Jehovah's Witnesses congregational discipline

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Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses
Overview Organizational structure Governing Body Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Corporations History Bible Student movement Leadership dispute Splinter groups Doctrinal development Unfulfilled predictions Demographics By country
Beliefs Practices Salvation Eschatology The 144,000 Faithful and discreet slave Hymns God's name Blood Discipline Literature The Watchtower Awake! New World Translation List of publications Bibliography Places Kingdom Hall Gilead School
People Watch Tower presidents W. H. Conley C. T. Russell J. F. Rutherford N. H. Knorr F. W. Franz M. G. Henschel D. A. Adams Robert Ciranko Formative influences William Miller Henry Grew George Storrs N. H. Barbour John Nelson Darby Notable former members Raymond Franz Olin Moyle
Criticism Criticism Handling child sex abuse Unfulfilled predictions
Opposition Persecution in Nazi Germany Supreme Court cases by country
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Jehovah's Witnesses employ various levels of congregational discipline as formal controls administered by congregation elders. Members who engage in conduct that is considered inappropriate may be counseled privately by elders, and congregational responsibilities may be withheld or restricted.

Private hearings involving "serious sin" are performed by formal judicial committees, in which guilt and repentance are determined by a tribunal of elders. A variety of controls can be enforced, from reproof and restriction of congregational duties to excommunication, known as disfellowshipping, which includes shunning. Individuals who are disfellowshipped may be reinstated after an extended period if they are deemed to demonstrate repentance. The practice of disfellowshipping, particularly the shunning of family members, has been criticized by many non-members and ex-members.