Letter to All congregation Secretaries, 1990-05-20: Pioneer Service School in the summer of2003
Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses
2821 Route 22, Patterson, NY 12563-2237 Phone: (845) 306-1100
August 10,2002
TO ALL CONGREGATION SECRETARIES
Dear Brothers:
We are happy to say that thousands of dedicated people have recently decided to expand their service to Jehovah by serving as regular pioneers. Many of these will be eligible to attend Pioneer Service School in the summer of 2003. To help your circuit overseer begin making arrangements for the school, please fill out the enclosed questionnaire. Use this letter as a guide when doing so. Please mail the completed and signed form to your circuit overseer (not to us) no later than October 1, 2002.
Review carefully the requirements and exceptions listed on page 2 of this letter. Be sure to include the following information as requested on the questionnaire:
(1) Name, as indicated on the pioneer appointment letter (S-202), of each pioneer in the congregation who is eligible to attend pioneer school.
(2) Date when the pioneer was appointed, as indicated on the pioneer appointment letter (S-202).
(3) Whether any of the pioneers who are eligible to attend the Pioneer Service School prefer to attend a school conducted in another language.
Please note that even if you do not have any who qualify to attend Pioneer Service School, you should still send the questionnaire form to your circuit overseer, as this will indicate that this matter has been cared for.
As the service year progresses, you must promptly notify the circuit overseer of any eligible pioneers who move into or out of the congregation or who go off the pioneer list.
OTHER LANGUAGES: If an eligible pioneer in your congregation prefers to attend a school conducted in another language, please provide his name, address, and distance he is able to travel to another school on a separate sheet and attach this to your questionnaire. Based on the information supplied to the circuit overseer, we will make arrangements to care for the special needs of these pioneers if possible.
What should you do if you have mailed in a pioneer application for an individual to start pioneering on September 1, but you have not yet received a response from the branch office? You should include his name on the list you mail to the circuit overseer. If the individual is not appointed as a pioneer for some reason, please promptly notify the circuit overseer.
After you have completed the questionnaire, the presiding overseer should review it for accuracy. Then both you and the presiding overseer should sign the questionnaire and mail it to your circuit overseer.
May Jehovah continue to bless your sincere efforts to assist new pioneers to make a success of their full-time service. We send herewith our warm Christian love.
Your brothers,
Christian Congregation
of Jehovah's Witnesses
REQUIREMENTS FOR ATTENDING PIONEER SERVICE SCHOOL DURING THE SUMMER OF 2003
Those who have been appointed to begin regular pioneer service on or before September 1,2002,and who have not previously attended pioneer school and who are at least 16 years of age by September 1,2003,are eligible to attend in 2003. An exception to the age requirement would be made if a minor's pioneer parent qualifies to attend the same class.
No one may attend the school a second time, and no one may sit in on classes or make up for classes they missed when previously enrolled.
There are a few specific exceptions, and these are outlined below:
(1) If a former member of the Bethel family is appointed a regular pioneer within three months of his departure from Bethel and has been in full-time service at least one year (including Bethel service), he would qualify to attend as long as he has not previously attended the two-week course.
(2) If a pioneer was previously enrolled and missed at least five entire days of the school because of sickness or some other unexpected emergency, he may attend again, preferably for the entire two-week course if that is possible for the pioneer.
Each pioneer should be informed that he is permitted to attend a Pioneer Service School only once. If he is eligible and plans to attend, he should understand the language in which the school will be conducted well enough to benefit fully from the course. If this is not the case, the body of elders should encourage the pioneer either to wait until he has a better grasp of the language or to attend a school conducted in a language he understands. It must be acknowledged, however, that arrangements cannot be made for Pioneer Service School to be conducted in all languages each year.
Each pioneer will receive a textbook in the language in which the school will be conducted. Additional textbooks in other languages will not be provided.