Is the WTS preparing for a MASS EXODUS?

by passwordprotected 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  passwordprotected

  Hobo Ken and I were chatting about this yesterday.

  The WTS has past experience of losing vast numbers of members very quickly. From their post-25 and post-75 experiences they will know how best to prepare their organisational structure to remain afloat when they experience another exodus.

  We're only 5 years from the 100 year anniversary of CT Russell walking into the dining room and announcing the Gentile times had ended. Since then, millions of people have molded and adjusted their lives and personal expectations based on the date 1914. The WTS must know that 2015 is going to bring with it one or two upset JWs...

  So, is the WTS preparing for a mass exodus right now?

  - downsizing publication output

  - downsizing headquarter and branch staff

  - not even trying to fight the issues they're facing in Spain; simply shutting up shop

  - downsizing meetings

  - consolidating congregations, selling of Kingdom Halls

  - closing operations in Brooklyn

  They surely must have learned from past experience that when they've failed to manage their client's expectations, they lose members. They will know that they can't afford to have a bloated, overly expensive corporation - especially during the financial crisis - when people just stop coming to the meetings in 2015...
• 

  wha happened?

  A corporation is a corporation. A corporation's only goal is to exist. A corporation has no morals or principals. It mearly intends to exist. Anything and anyone is expendable.
• 

  highdose

  i'm out of date here, can someone tell me what probs they are having in spain?
• 

  quietlyleaving

  many in the 20-40 age group have left and are leaving a local congregation because of the recession. 3 elders are quite elderly now.

  on the other hand the elderly CO is training 2 new younger men to be COs. But I still think the CO arrangment will undergo change.

  there is an air of uncertainty but it is being put down to the end coming.
• 

  wha happened?

  Interesting
• 

  passwordprotected

  there is an air of uncertainty but it is being put down to the end coming.

  I don't doubt it. However, the end of what?
• 

  The-Borg

  It's more a reflection of the current problems they are having rather than planning ahead. The 1995 generation change should have caused a mass exodus if there is going to be one. They've been manouvering away from 1914 for some time now. It would be a very big mistake if they think they could recover from a mass exodus this time around, the internet is their nemesis and they know it.

  If my own congregation is anything to go by, they are suffering from a slow dry rot and severe apathy. Keeping anti witness/ apostate faders trapped inside congreagtions is like a cancer eating away at the congregations. Personally I have managed to get 2-4 people out. I know others who have had a lot more success than me and so it goes on.

  Lack of love is also playing a huge part in causing many witnesses to re-evaluate their faith.
• 

  passwordprotected

  hey've been manouvering away from 1914 for some time now. It would be a very big mistake if they think they could recover from a mass exodus this time around, the internet is their nemesis and they know it.

  I agree that they had been moving away from 1914. However, at the DC this year there were at least two manuscript talks where 1914 was very much front and centre!
• 

  quietlyleaving

  I don't doubt it. However, the end of what?

  the end of the WTS as it exists now they don't have and can't conceive of any other world
• 

  Chalam

  Hi Mark,

  I agree with The-Borg, all the current changes are likely to do with the current economic situation, not any preempting of a mass exodus.

  I do not see the 100 year landmark as significant. 120 is significant because no-one lives longer Genesis 6:3

  What was significant in the previous losses from the WT was they put a year on "Armageddon" and it never happened. They are now being careful not to set dates (or years) and end up with egg on their faces or losses from their ranks.

  Also, the average JW is not concerned with the old light of CTR. The do not see a problem with "God's Organisation" changing its mind on a periodic basis.

  I think the thing the WT has been preparing for and and is countering is the internet. Expect to see more and more official WT content on the net. It will save them $$$ too which they likely need right now.

  All the best,

  Stephen