Ethnographic Paper
Ashli Rice
Cultural Anthropology
Ethnographic Paper
March 25, 2013
Jehovah’s Witness Arriving at the Jehovah’s Witness meeting I was very nervous about what was to come. I knew that nothing radical was going to happen, there was going to be now speaking in tongues, or dramatic rituals, but because I knew I was entering into a different belief something just did not feel right. Although the feeling of the meeting was not exactly comfortable, I learned a lot from my observations. On Thursday March 21, 2013 I attended a Bible study and theocratic ministry session at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness in Marion. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that I had attending the meeting, the congregation was very friendly and very welcoming. In fact, I felt more accepted than I did visiting any Christian church in Marion. Christians are welcoming but at Kingdom Hall there was no awkward alone time, almost every person in the congregation welcomed me and introduced himself or herself. The bible study started by singing a hymn and then they continued studying the book of Jeremiah from their previous meetings. Meetings usually take place on Thursday night and Sunday Mornings. The bible study consisted of a volunteer reading from a Watch Tower Society publication. Then the elder proceeded to ask questions about the reading and volunteers from the congregation would answer. Something that stood out to me was that they refer to each other as brother and sister. This is uncommon in protestant congregations. The theocratic ministry school session was also a new experience for me. Certain people from the congregation presented readings and lessons to the rest of the congregation and the elder evaluated them. The elder would make comments on the person’s delivery style, how fast they read the scripture, how clear their voice was, and how they presented themselves. I have never heard of or seen anything like this in my life. Theocratic Ministry School is used to
Cultural Anthropology
Ethnographic Paper
March 25, 2013
Jehovah’s Witness Arriving at the Jehovah’s Witness meeting I was very nervous about what was to come. I knew that nothing radical was going to happen, there was going to be now speaking in tongues, or dramatic rituals, but because I knew I was entering into a different belief something just did not feel right. Although the feeling of the meeting was not exactly comfortable, I learned a lot from my observations. On Thursday March 21, 2013 I attended a Bible study and theocratic ministry session at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness in Marion. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that I had attending the meeting, the congregation was very friendly and very welcoming. In fact, I felt more accepted than I did visiting any Christian church in Marion. Christians are welcoming but at Kingdom Hall there was no awkward alone time, almost every person in the congregation welcomed me and introduced himself or herself. The bible study started by singing a hymn and then they continued studying the book of Jeremiah from their previous meetings. Meetings usually take place on Thursday night and Sunday Mornings. The bible study consisted of a volunteer reading from a Watch Tower Society publication. Then the elder proceeded to ask questions about the reading and volunteers from the congregation would answer. Something that stood out to me was that they refer to each other as brother and sister. This is uncommon in protestant congregations. The theocratic ministry school session was also a new experience for me. Certain people from the congregation presented readings and lessons to the rest of the congregation and the elder evaluated them. The elder would make comments on the person’s delivery style, how fast they read the scripture, how clear their voice was, and how they presented themselves. I have never heard of or seen anything like this in my life. Theocratic Ministry School is used to