by minimus 21 Replies latest jw friends
I don't see the money issue bringing the WT Society down. It will have a negative effect upon their operations. However, it may result in positive changes to their doctrinal structure. Maybe they will finally realize that their shunning policy is not only losing them donations, but also eating up their existing resources.
Sincerely,
Athanasius
Go Broke Ha
When my close friend first became a witness i did some quick reading of its history. I noticed it was grossly mistaken (around the turn of the last century from memory ) and this coupled with the most gloomy outlook i have ever seen a bunch of adults actually believe brought me to the quick conclusion that the jehova's witness movement is designed to fail every so often. The reason for this i assumed was because unless all the believers banished they would not be able to realise the immense capitol wealth that they have created in the Kingdom halls. As i hear people leaving i see the first stages of this occuring now.
It has been stated by some CO's that when members of a congregation are not happy it first shows up in a lack of contributions. If this happens on a world-wide scale it could present problems for them.
I see more unhappy JW's but most not unhappy to the point where they actually leave the religion. A large membership failing to contribute due to discontent, while at the same time active enough to put a drain their resources is probably what is already happening and may be largely responsible for their cost cutting measures.
Many JW's are turning more attention to their personal finances as many more face an unplanned retirement. I can't see young people having any desire to contribute financially to them and many JW's simply don't have the disposible income due to lower incomes from following their bad advice on not getting an education. Many also are hopelessly in debt and burdened with mental/emotional problems from years of pioneering and disappointments from an "end" that never materialized.
JW's are facing a crisis from all angles imo and money is just one significant area where they are in trouble. I think it is just a waiting game at this point and in a few more years everything will collapse inward to Patterson.
Path
I tend to agree with Ozzie - the WTS financial iceberg is much more massive than it first appears, and the visible surface structure - the local Kingdom Halls - are a relatively minor part of the whole. By selling off the Brooklyn properties alone the WTS will keep itself in green for a long, long time.
The local Kingdom Halls are a "local probelm." As in any business, unprofitable satellite offices (KHs) will be shut down with little concern given for how far the faithful sheep must travel to get to their new consolidated congregation. After all, they have to demonstrate their conviction and endure the trials that Satan puts in front of them, don't they?
Certainly we all WISH to see the WTS reduced to insignificance, but I doubt if that will happen within the next 50 years. Yet we must do what we can to help the WTS achieve this goal.
So money is the big theme at the circuit assembly? Perhaps, they can title the new , upcoming District Convention: "Loyal Spenders", so as to subliminally entrance the unsuspecting Witness. If they are hurting for money, eventually, they'll have to find a way to get publishers to give again. No money= no organization. If they sell nearly everything, it would be a waste after all these years. They have to figure out a way to make people want to give. If the religion ever did become less restrictive, I think people might support the Watchtower more.
the answer is NO-
WHEN YOU consider that there are less than 30guys who actually run a 6million man show money will never be a problem- if wt lost 95% of it's members these 25-30 guys will still NEVER HAVE TO GET A JOB-
6mill lost of 95% = 5.7 mill loss leaves 300,000 members
here in md there is a pastor who has 24,000 members in his church both he and wife own blue and black rolls royces and he has a Lear Jet parked 5 miles from my house at the local airport he maintains that off the backs of just 24, 000 folks
imagine if wt sold all 95% of all the Kingdom Halls, assembly halls and branches around the world and then shut down completely all operations in Brooklyn and put the property up for sale-
just on the cash from real estate these 25-30 guys would live the balance of thier life in style-
they could outsource all their printing for the remaining 300,000 world wide and life would be good
so no cash will probably not be much of a issue- send all the bethelites back to field, cut the missionaries, CO., DO and the boys at the Big HOuse could run the show by themselves
Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York
25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, 11201
718-560-5000
www.jw-media.org
Revenue: $951 million
Industry: Publishing
President: Milton Henshel
Employees: 3,415
It takes a lot of printing to supply more than 6 million Jehovah's Witnesses with the materials for their ministry. One publication, Watchtower, now has an average print run of 23 million copies twice per month, an increase of 7.5 percent over last year.
"Our report for the year is different from a Wall Street company," said vice president George Couch. Indeed, the company's employees are volunteers who live and work in the Brooklyn complex.
http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-cvtop52369349sep17.story?coll=ny%2Dbusiness%2Dprint
They'll never go completely broke - with all those assets left them from suckers who died
waiting for Armageddon.
There may be a little liability from old folks who loaned them cash and receive bits of
it back like an annuity or conditional donations but they have a lot of property to sell
off. Even the child molesting lawsuits won't break them, if won. I don't take that 951 million figure seriously - I don't think their non-profit status
can be easily compared to an ordinary corporation.
What WILL be fun to watch is the decline of Watchtower pretention as they cut Bethelites,
subscriptions, hard bound books, food at assemblies, subs on tape, funds for foreign
branches, etc.
metatron
The Decline Of The Watchtower Pretention....sounds like a great post,Met!
If someone has already posted this information, I apologize. I don't read most of the threads--just pop in once in a while to take a quick look.
My nephew is a Bethel boy, and every once in a while I get a bit of news through my parents (my nephew's father--my brother--hasn't talked to me in 12 years, so I don't know my nephew at all). Anyway, he was home visiting a couple of weeks ago and he told my parents that the society is getting new presses and is moving everything upstate. He said that the guys who ran the old presses will be "out of a job." I couldn't get any more information, because my parents told me this after he went back home.
Has anyone heard anything about this?
As an aside, my mom asked my nephew what the society would do with all that Brooklyn property is the move the printing business upstate. She told him that all that property had to be worth millions and millions of dollars. I don't think he had a reply for that. :-)
Julie F
