WHY?

Dansk

Not too long ago a new kingdom hall was built in Bury, near where I live. It is frequented by two congregations, Whitefield and Bury. Both have problems and are losing members (let's face it, with my family alone Whitefield lost 5 ).

The point is, why is Watchtower constructing new kingdom halls ANYWHERE if the new system is so close?

When I attended the book study we were often told that when the great tribulation occurred the kingdom halls would be shut down and we'd have to meet at a book study - and that if you didn't attend the book study that night you'd miss hearing where the next book study was to be held because they didn't want to hold it at the same house every week so that the authorities wouldn't know and, therefore, arrest and ill-treat the JWs. This, of course, scared the pants off everyone in book study group - so it was a good ploy!

The point is, having kingdom halls is advertising to the authorities where the JWs are going to be every Sunday and Thursday. It's not as if the authorities, if they were hell-bent on attacking JWs, would advertise the fact thay they were coming on such and such a day! They'd do it in secret so as to catch the ringleaders, especially. (YEAH!!).

So, why is it the membership can't work this all out for themselves? Oh, sorry, many are, that's why they're here!

Ian

iamfreenow

why is Watchtower constructing new kingdom halls ANYWHERE if the new system is so close?

Probably because it isn't that close Ian, and they know it, they just aren't telling their members that. I've heard that story about the book study a few times, and probably said it myself. As I now realise,it's designed to scare people into attending, nothing more. The brother who is telling you might well believe it at the time, probably does, but to the hierachy it's just another tool to keep the faithful in line, as yet another doctrine becomes shaky due to the passage of time.

It's like the much - heralded "big" announcement, which probably won't be that big anyway, but it keeps people in a state of expectancy, and therefore attending meetings, which is the main thing the Society want to see.

Honesty

Because the Watchtower Society is big on real estate. Especially when others pay for it.

blondie

Are you talking about congregations that sell their old halls and build new ones?

It seems that after 10 to 15 years, congregations get dissatisfied with the amenities in their halls perhaps seeing buildings built after theirs. Rather than remodel, they sell and build new. It reminds me of people who buy new vehicles every 3 to 5 years although their vehicle would last ten or more.

Blondie

Dansk

Marion:

Probably because it isn't that close Ian,

There's no 'probably' about it! It isn't close at all!! The GB are lying offspring of unmarried parents!!!

Honesty:

Because the Watchtower Society is big on real estate. Especially when others pay for it.

Exactimon! Ian

Dansk

Blondie:

Are you talking about congregations that sell their old halls and build new ones?

I'm including all building work "to further the truth".

It makes more sense NOT to construct any more buildings because if the end is as close as Watchtower would have us believe the JW builders would be better utilising their time to go out and tell people of God's wrath and to save themselves before it's too late - as Noah (supposedly) did! What's the point of building new kingdom halls just to preach to the converted? Honesty's comments were spot on!

Ian

AK - Jeff

Because -

Volunteers build it - the society owns the labor value.

They borrow the money for the project from the society - and pay the society interest on the money.

Eventually they pay off [or down substansially] the hall - the society owns it all.

They build again - and the society reaps another payoff. Repeat cycle.

IMO - the preaching work may just be something to keep them busy and keep them in so that they have to build and remodel the halls. It is big money in the bank for them.

In our region the Regional Building Boys make sure every hall gets replaced or major remodel every 15 years or so - I was one of the few brothers who fought against this every time it came up - reminded me of sheep to the slaughter - the hall they are in now is big enough for at least three cong of that number. I could not believe at those meetings where it was discussed that no one else even seemed to care that they were trading a paid off loan for a new giant loan and interest every time it happened. What robots.!

Jeff

vitty

Its a scam

We knocked down our old hall ( I think that bury did too ) and built a new one

Heres how it works. Say a new hall costs £100,000 the pubs must raise £50,000 they borrow from the WT building fund the other £50,000 with an interest rate of I think it was 5%

After they have payed off the £50,000 mortgage to the WT, who does the hall now belong too.......................the WT

They 3 brothers who act as trustees for the congregation, but if the congregation is ever disbanded the hall belongs to the WT

So the WT now has a building, that was paid for by the cong, and has been paid interest aswell, pretty good I think

garybuss

Here the paint was barely dry on the remodel on the west side (only) Kingdom Hall when the Witnesses decided to build a new west side Kingdom Hall. After they moved into the new west side Kingdom Hall, they suddenly realized they didn't have an east side Kingdom Hall, so they quickly (3 days) constructed a new east side Kingdom Hall, applying 40 year shingles with all haste. This Kingdom Hall has a parsonage attached.
They currently have 2 cells (called congregations) meeting at each location.
We live in the USA Bible belt and we have good political oriented religious group activity. Politics and religion are blurred lines here in the USA on a good day and these radicle political groups like Jehovah's Witnesses operate with impunity most of the time.
The reason they have construction programs is only financial. A benefit to the building programs is the diffusion of the donated dollars and the illusion of group growth. Another benefit is the perception of purpose and the illusion of accomplishing something. Kingdom Hall building does accomplish something but not for the people doing the building or for those irregulars donating the cash.
Here the Kingdom Halls moved from the back lots to busy traffic arteries and business advertising signs were installed at curbside. It's like being seen walking into a Kingdom Hall was something to be proud of. If I were paranoid, I wouldn't build both Kingdom Halls in a fishbowl, but that's what they've done.

moshe

Maybe with all the elderly publishers now they need to build handicap accessible/friendly KH's. The old KH that I went to was owned by the local brothers in a trust. They rebuilt a new KH using local bank funds. Then a few years later, the brothers were convinced to payoff the bank loan using a loan from the WT KH fund. In so doing , they put the WT Society on the deed! I just realized that they lost local control and ownership of their KH when they did that!

WHY?

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