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Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:48 AM

Yesterday, 09:01 PM
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Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary NZ
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I am a Sister who is just leaving the Church in Wellington after being there for eight months. I find some of the things that Joy Hillary has been experiencing to be very strange, even for the Local Church. For example, her being pressured to leave her studies - we did a unit studying marriage at the Wellington Sisters' House, and Witness Lee wrote that nobody should even think about getting married until they had at least a masters' degree. While I think this is a bit extreme, I certainly think he makes some very good points. When talking about this with a Sister from Hamilton, she agreed, saying she thought a bachelor's degree was enough, but that if you are ignorant and uneducated, who are you to go out and preach the gospel? So I find that point to be very strange.

As for her being pressured to save up and attend conferences in Anaheim - it has never happened to me on that scale, nor has it ever happened to anyone else at the Church in Wellington that I know of. However, I've only been there for eight months. However, what did happen was that when I said I didn't think I would go to the Waikanae Camp due to financial reasons, my mentor said that if money was a problem, she would pay for me to go, so I found the money for that. But when she asked if I would be going up to the Hamilton meeting later that month, I refused, saying I had to focus on my studies and couldn't afford it on top of the Waikanae Camp.

I also found it strange that she was made to burn her 21st presents - we did talk about doing things like that once or twice, but it was all objects that are actually evil and cause harm to the world - for example, poker tables in communities where gambling is a problem and has destroyed many lives. The Sisters' House also has a television and many Sisters have their own laptops. I have also never heard of communion being desecrated and I think that is very bizarre that any Christian would ever consider doing that.

However, some things do sound all too familiar. Pray-reading - this is something that's bothered me as I don't feel comfortable doing it but it's incorporated into most study sessions. I had a boyfriend outside the Local Church and the Sisters didn't approve although all they said was, "Do not be unequally yoked with non-believers." I also went to a Baptist Church on Sundays, as I had been going there since 2007. Everytime the subject was raised of me going to Local Church Sunday meetings instead of Baptist ones, I just said, "I have friends at the Baptist Church that have done a lot for me and I'm not about to sever my ties with them."

The way Joy Hillary got married also sounds familiar - one of the brothers I know well got married eighteen months ago to a sister he had known for about a year. He asked the elders' permission to court the woman he was interested in, they agreed, and they went out on a few dates before he asked permission to marry her. Six weeks after asking the elders' permission, they were married.

At the Local Church Camp, which lasted for three days, there were two brothers in charge of delivering the Sermons - one from Houston, TX and one from New Zealand. The New Zealand brother, I thought, was very good, and really friendly. However, I didn't like the brother from Houston much, as although some of what he said was good, he repeated certain things over and over again, as if he wanted to hammer them into us. At which we would shout, "Amen!" - always. One other thing that I hadn't heard before that stuck out for me, but made so much sense at the time, was that "We are his masterpiece!" - they repeated that one a few times too. However, I didn't realise they were only referring to the Local Church.

Last week, a Sister left the Church in Wellington. She was thrown out, along with two brothers. Their misdeed was speaking against the teachings of the Church - among their complaints - that the only literature available was that written by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, that the Local Church says that other churches are not doing God's work and that God's presence isn't felt in those other churches, and that Witness Lee is thought of Minister of the Age, who God speaks through, similar to the Apostle Paul. The elders asked them to take back their complaints or to leave. They refused, and have now lost their Church accomodation (although one of the brothers is staying until his course finishes in November - he is not to attend any meetings though), the others are leaving this week, along with the wives of one of them.

I am very sorry I have to leave, as I have made some wonderful friends in the Local Church and there are some very lovely people there. There are also some teachings in the Local Church that are not traditional, but correct nonetheless (e.g. not celebrating Easter or Christmas). However, I will not be staying in a Church that throws out members just because they disagree with the way some of the things are done.

09-24-2011, 07:48 AM	#9
Admin He came not to be Served but Serve Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 39	Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary Yesterday, 09:01 PM Unregistered Guest Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary NZ ________________________________________ I am a Sister who is just leaving the Church in Wellington after being there for eight months. I find some of the things that Joy Hillary has been experiencing to be very strange, even for the Local Church. For example, her being pressured to leave her studies - we did a unit studying marriage at the Wellington Sisters' House, and Witness Lee wrote that nobody should even think about getting married until they had at least a masters' degree. While I think this is a bit extreme, I certainly think he makes some very good points. When talking about this with a Sister from Hamilton, she agreed, saying she thought a bachelor's degree was enough, but that if you are ignorant and uneducated, who are you to go out and preach the gospel? So I find that point to be very strange. As for her being pressured to save up and attend conferences in Anaheim - it has never happened to me on that scale, nor has it ever happened to anyone else at the Church in Wellington that I know of. However, I've only been there for eight months. However, what did happen was that when I said I didn't think I would go to the Waikanae Camp due to financial reasons, my mentor said that if money was a problem, she would pay for me to go, so I found the money for that. But when she asked if I would be going up to the Hamilton meeting later that month, I refused, saying I had to focus on my studies and couldn't afford it on top of the Waikanae Camp. I also found it strange that she was made to burn her 21st presents - we did talk about doing things like that once or twice, but it was all objects that are actually evil and cause harm to the world - for example, poker tables in communities where gambling is a problem and has destroyed many lives. The Sisters' House also has a television and many Sisters have their own laptops. I have also never heard of communion being desecrated and I think that is very bizarre that any Christian would ever consider doing that. However, some things do sound all too familiar. Pray-reading - this is something that's bothered me as I don't feel comfortable doing it but it's incorporated into most study sessions. I had a boyfriend outside the Local Church and the Sisters didn't approve although all they said was, "Do not be unequally yoked with non-believers." I also went to a Baptist Church on Sundays, as I had been going there since 2007. Everytime the subject was raised of me going to Local Church Sunday meetings instead of Baptist ones, I just said, "I have friends at the Baptist Church that have done a lot for me and I'm not about to sever my ties with them." The way Joy Hillary got married also sounds familiar - one of the brothers I know well got married eighteen months ago to a sister he had known for about a year. He asked the elders' permission to court the woman he was interested in, they agreed, and they went out on a few dates before he asked permission to marry her. Six weeks after asking the elders' permission, they were married. At the Local Church Camp, which lasted for three days, there were two brothers in charge of delivering the Sermons - one from Houston, TX and one from New Zealand. The New Zealand brother, I thought, was very good, and really friendly. However, I didn't like the brother from Houston much, as although some of what he said was good, he repeated certain things over and over again, as if he wanted to hammer them into us. At which we would shout, "Amen!" - always. One other thing that I hadn't heard before that stuck out for me, but made so much sense at the time, was that "We are his masterpiece!" - they repeated that one a few times too. However, I didn't realise they were only referring to the Local Church. Last week, a Sister left the Church in Wellington. She was thrown out, along with two brothers. Their misdeed was speaking against the teachings of the Church - among their complaints - that the only literature available was that written by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, that the Local Church says that other churches are not doing God's work and that God's presence isn't felt in those other churches, and that Witness Lee is thought of Minister of the Age, who God speaks through, similar to the Apostle Paul. The elders asked them to take back their complaints or to leave. They refused, and have now lost their Church accomodation (although one of the brothers is staying until his course finishes in November - he is not to attend any meetings though), the others are leaving this week, along with the wives of one of them. I am very sorry I have to leave, as I have made some wonderful friends in the Local Church and there are some very lovely people there. There are also some teachings in the Local Church that are not traditional, but correct nonetheless (e.g. not celebrating Easter or Christmas). However, I will not be staying in a Church that throws out members just because they disagree with the way some of the things are done.