Question Box

● Is it permissible for a congregation to have a meeting early in the week when the circuit overseer makes his visit?

The Organization book, page 84, suggests that during the week of his visit all the congregation meetings will be held at their normal time. However, this is not a hard and fast rule. Page 103 shows that the time of meetings is determined locally. If the elders want to take this matter up with the congregation and they wish to have a meeting earlier in the week, such as Tuesday or Wednesday evening, instead of Thursday or Friday evening, there would be no objection to that, provided it does not conflict with the schedule of other congregations that also use the same hall.

Meetings should be held when it is in the best interest of the congregation. It may be, in some places where only one or two congregations are using a Kingdom Hall and where normally the service meeting would be on Thursday or Friday, that the congregation would want to move that meeting to Tuesday for the week of the circuit overseer’s visit. It has been reported that in some places, when there are meetings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it is difficult for those from divided families and some of the newly interested ones to attend all of them. Congregation elders can inform the circuit overseer if there will be any change from the usual meeting schedule so he will have opportunity to prepare for his parts.

The congregation’s meeting with the circuit overseer early in the week also has the advantage of allowing more to speak with him personally and to arrange to go with him or his wife in the field service. It is always good to do what brings the most benefit from the visit of the circuit overseer, so it is left to the local congregation to decide if it wishes to make any changes in the meeting times for this special week.

Meetings for field service are ordinarily arranged each day, Wednesday through Sunday, during the visit of the circuit overseer. So that the congregation benefits fully from his experience, it is usually found advantageous to have the circuit overseer preside at these meetings for field service.