by sacolton 42 Replies latest watchtower bible
If you live in the UK and want to have a look at your local assembly hall finances, simply check with the Charity Commission. For the Surrey Assembly Hall:
You can of course check any of the other assembly halls or any of the congregations in the UK also. Makes interesting reading.
George
It's a given in Canada -- same format -- boxes, take in contrib..read report..get more monies., send leftover to society -- why??? It should be placed in a fund for next assembly..the society does not need it --
and along the lines of what Snakeface is saying, yes there is a lot of upkeep -- but guess who does that? and who pays for that.... The publishers -- and then pays the society back for the lend of the money to keep up the assembly hall, so the society is making money off the hall, and the DO/CO/elders will still send the leftover to the society... and we still have to take care of the expenses for our regular halls and the CO and the DO, and and and........
I do no give anymore as I used to, I give to the ones who need some help in the congregation.and know what is being done with it
Just relating my local congo's stance on the matter....
Some time ago I remember hearing a talk where our attendance was compared to that of going to the movies and was suggested $10 per PERSON attending the program.
My congo took this to 'heart' and passed a resolution of $7 per adult publisher and $3.50 per publishers under 12... (local movie rates at the time-- kids tickets have risen to $ 5 but I am not sure if the BOE made adjustments)
I believe we send a 'lump sum' from our account in addition to individual donations at the program.
My Congo adopted a similar system to Yknot's, not the same exactly in money and not based on movie prices, based on some magic formula the elders of the circuit came up with.
All this reminds me of the late, great George Carlin's riff about God owning the whole Universe, He's the richest guy in the Universe, but He just can't handle His current account, He needs YOUR Dollar$ !!!
If Jehovah wants Assemblies and Assembly Halls, why doesn't He pay for them ?
Hey DY - I'm as chilled as they come. But the Great British Pound should NEVER be confused with european monopoly money!
Edited cause I did my math with a 6 family person. Ok so for a 6 person family. that Mom Dad, and 4 brats all publishers. which were pretty common in my home congregation. mostly by elders oddly enough so that's 30 bucks per person large family! 5 bucks per pub with a 100 plus publisher congregations, is 500 atleast per congregation. Atleast 10 congregations meet sometimes more for the assemblies. (I know they totally redid ours to FILL the assembly hall. We were jammed in like sardines, and people had to eat in their car, cause there was no room in the caf for everyone. So 5,000 Maditory.. Not counting everyone tossing in a few extra, and then bragging about it making you feel bad for not doing the same. Also EVERYONE comes out of the woodwork for these so that more money going in. Taking into account 5,000 for one day EVERY weekend.. so times 2 (cause we KNOW the next group is their Sunday) is 10,000 for one WEEKEND. and 72 weeks in a year. so that's like on average 720,000 a year off just assembly days. not counting 3 day district conventions.
WOW
EXACTLY Slayer!!!
And the 'donation' was per DAY! ....
No wonder many more are starting to 'skip out' on the hotel arrangements......
Only Elders and kiss up MS stay overnight for CA or DC !
The guys behind the stage almost always do that calculation. (accounts, assembly overseer, whatever- I forget the titles) It is sometimes presented at the circuit assembly elders "business" meeting. And occasionally an in-delicate elder or CO says something like that from the stage. The best part is the unanimous passage of a resolution to donate so much to the Society or pay the DO's and CO's expenses (like you can actually have a productive discussion with 100 elders- of course they just vote yes- so they can get back to their family.)
The only thing I fault them for over the matter of money/contrubutions, is that the average publisher isn't privy to the details of how funds are distributed. These things should be common knowledge and readily available to anyone who wants them. There seems to be a shroud of mystery around the details and an expectation that one should just trust everything is being handled. Even if one knew who to ask about these matters, they would likley be though of as "unsheeplike" for even asking.
If a congregation votes to send money from the congregation funds to the assembly, just stop donating.
