Service Meeting Schedule
Week Starting September 11
10 min: Local announcements. Selected Announcements from Our Kingdom Ministry.
15 min: “Jehovah’s Blessing Makes Us Rich.” Limit introductory comments to less than a minute, and follow with a question-and-answer discussion.—See Insight, Volume 2, page 804, paragraphs 6-7.
20 min: “Use Current Events to Stir Interest.” Audience discussion and demonstrations. Mention several current events that have created interest locally. What concerns about the future have these generated? Using the Reasoning book, pages 10-11, offer some suggestions on how to prepare an introduction that will lead into a Bible discussion. Have two practical, well-prepared demonstrations.
Song 224 and concluding prayer.
Week Starting September 18
10 min: Local announcements. Accounts report.
15 min: How Did We Do Last Year? Talk by the service overseer. Review highlights from the congregation report for the 2000 service year. Give commendation for good things accomplished. Point out areas where improvement may be needed. Focus on how the congregation has done in meeting attendance, starting and conducting Bible studies, and being regular in field service. Outline practical goals for the coming year.
20 min: “Lives Are at Stake!” Audience discussion. Highlight the scriptures cited in the article.
Song 30 and concluding prayer.
Week Starting September 25
15 min: Local announcements. Remind publishers to turn in field service reports for September. Review Question Box.
15 min: Local needs.
15 min: Our Magazines Do Not Lose Their Value. What do you do when older issues of The Watchtower and Awake! accumulate? Some publishers are inclined to discard them, thinking that the subjects are no longer current. Instead, the September 1993 Our Kingdom Ministry, page 3, urged us to carry some older issues and offer them when appropriate. You can pick out timely articles that might appeal to men, women, professional people, the elderly, and teenagers; then have the magazines ready to present when an opportunity arises. Demonstrate how articles might be selected and presented. Relate successful experiences that the publishers have had in placing older magazines.
Song 115 and concluding prayer.
Week Starting October 2
15 min: Local announcements. Inform congregation about special distribution planned for Kingdom News No. 36, which will start on Monday, October 16, and continue through Friday, November 17. Urge all, including young and newer ones, to reach out to have a full share. Study conductors should begin now to encourage and organize all in their group to participate as zealously as possible. Include upbuilding experiences from the last Kingdom News distribution.
15 min: “Should I Move?” Talk by an elder. Explain why there is a need to exercise discernment in making a decision to move elsewhere. Discuss how to apply the counsel found at Proverbs 22:3. Include comments on cautions found in the August 15, 1988, Watchtower, page 22.
15 min: Experiences in Starting Conversations. In the Service Meeting program for the week of September 11, it was recommended that we develop introductions about current events to stir interest and start conversations in the ministry. Invite the audience to relate the good results they have enjoyed thus far by applying these suggestions.
Song 205 and concluding prayer.