On October 31st 2023, a copy of the newly revised field Service report that will now be the new normalcy to every single Jehovah’s Witness congregation was released.
Reporting your field service report is not only important to pioneers though. Unbaptized and baptized publishers are also pushed to ‘turn in your time!‘
That saying is quite known amongst its members. It can be stressful for a member of this organization if you do not turn in the hours you were suppose to for the month. It can cause the elders, peers, family of your congregation to think you may be becoming spiritually weak, or not giving Jehovah god your all. This is something that is not in the bible as well, but when the scriptures mention reporting, ‘preaching work in all the inhabited earth’ ‘to give a good witness’– this organization takes it seriously and in their own way. To understand what a field service report* is and what it means to the organization is below.
Mike R., CA– “The elders were grooming me to become a ministerial Servant. You are in a place of high regard if you become one in the congregation, its a pretty big deal. Striving to be a Ministerial Servant at the time I was, you had to turn in at least 10 hours a month. One month I felt too guilty to lie on the report and write down 10, so I put how many I counted that I could only do that month, 9. After the elder received my report, they sat me down and told me I was no longer in consideration to become a ministerial servant. They also took my privileges away. I couldn’t run mic’s for the meetings, help with the stage, or run the sound system anymore. They make you feel like you are just too spiritually weak now to be considered. Like you are not good enough for the congregation. Merely because of one hour missed.
In the publication Organized to do God’s Will 2019 between pages 78-79 It explains what the ministry means to Jehovah “For most of us, reports on the worldwide expansion of pure worship have been a source of encouragement for Jehovah’s People.”- This is because as a Jehovah’s Witness It is taught that going door to door, the preaching work, the ministry- however you put it is showing your utmost obedience and dedication to Jehovah. Becoming a pioneer is even more important that higher education. If a dedicated witness is considering higher education- as in college, instead of dedicating their time into the full time ministry they are counseled by their local elders.
Since the Jehovah’s Witnesses are known as the door knockers of the world and they take the preaching work to the extremes, it was a shock for active and inactive witnesses to hear Governing Body Samuel Herd, in the 2023 Annual Meeting in his talk Love for Jehovah in Modern Times;
“We are pleased to announce that congregation publishers will no longer be asked to report their time or placements in the ministry. The congregations will simply have a box for each publisher to report that they shared in the ministry work. There will also be another box for pioneers to write how many bible studies they conducted. It will give us a report of active publishers in each land, and what territories have bible studies and where there is a greater need. What about the Nazarite arrangement? We should all do well to imitate the self sacrifice and courage the Nazarite had. They had to meet certain requirements, the same is true to modern day pioneers. They have devoted a certain amount of hours. Auxiliary, Missionaries, circuit overseers, special pioneers, field overseers, will continue to report the number of hours and different bible studies they conduct. What does this adjustment mean for all of us? Will be still be conscientious? Within the tithing arrangement each individual was responsible to give their own tithe to Jehovah. We want personal goals to have a zealous share to Jehovah. The ministry should take priority in our lives. What will these adjustments mean for the elders and circuit overseers? It will be even more important that your brothers be discerning shepherds.”
It is interesting to see that since they have removed their requirement of reporting hours, the organization seems to have distanced itself from the month-to-month routine of reporting to local elders. As stated above since they routinely send these reports to the centralized databases maintained by the Watchtower corporations, this may reduce the legal liability of the organization by creating a greater separation between individual members activities and official organizational policies.
Below is also the new 2023 Publisher Record. This again shows they have taken the hours away for publishers. This means that even though many publications state they base their growth of a persons spirituality on how much time, love, effort they show for Jehovah (attending meetings, going out in service, showing an appreciative attitude) It can also equivalate to 1 hour, and the elders would not be aware.
To the organization this can also create yet another loophole for a person who does not have good intentions in mind. This can be towards the congregation they attend, young children, and vulnerable adults they are near engaging in theses theocratic activities.
The field Service Report has typically been a spiritual quota in the organization for decades now. It is a small white slip required to be filled out by every publisher, elder, ministerial servant, missionary, regular and auxiliary pioneer at the end of each month. If an elder in your congregation realizes you have not turned in your time, they will come find you and ask you to fill it out. From there the elders will get a feel for what is normal from each publisher.
For instance, if a publisher turned in 25 hours of service one month, then 5 hours the next-The elder will make note and take it as the publisher going through some sort of hardship. They then will possibly keep an eye on you or counsel as to what is wrong or why it seems your spirituality has weakened.
In the field Service report the publishers add up the time spent going door to door, their return visits, and how many placements (magazines and tracts) given. After you give this field report slip to your elder, it is then collected from the entire congregation where it is sent to their Headquarters in New York. All of the hours would be combined and released by the Governing Body when the full yearly hourly report is ready.
