


In 1975, the pressure on my father became even greater. Dad was confident that his effort in serving zealously and tirelessly in the ministry would help facilitate his salvation as well those whom he led. Yet Dad felt it was what Jehovah God required of him in the last days of Satan’s wicked system leading to the war of Armageddon as foretold in the bible book of Revelation 16:16. It was difficult balance to undertake and as a young boy, I could see the toll it took on him. Dad also juggled a full-time job working construction (during weekdays) and overseeing our family’s needs in the evenings and weekends while at the same time fulfilling his ministerial duties.
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Still a relatively young man in his early thirties, my father managed a full plate of congregation duties (including administration of local field ministry activities, shepherding of congregation members, preparing and delivering weekly meeting presentations, and working on several additional organization-related special projects), all performed without compensation. By 1975, my father was serving as the local presiding overseer, which at that time was viewed by some as the weightiest of leadership roles in a local Witness congregation. My father held leadership and ministerial duties within the local Kingdom Hall congregation, which our family attended several times each week.

I was born into a Jehovah’s Witness family and reared to have faith in the beliefs and traditions of Jehovah God’s organization. Cary Valentine, a lifelong Jehovah’s Witness, is a PhD candidate at Andrews University and adjunct faculty member at Baker University, where he teaches several topics related to organizational behavior and leadership.
