by Black Man 14 Replies latest jw friends
Hey all - I was wondering if we can use THIS thread as an ongoing one to detail BRANCH CLOSINGS of the last 5 years or so and any moving forward? I had a discussion with some members of my family, who are still dyed in the wool JWs, and they didn't believe me about numerous branch closures in recent years. I was trying to look up some threads that talked about it here (on my phone), but couldn't find a thread quickly.
Thanks in advance!
You can look at the yearbook numbers for that, just compare. From 2010 to 2011 you can see that they dropped by 20 branches. Jwsurvey has a couple of articles on branch closing and provides links to outside sources like news on them.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/269036/1/Closed-WT-Branches-list#.U0uTFfldXYE
Just this last week I was discussing this subject with another family member that had faded 30 years ago. I personally spent over 4 years of my life working on numerous branches that were supposed to be the buildings used after HARMeggedon as centers for true worship throughout the earth. It was mentioned numerous times in talks during morning worship and other typical indoctrination sessions at the branches, "that "we don't know" what buildings will make it through Harmeggedon. However, "if Jehovah wills their preservation, as we would suspect because we are so perfect and he wouldn't consider destroying anything we built, that is great."
Basically, the branches of yesteryear, were supposedly to serve, in WT lingo/slang, various "lands" to welcome the resurrected back to life and teach them the "truth". I wonder how I would have reacted if I knew then that they would be "failures"/closing them in 25 years. I sometimes wonder if there are other reasons WTBTS is closing Branches other than the fact that they are expensive jewelry items for WTBTS.
The reason that I have thought this is because the branch coordinators that I knew from working on the branches, many of who went to the first classes of Gilead, (1944), are dead and WTBTS has a dwindling pool of trustworthy brothers that they can use. For example, in the late 1980's and early 1990's WTBTS spent BIG money building a Branch in Greece, and after the Bethel family had moved into the new Branch, the Branch committe would not send donations back to Brooklyn.
WTBTS had to use local brothers for ownership of of the land because WTBTS had to distance itself to connection of the Branch construction because the government would not have allowed WTBTS building the Branch offices if they had known who the Branch development would be used for. I believe they made the Bethel rooms in individual duplexes and quadroflexes, similar to cabins at the Hyatt Regency in Hawaii. From what I heard, the Branch committee was disfellowshiped for apostasy, but Brooklyn still lost the Branch. There was nothing WTBTS could do because ownership was legally in the names of the local Branch committee.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/269036/1/Closed-WT-Branches-list,
says,
"One of the friends at EXTJ forum provided this list of WT branches that have been closed so far, there is also a mention that two large ones are in the process of being dismantled, they are Spain and Argentina. Posted for informational purposes and it seems to be accurate." Thanks for reading" 1) Alaska 2) Antigua
3) Armenia
4) Austria
5 ) Bahamas
6) Belize
7) Belarus
8) Czech Republic
9) Cyprus
10) Costa Rica
11) Guadalupe
12) Guinea , Africa
13) French Guiana
14) Guyana
15) Hawaii
16) Guatemala
17) El Salvador
18 ) Estonia
19) Honduras
20 ) Ireland
21 ) Israel
22) Iceland
23 ) Latvia
24 ) Lithuania
25 ) Luxembourg
26 ) Malaysia
27 ) Malta
28) Martinique
29) Nepal
30) Nicaragua
31 ) Norway
32) New Zealand
33) Panama
34 ) Puerto Rico
35) Samoa
36 ) Sudan
37) Sweden
38 ) Switzerland
39 ) Togo
40 ) Turkey
41 ) Uruguay
42 ) Jamaica (sale )
Does not this increase bring joy to our hearts brothers?
Does not this increase bring joy to our hearts brothers?
Yes, cantleave ...
It has truly been a happifying experience.
Rub a Dub
Belgium Brussels is closing soon.
Why get happy? They are making billions and they still hold JW's captive of a concept. Not much changes for the poor R&F
When they were trying to beg money from JWs to build these branches they said they
would get used as organizing centers after Armageddon
Maybe we can use this to show ones that thought these building's were going to be for after Armageddon and then show them being sold off, maybe away to get them to open their eyes a little.
Good idea in my opinion, don’t remind me, I already know what they say about opinions. Produce here a compilation of all branches that close. As they continue to occur in the future we add the names to this post. The subject will be easy to search for; “Branch Closings.”
