[10]
• Offering congregational prayer at meetings[11]
• Offering brief but meaningful prayers over the bread and wine at the annual Memorial service[12]
• Reading at the Watchtower study[13]
• Reading or conducting at the congregation Bible study[14]
• Chairing the midweek or weekend meeting[15]
• Conducting meetings for field service[16]
• Use of the Kingdom Hall for weddings[17]

The elders also control other “privileges which the elders’ manual describes as “minor”:

• Carrying or adjusting microphones[18]
• Operating sound and video equipment[19]
• Serving as a meeting attendant[20]
• Helping with meeting attendants[21]
• Assisting with literature[22]
• Assisting with field service territories[23]
• Helping with literature[24]
• Helping with accounts[25]
• Cleaning and repairing of the local Kingdom Hall[26]

Also considered “privileges” in Watchtower literature are such things as receiving the monthly Kingdom Ministry newsletter[27] and being allowed internet connectivity at the Kingdom Hall[28].

A final catch-all “privilege” is being welcomed at the Kingdom Hall and being allowed to participate in common conversations.[29]

As you consider this extensive list, I’m sure you can see that the elders’ authority to grant or remove Watchtower “privileges” is a very powerful control device. They are in charge both of deciding who is entitled to “privileges” in the first place and which Witnesses should lose “privileges” as a consequence of violation of various Watchtower standards and directives.

When I examine all of this bureaucracy and the micromanagement that characterizes the Watchtower system, I marvel at what has become of the movement begun by its founder, Charles T. Russell, who wrote, “Beware of ‘organization.’ It is wholly unnecessary”[30] and also stated, “It is plain that the forming of a visible organization of such gathered out ones would be out of harmony with the spirit of the divine plan.”[31]

[1] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 22:6.7

[2] Watchtower, “Fortify Yourselves for Future Activity,” 5/1/64, p. 272

[3] Watchtower, “What Disfellowshiping Means”, 7/1/63, p. 412

[4] Watchtower, “Propriety of Disfellowshiping”, 3/1/52, p. 141

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 19:11

[8] Watchtower, “What Disfellowshiping Means”, 7/1/63, p. 412

[9] Insight, Volume 1, 1988, pp. 787-788, “Expelling”

[10] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 18:3.3; 19:11

[11] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 16:19; 16:30

[12] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 20:7

[13] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 1:2.8

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 29:5

[18] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 29:5

[19] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 12:11; 14:26

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 29:5

[23] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 12:11; 14:26

[24] Ibid.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 14:26

[27] Watchtower, “What Disfellowshiping Means”, 7/1/63, p. 412

[28] Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019 edition (Elder’s Manual), 21:35

[29] Watchtower, “What Disfellowshiping Means”, 7/1/63, p. 412

[30] Watchtower, 9/15/1895, p. 216

[31] Watchtower, 12/1/1894, p. 384