Can the Borg close down a Kingdom Hall because of low attendance?

by Heartofaboy 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Heartofaboy

  The land for our hall was given to the congregation by a local brother.

  The contribution box was overflowing with gifts of money from the brothers & sisters in the congregation when they knew we were going to have our 'own' hall at last.

  We built it ourselves with help from brothers & sisters that donated their time & skills

  We had a small loan from the borg to help us finish the project & this was paid off very quickly.

  That must be 25 years ago now.

  We were told by circuit overseers we would be blessed if we had our own hall & that the fine witness would bring many people in to the 'truth'.

  It didn't.

  We were never a big congregation, however when attendance went down to below 30 a couple of years ago, the circuit overseers wanted to close the hall down.

  The elders protested & the hall is still being used.

  Can the borg close down a Kingdom Hall they haven't built & keep the proceeds?

  Why doesn't it belong to the people that paid for it?
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  Quendi

  Yes, HOAB, the WTS can seize a kingdom hall if its name is on the title. What is happening in your area is part of a global pattern. It’s not the low attendance that has concerned the bean counters in Brooklyn. It is the fact that your kingdom hall sits on property that can be sold for a tidy sum and a nice fat profit by the WTS. That is the motivation for the actions it has taken—nothing more.

  All around the world, we are seeing this happen, the most notorious case being in California where a kingdom hall is on property in a very lucrative area of Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto. The circuit overseer recommended a remodel of the hall. None was needed and the local elders rejected the idea. A remodel would mean taking a loan from the WTS which would then have its name placed on the title.

  The Society decided to dissolve the congregation, a congregation that had been in existence for decades, and sell the hall and the land. When the elders still refused to accommodate the WTS, they were disfellowshipped. The whole case is now tied up in court, but many believe the WTS will eventually win.

  Branch offices are being closed and the holdings sold. We have seen this in Ireland, New Zealand and other countries. Money from the sales is not disbursed among the local Witnesses but instead is sent to Brooklyn. Where I live, the Alabama Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses is being offered to the city of Bessemer for the nice sum of $1.4 million. I remember when the old high school which is now the assembly hall, was bought back in 1979 for the paltry sum of less than $20,000. If the city of Bessemer purchases the assembly hall, all the money will go to Brooklyn. Not one cent will stay in the local community. This organization is a money-loving group of hypocrites, and you are seeing that hypocrisy in action.

  Quendi
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  james_woods

  Even if the society is NOT on the title to the Kingdom Hall, they can still dissolve the congregation and leave the hall as essentially a derelict.
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  alanv

  Thanks for that Quendi. Very interesting. So presumably if a congregation is geting good attendance, the hall is safe from the societies hands.

  Are you saying any time the local cong wants to borrow any money from the society, maybe to build a bigger hall, they can as long as the societies name goes on the deeds.

  Do you know approx what percent of kingdom halls would have the societies name on the deeds?

  Thanks
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  Found Sheep

  They closed one near me in WV. I'm not sure of all the details but they dispersed the congregation with near by congregations. The problem was the closest hall is an hour away so alot of the older ones just stopped going. The congregation I went to before I left had less then 30 but the hall was paid in full I never heard of a shut down.
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  Gayle

  How far is your next closest KH?
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  blondie

  The WTS is the parent non-profit religious organization in the US (don't know laws in other countries).

  Under US law they can dissolve a congregation and take over administration of its assets. But neither the congregation or the WTS OWN these things. It would violate the IRS rules and they would lose their tax-free status in the US.

  http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Churches-&-Religious-Organizations
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  Bobcat

  They can. A close by congregation just recently voted on ByLaws, written by the Society. these ByLaws are only for title holding congregations. You can see an excerpt of them I placed on this post.

  One of the interesting things about this was it was voted on during a service meeting. Of course, that, in itself, is standard practice. But this KH has multiple congregations totaling about 200 publishers who helped build, pay for, and support monetarily. Yet only about 40 publishers voted on the bylaws, and only a majority was needed to pass them.

  Thus, roughly 21 or so decided the futture ownership of the KH. Of the few that I have asked so far, I haven't been able to find any that read the bylaws while they were hanging on the info board for about two weeks. (Although, I imagine the elders probably read them.)

  Another interesting thing about this: When the vote was about to be taken, the brother doing the part (a local needs part) presented this as 'something the branch wants us to do.' (close to his exact words, but exactly the thought.)

  Take Care
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  blondie

  The local non-profit corporation consists only of the congregation that holds the territory the building and land held by that congregation rests on. There could be 4 congregations in one building but only one has the territory with the KH on it assigned to its territory. I can see why they would have only that congregation vote. At least that is how non-profits work in the US.
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  Found Sheep

  who me? a little over an hour