Robert Crompton
2:00 PM-2:50 PM
Friday, June 24th
My proposal is to develop some ideas from my earlier presentation, Remote Control (2019 ICSA Conference) and my book, Pathways to Freedom (2020 Independent publication). Defectors from the Jehovah’s Witnesses (and others) do not move easily from within that highly controlled ethos into a new, self-determined lifestyle, but enter a “transit zone” before freedom from all the lingering hindrances to further progress and which can cause considerable distress. At this stage the focus is largely upon failings of the WT doctrinal narrative and lifestyle restrictions. Beyond this stage the defector’s destination in life may still be some distance off. The kind of guidance or mentoring which can be helpful on this latter part of the journey needs to draw upon experience gained beyond the transit zone. The problem, however, is that the overwhelming majority of people engaged in life-enhancing pursuits beyond the transit zone have no experience of engaging with defectors from high-control movements. Whereas help can readily be found for those seeking to consolidate their exit, at the other end of the transit zone sympathetic guidance may not be so clearly available.
Robert Crompton
Minister (retired), Writer
The Methodist Church of Great Britain
I was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, baptized at the age of eleven and appointed Book Study Conductor at the age of seventeen. I became a “regular pioneer” and, a year later, a “special pioneer” in Clydebank, Scotland, where I served as Theocratic Ministry School Servant, leading the weekly meeting for training in public speaking. I was a bit of a contradiction as a special pioneer. Although I was keen to put in impressively more hours than the quota, I was seduced by Clydebank Public Library. What a wonderful place! I began to read avidly, particularly from their fine collection of books on psychology. I also dipped into philosophy and logic. After little more than two years of pioneering I took what I said was to be a short break for health reasons, but I knew deep down that my pioneering days were over. I did not expect at that stage that I would ever leave the Witnesses. But as a keen reader and independent thinker I was rapidly becoming a misfit. It all fell apart one Thursday evening in July 1965. The Bible reading at the Ministry School was from Genesis 30 – the story about Jacob’s miraculous sheep-breading con trick. I suddenly realised that so much in these ancient narratives was simply unbelievable and not in any sense the word of God. I left the Kingdom Hall that evening on my way to freedom. Long before this I had been given a complete set of Russell’s Studies in the Scriptures and lots of Rutherford’s books. They had been sitting on my bookshelves unread but when I began at last to look into them the whole Watchtower system of belief fell apart with nothing remaining. I explored various churches from fundamentalist to liberal but never felt at home anywhere so I gave up on Christianity altogether. It made no sense and I wanted to be free of it. A part-time degree course with the newly established Open University became a springboard for full-time study of philosophy and linguistics at Lancaster University. The troublesome religious impulse kept nagging at me, however, and I delved into eastern religions and meditation systems but none were for me. Their stories were not my stories – their culture was not my culture. And besides, I couldn’t be open about any of this if I still wanted to be able to visit home. I was beginning to feel a bit wretched again because, even though living alone, I was letting Watch Tower bigotry restrict my life choices. That would have to stop – no matter what the consequences might be. A moment of insight led to a further big step. A crazy thought came into my mind that I should enter the ministry. “Hey! That’s silly,” I thought, “I’m not even a Christian.” But the idea stayed with me. I started attending a Methodist Church and immediately felt completely at home there. After a few weeks, I spoke with the minister about this wild notion that I should enter the ministry. He was very helpful and encouraging, leading me in due course to the long process of application. In late spring of 1984, I was accepted for ministerial training and allocated a college place in Cambridge. As part of my studies there, I would read for a degree in Biblical studies in the University. Cambridge was wonderful and I very much appreciated the rigorous academic approach to Biblical Studies. My only regret was that those three years could not be prolonged indefinitely. I was ordained in 1987 and began my time as a minister in the north-east of England. As a newly ordained minister I was obliged to engage in some form of further study. I was accepted to do part-time post-graduate research for an MLitt degree in the University of Durham. My topic? The origins and development of the Watchtower doctrine of the Millennium.
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