Carta 6/11/13: Escuela para Evangelizadores del Reino

A petición del siempre apóstata AF, http://hildeydesa.blogspot.com/2013/11/carta-181013-donaciones-la-obra-mundial.html?showComment=1383848948725#c9091236318684911787 subimos esta carta que gentilmente ha proporcionado Jayce&theWheeledWarriors al foro en español, inglés, francés, ruso e italiano. 

Ahora las mujeres solteras vuelven a ir donde haya más necesidad por encargo de la organización (como las misioneras de antaño) incluso entre los 50 y 65 años... siempre y cuando sean mano de obra 100% gratuita: sin que requieran ayuda médica o económica de la organización. No se desean lastres en el servicio de tiempo completo. 

Pero más allá de la "autosuficiencia" de los matriculados en esta escuela, el que se permita a mujeres solteras participar indica que la materia judicial que se veía en la Escuela de Varones ya no será parte del programa... a menos que haya "diaconisas" de acuerdo a la vieja interpretación de Romanos 16:1:

*** w64 4/1 pp. 208-210 Her Head Covering and Congregational Activities ***

WOMEN MINISTERS OF CONGREGATIONS

10 At Romans 16:1 Phoebe is spoken of as “a minister of the congregation that is in Cenchreae.” Just what her duties were we do not know, but, as apparently was the case with Phoebe, so today, due to a shortage of qualified brothers, sisters may have to be used to fill servant positions in a congregation. This may even include caring for the duties of the congregation servant. However, in such cases we would not speak of a sister as an overseer, since the very meaning of the Greek word epískopos, “one who visits for the purpose of inspecting,” indicates that such a position could be properly filled only by a dedicated male, who, if married, must be the husband of only one woman. Appropriately, we read at 1 Timothy 3:1: “If any man is reaching out for an office of overseer, he is desirous of a fine work.”

11 When, in discharging her duties, the sister congregation servant, or any other sister who is dedicated and baptized, handles duties of a presiding nature, which would normally be performed by an overseer, ministerial assistant or a study conductor, then a head covering is necessary for her. The sister is serving temporarily or circumstantially in the place of a man, and by wearing a head covering she is showing proper conscientious regard for her relationship to the theocratic organization. The head covering also, you might say, acts as a caution not to try to run ahead or exert any untheocratic influence on the congregation, as was the case in the congregation at Thyatira described in Revelation 2:20.

12 To illustrate: A sister who conducts the congregation Watchtower study or, as has already been mentioned, a congregation book study, should wear a head covering while doing so, as should a sister who offers prayer at such meetings, and they would do so even though being seated at the time. In most cases where a sister presides at a meeting with her head covered the number in attendance is quite small, and it would normally not be necessary for her to stand while conducting. Even at the Watchtower study the attendance may not be more than what is usually to be found at a congregation book study, so those attending can be grouped around in a similar way to that of such a study, and the conductor, while facing the audience, can remain seated in almost all instances. The sister reading the paragraphs can do so from her seat, and, as the one reading, she does not need to have her head covered. The Watchtower is doing the teaching. Even if, due to a larger attendance and with no qualified brother available, the sister had to stand to read in order for all to hear, she would not necessarily have to wear a head covering since she is not teaching or presiding at the meeting. She is not giving a talk, only reading a summary from The Watchtower. However, here again the sister may prefer to wear a head covering as being suitable for the occasion, and so this would be according to her conscience in the matter. If a sister is wearing a head covering as her normal practice she certainly does not have to remove it at any time while carrying on true worship.

13 What should be the procedure at the service meeting and theocratic ministry school in the absence of dedicated male members? The sister presiding at these meetings would do so while wearing a head covering. In presenting material it should be kept in mind that teaching in the congregation is an assignment for male members, and so anything in the nature of presenting material to the congregation in discourse form by a sister should be avoided. Where the Kingdom Ministry calls for the consideration of some item in the form of a discourse, for example, a talk based on material in The Watchtower, the article in the magazine, or portions thereof, can be read by one of the sisters from her seat in the audience. The time available would determine what portions of the article can be handled, and the specific paragraphs can be assigned in advance so that the matter is not left to the discretion of the sister reading the material.

14 The same method should be followed when presenting the material for the instruction talk and other talks usually assigned to brothers in the ministry school. The material can be read from the assigned publications by sisters from their seats in the audience, and in such cases no head covering is necessary. In this way the congregation, though composed entirely of sisters, will not miss any of the information being presented in other congregations.

15 Where a sister is assigned to conduct a question-and-answer review, and this is always beneficial for audience participation, she would perform this assignment with her head covered, since it is in the nature of presiding, even though she may conduct the review from a seated position.

16 As to the sister acting as school servant, how can she counsel the students without actually teaching in the congregation? She will certainly want to avoid giving any impression of acting as a critic or instructor. But she can still help the other sisters by offering suggestions, quoting directly from the Society’s publications, thus letting the Society’s publications do the teaching. She can also mark the counsel slip, and she can always give further help privately to the students who request this assistance.

17 But what if a man begins to associate, dedicates himself and enrolls in the school? Until he qualifies to handle the duties of the school servant, the sister may have to continue to care for this assignment for some time. But she will not counsel the brother when he gives a talk, nor for that matter should she mark his counsel slip. However, in order for this new brother to get some help to improve his speaking ability, it would be well for him to have a speaking assignment during the visit of the circuit servant, and then the circuit servant can give him counsel and mark his counsel slip. Of course, this new brother may wish to get some additional help between such visits, and he may approach the sister who is the school servant for some suggestions, perhaps in regard to some specific difficulty. She can certainly help him locate helpful points in the Society’s publications and possibly assist him in understanding the principles of speaking discussed there, but without giving him direct counsel.

¿Volverán a estar vigentes estas instrucciones dónde hay pocos varones o pocos son ejemplares? El tiempo lo dirá...