Posted by Wanderer [Wanderer] on November 24, 1999 at 09:03:11 {BlpRHB6gpcwfItaAKK2Uv/sY7bfO72}:
In Reply to: ***Cong.'s may leave Org. posted by Camryn on November 24, 1999 at 08:19:13:
Finally this is all beginning to make sense, six months after I voluntarily stepped down. I discussed with our Body and informed them of my decision to no longer serve; I gave as reason my increasing professional responsibilities, the need to give a little bit more time to my family - all of which was true. The PO said stepping down was fraught with "dire consequences", and we'd have to await the CO's visit in a month. The CO came and I restated my wish. He said he could not buy my reasons, and I told him I hadn't any other ones to give. He said I had to give a more tangible reason for not wanting to continue because he too had to have "something concrete to report to the Society". I informed him those were the only reasons I had and knew. We met twice again after, and the arguments remained unchanged. I cannot say what he indicated in his report, but when the letter came from the Society in the wake of his visit, the congregation was informed that I had been "deleted" from the list of elders. No mention was made of my voluntarily stepping down. Rumors were a-gog not only in our congregation but in neighboring ones as well concerning my person. Of course, the cheapest shot was that I must have been caught doing something wrong (in the Organization, this often is interpreted to mean fornication, or in my case adultery).
And all that after serving faithfully. I am weary of trying to prove to the friends that this was a personal decision and nothing else. I only wish there were some honesty as to how people like us are treated.
Just my personal experience.