Thanks all for your kind and welcoming words! It feels great to be part of the conversation now instead of just an observer. I may introduce myself in the "official" thread soon. For some background, I am under 35, was raised "in the word" (this is still just as commonly used a phrase as it ever was...very annoying!) and have not attended any type of meeting for well over...lets say, four months. These figures are purposefully vague ;)
It has been valuable to lurk and read the stories from those of you who have been "out" as long as 20 years and as recently as 5 - I would bet there are plenty of lurkers like myself, from a more recent wave, who are interested in sharing their story. I know from experience that when those of us who are freshly "out" try to communicate in real life (the internet, in person, you name it) TWI makes a HUGE effort to stop it. I am so reluctant to share my story as it'll probably give me away entirely, but lets just say if TWI (or a concerned parent) catches a whiff of a young outtie trying to talk to an innie, they intervene as quickly and roughly as they can. I'm now glad I can hide behind the internet! Lol.
I have absolutely, positively, zero idea. If I ask my family, I would imagine they'd fudge the numbers. I know some states (FL, OH) have plenty more action than others. My state has around 5-10 fellowships of 5-10 members each. Yawn.
Again, I don't know for sure - but it sounds like this is exactly what's happening. Per-fellowship, no minimum. I'm not sure how recently you have been involved, but EVERY SINGLE class from foundational to advanced is now recorded and on a DVD - they just pull up an old TV in front of the class and press play. To that point, they're probably not viewing it as that big of an effort, especially since its hard as hell to run one around here with the minimum of five people or whatever. I think people are also getting ....ed off about the "no refund" policy; I feel strongly about this and "new people" who I've seen join/attend feel the same. You pay your $100, you wait around for a year for a class to attend, and once the year goes by without a full, running class - no fault of your own - you're out $100?
Again, I've been out for several months (I'd say long enough to be official - no way I'm going back) but still have some very close ties. People are still "kindly" trying to get me back in, but the message is pretty clear.
You all may get a kick out of this - but I think I am finally past the point where I think posting on this website is the devil/adversary working through me. It is nice to have a place to speak freely about our experiences without people jumping in and telling us we're possessed.
