by RN 38 Replies latest jw friends
@ slimboyfat & fugue
Yes, Gilead was downgraded, but of course they tried to downplay it. The change was in a BOE letter read during the 10/11 KM part quoted above. The most recent yearbook is the only place the change is mentioned in print for the R&F; even then it only gets a throwaway mention that's easy to miss.
EDITED to add the thread link of that discussion: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216973/1/No-More-Missionaries
It's a cult - nothing will stay constant.
You forgot about them merging their 3 websites into one.
"This is where we start to enter another issue entirely, which is this - will the Society get desperate enough to "cook" the numbers in the worldwide report as their decline grows worse?..." Cedars, above
I have begun to suspect that the Watchtower Society has been 'cooking' their numbers for many decades, now...
Fudging them, at the very least.
oh the numbers are cooked for sure! statistics can be manipulated a million ways. when the WTS defines what a "land" is then they can make up any number of "lands" they want now can't they?
when both parents count 1 child as a study hows is reporting 2 studies totalling 2 hours of time and honest representation of what occured? (1 study and 1 hour)
babies are counted at kingdom halls as attendees on the tally. I have seen babies counted over a phone hook up b/c the baby was sleeping beside the care giver that was listening! we announce attendance numbers at assemblies and print the memorial attendance in the WT, how many of these are in diapers?
when a person drops down hundreds of magazines at laundry mats and bus stations and counts these as placements or worse yet return visits! how is the WTS placement tallies accurate?
numbers mean nothing when they are generated by the beneficiary of those numbers
wallsofjericho - I couldn't agree more, although I was referring more to the possible extent to which reported figures are nefariously manipulated at branch/world-hq level for propaganda purposes as opposed to the way the data is gathered. It's beyond doubt that the data gathering process itself is far from impartial/accurate. I can think of a few examples myself of blatantly incorrect or otherwise misleading figures being reported, similar to your own recollections.
Cedars
I like this list. I hope Paul at jwfacts.com does an official simple list like this on his site.
Fugue: Actually the "overlapping generations" idea did first surface in 2008. ... w08 2/15 p. 25 Christ’s Presence—What Does It Mean to You?
Interesting. I sit corrected! Thanks for sharing.
However, the wording in that particular article is so vague and innocuous at to be essentially a non-issue. It certainly doesn't state anything clearly enough to constitute a change of doctrine. It may have been a Trial Balloon on the part of the GB. Also, it discusses Joseph and his brothers as an example of people of various ages being part of the same generation. This is completely different than the later change in the Watchtower 2010 April 15 issue which has people of clearly DIFFERENT GENERATIONS being redefined to be of ONE OVERLAPPING GENERATION.
So, I maintain that, the current, definite change was published in the 4/15/2010 mag.
and removing the publisher monthly totals from the KM.
Gilead members are to be hand selected under the new arrangement for selection. Only by invitation. As of 2011 I think?
In a letter dated November 6, 2013, it was announced that a new school will replace the Bible School for Single Brothers (formerly known as the Ministerial Training School, or MTS) as well as the recently formed Bible School for Christian Couples. Single sisters are now welcome at this new training school called, “School for Kingdom Evangelizers.”
In addition to accepting single sisters for the first time, Watchtower is now welcoming older Witnesses after raising its age limit for applicants to 65. Those applying between the ages of 50 and 65 have been told that they must be self-sufficient (meaning they can provide for themselves) and in no need of financial or medical assistance from the organization.
Students of the new school must be prepared to be reassigned to new congregations after graduating.
