2015 Theocratic Ministry School Helps Us Improve Our Teaching
1 The psalmist David wrote: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14) We too want our words to be pleasing to Jehovah because we treasure our privilege of speaking the truth in the congregation and in the ministry. The Theocratic Ministry School is one of the ways that Jehovah trains us for the ministry. This training takes place each week in the more than 111,000 congregations worldwide. It has helped brothers and sisters around the globe and from all walks of life to become adequately qualified as ministers of the good news, capable of teaching with persuasion, tact, and boldness.—Acts 19:8; Col. 4:6.
2 The school schedule for 2015 will include subjects considered in New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—On DVD, ‘Go, Make Disciples, Baptizing Them’—On DVD, My Book of Bible Stories—On DVD, An Introduction to God’s Word, What Does the Bible Really Teach?—On DVD, and The Watchtower—On DVD. Additionally, adjustments have been made in the time allotted for Bible highlights and Assignment No. 1. These changes along with instructions on how parts on the school are to be presented are considered in the following paragraphs.
3 Bible Highlights: Brothers assigned this part will have two minutes to consider one interesting and practical Scriptural point from the weekly Bible reading. Good preparation will result in sharing a point of value with the congregation within the allotted time. Thereafter, the congregation will have the customary six minutes to offer comments of 30 seconds or less on interesting points they found in the weekly Bible reading. It takes preparation and self-discipline to make a meaningful comment in 30 seconds, but doing so is good training for us. It also allows time for others to comment on what they have learned in their personal research.
4 Assignment No. 1: The time allotted for the Bible reading has been reduced to three minutes or less and will cover less material. Those who receive a reading assignment should rehearse it by signing the material several times, while paying close attention to proper handshapes, palm orientation, movement, location, facial expressions, and fluency, in order to convey thoughts with understanding. All of Jehovah’s people should strive to read well, since reading plays an important role in our worship. How delighted we are that so many of our children read well! Parents are to be commended for their loving efforts to help their children become good readers.
5 Assignment No. 2: This will be a five-minute presentation assigned to a sister. The assigned theme should be used. When an assignment is based on material from ‘Make Disciples’—On DVD or An Introduction to God’s Word, it should be applied to an aspect of field service that is realistic and practical for the local territory. When the talk is based on a Bible character as found in Bible Stories, the student should develop the assigned theme, select appropriate scriptures to be used, and show what can be learned from the example of the Bible character. Acts of faithfulness, courage, humility, and unselfishness furnish good examples to be followed; acts demonstrating a lack of faith as well as undesirable traits stand as strong warnings to turn Christians away from an improper course. The school overseer will be particularly interested in the way the student employs the art of teaching and the way she helps the assistant to reason on the Scriptures. Additional scriptures that tie in with the theme may be included. The school overseer will assign one assistant.
6 Assignment No. 3: This will be a five-minute presentation assigned to a brother or a sister. When assigned to a sister, it should be presented as outlined for Assignment No. 2. When assigned to a brother, the material that is based on Bible Stories should be given as a talk with the audience in mind. The student should develop the assigned theme, select appropriate scriptures to be used, and show what can be learned from the example of the Bible character.
7 A New Feature of Assignment No. 3 for Brothers: When material based on ‘Make Disciples’—On DVD, An Introduction to God’s Word, The Watchtower—On DVD, or Bible Teach—On DVD is assigned to a brother, it should be presented as a demonstration of family worship or field service. The assistant should be a member of the student’s family or a brother in the congregation. Additional scriptures that highlight Bible principles that tie in with the theme may be included in the presentation. From time to time, an elder may be assigned to present this part. Elders may choose their own assistant and setting. Undoubtedly, it will be encouraging for the congregation to see elders demonstrate the art of teaching with a family member or another brother.
8 Counsel: Following Assignments No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, the school overseer will use two minutes to give commendation as well as constructive counsel based on Benefit From Theocratic Ministry School Education. When the school overseer introduces a student’s part on the school, he will not announce the point of counsel that the student is working on. However, after the student’s presentation and some appropriate words of commendation, the school overseer should announce the point of counsel that the student is working on, state why the student did well on that point, or kindly explain why it would be beneficial for the student to give that particular point further attention.
9 When the student receives his assignment slip, he will notice the counsel point is noted there. The counsel point number correlates to the lesson number in the Ministry School book. If he does not understand the lesson or the exercise at the end of the lesson and how it applies to sign language, he can meet the school overseer. Alternatively, when the overseer gives the student his assignment slip, if time permits, he could explain the counsel point as well as the exercise. After a student cares for his assignment, the school overseer will make the appropriate notations in pages 79 to 81 of the student’s personal copy of the Ministry School book. He will privately ask whether the student did the exercise related to the assigned counsel point. Commendation as well as additional helpful suggestions may be given to the student after the meeting or at another time. The personal attention that each student receives in the school should be viewed as an opportunity to help him make spiritual advancement.–1 Tim. 4:15.
10 If a student talk runs overtime, the school overseer or an assistant should be alert to give a signal, such as waving his hand or standing up to indicate in a discreet manner that the student’s time is up. The student should acknowledge the signal by completing his sentence and leaving the platform.—See Ministry School book, p. 282, par. 4.
11 All who meet the requirements are encouraged to enroll in the Theocratic Ministry School. (See Ministry School book, p. 282, par. 6; KM August 2010 article 3) The education that this school provides has enabled Jehovah’s people to preach and teach the good news of the Kingdom with conviction, dignity, and love. Jehovah is undoubtedly pleased to be praised by all those who are benefiting so much from theocratic education!—Ps. 148:12, 13; Isa. 50:4.