Didn't the WT announce some months ago that JW's may have to act against their instincts? I would have though that being told to sell your KH in order to send the money to the WT was pretty much against most folks instincts!
It is official they're selling off Kingdom Halls in Britain
by raymond frantz 102 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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disposable hero of hypocrisy
We had the letter. My ladyfriend said that the Sunday meeting would be a NIGHTMARE, sharing one Hall with four congs. She didn't have a thought about the money saving aspect though, or the lack of growth...
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raymond frantz
Most sat there oblivious to the real meaning of the letter.When their Kingdom Hall is sold off and they have to drive 20 miles away to the nearest multi -KH having to share with other 4 congregations then the penny will drop
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AnnOMaly
Yep. It will mean extra time, effort and expense travelling to meetings and altering work routines to fit in with new meeting times or defecting to another congo with a better schedule. Any hard-earned cash the poor publishers have scraped together to put into building/renovating their own halls to last till the big A (as they see it) - poof! - all for nothing. Watchtower pockets the lot. Still, Watchtower has to fund its snazzy new tv studios, Bethel complexes and lawsuit defenses/judgments somehow.
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cofty
What was the rationale given for selling local kingdom halls?
Do they realise how expensive fuel is in the UK? Nobody wants to drive miles twice a week for meetings.
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Slidin Fast
Just to add insult to injury there was also a letter asking for £3 per head for some sort of non-insurance insurance. This amount was to look after KHs, bethels etc affected by fire flood etc. This amount though would not go into a specific insurance fund, it would go into the WWW fund. Now, they have had all the excess, the only amounts left should be the day to day running costs, the rest is paid to the WWW. So now they want all we have and then, in excess, extra money that they would get anyway. Huh?
Our congregation just put their hands up and paid. It takes your breath away.
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88JM
Simon has made some good points, and I'm sure others than myself have a more informed opinion, but when a "company" starts selling off the family silver, i.e. it's physical assets, isn't that usually a classic sign of "panic" or at least a company in crisis?
I realise this has been happening in other countries for a while, but it's interesting that this is now happening in Britain at this time, and not in a subtle way burning away in the background, but in a big announcement letter to all congregations. As to the answer of why Britain and why now, there's the obvious stuff going on in the courts which could likely be causing the cash grab. A few other possible additional reasons though:
- Coming in November, it seems quite likely they now have the 2013-2014 service year-end figures, so it's possible that Britain is once again showing a decrease, as they did in 2001 and 2003.
That's surprising to me from what I saw and heard anecdotally from baptism figures at the summer conventions which looked about average or above. It's possible there have been a lot of people leaving though - young folks are getting wise to the cult younger and younger. I've also thought that future conditions are not looking favourable for much growth in the foreign language field as Britain is wanting to take a much firmer stand on immigration. - Again, I don't put much stock in my own opinion, but I would say on the property market it's also probably about the right time to be selling up - interest rates could be going up in the 18 months, there's a lot of uncertainty around the election next year, whether Britain will be taken out of the E.U. and also the economic state of the E.U. itself which has a huge effect as a trading partner of the U.K. whether it is still part of the E.U. or not. So the property market is probably close to peaking.
- Coming in November, it seems quite likely they now have the 2013-2014 service year-end figures, so it's possible that Britain is once again showing a decrease, as they did in 2001 and 2003.
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problemaddict 2
I'm not sure the consolidation is anything other than a shrewd business move. The society hoardes cash. They just do. Massive transfer of assets to cash is right in line with their personality.
Then from there perspective, why not take that money sitting in assets in places where growth is 1-2 percent, and take it back using it to build where growth is much more likely. Africa and South America for example.
LA isn't "growing". Its just LA. People move around. Its a cash grab and redistribution of the allocation of funds. Simple. Doesn't mean much. The faithful will complain int heir cars as they drive 15 extra minutes ot the hall, and then watch the video of the new hall in Africa their old hall helped erect....and they will feel connected to it.
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breakfast of champions
About 10 years ago, the corporation I used to work for started "consolidating": selling off properties and moving more people into one building. Longer commutes for many people.
This was certainly not done because the business was thriving.