The annual report will no longer appear in The Watchtower. Starting in 2008, it will appear as an insert in Our Kingdom Ministry as well as in the Yearbook.
For more than seventy years, the annual report of the worldwide activity of JWs has been proudly publicised in the January 1st editions - and more latterly the February 1st editions of the Watchtower magazine. The annual reports were announced as so important that they constituted proof of Jehovah's blessing on the preaching ministry. Little wonder the language in the accompanying articles generously focused on the increases and - if mentioned at all - downplayed the stagnation or decrease.
This has now changed. Starting from 2008, the report will not be included in the Watchtower magazine. This is yet another significant change that has been mentioned only in passing i.e. see January 15th 2008 Watchtower for the above announcement).
Increasingly, it looks like information on JW activity and growth - and/or stagnation and decrease - will only be known to those who have access to the Kingdom Ministry or the Yearbooks.
I'm sure that those of us outside the organization will still get the information from the annual report sooner or later anyway. However, it is extremely revealing that the information the organization once considered to be highly important for public dissemination is now confined to publications that have a more restricted readership. tuned.