by KAYTEE 14 Replies latest jw friends
Happy New Year to everyone
Is anyone able to help me with this enquiry?
When was it that the individual congregations became a Registered Charity in their own right ?
The reason for asking this, is that we have come up against lies (as usual) and just need to get our facts right before confronting certain ones
Many thanks for any help
KT
It depends..
Some UK Congregations have been registered charities for many years, but most congregations were 'recommended' to egister and adopt a model constitution provided by the Britain branch.
May 1997 is probably the date your congregationm adopted the new Constitution and became a Registered Charity - you can check at the Charity Commission website
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/default.asp
You will need to search by the Congregation name and you will see something like this:
Main Charity 1065620 | |
| Click link for more details | LONDON, STRATFORD CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES |
| Old Names | LONDON, STRATFORD CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESES |
| Charity Correspondent | deleted text out of courtesy by Core |
| Telephone | xxxxxxx |
| Governing Document | THE MODEL CONSTITUTION WAS APPROVED ON 17 OCTOBER 1996 AND ADOPTED WITHOUT ANY AMENDMENT BY THE CHARITY ON 29TH MAY, 1997. |
| Objects | THE PRACTICE AND ADVANCEMENT OF CHRISTIANITY FOUNDED ON THE HOLY BIBLE, AS UNDERSTOOD BY THE DENOMINATION OF CHRISTIANS KNOWN AS JEHOVAH;'S WITNESSES, INCLUDING THE PREACHING OF THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S KINGDOM BY JESUS CHRIST WITHIN THE CONGREGATION AREA AND THE HOLDING OF MEETINGS. |
| Area of Benefit | LONDON STRATFORD, FOREST GATE, PLAISTOW, LEYTONSTONE |
| Area of Operation | Charity Operates in locations in England and Wales GREATER LONDON-NEWHAM GREATER LONDON-WALTHAM FOREST |
| Registration History | 10 Nov 1997 Registered |
| Classification | |
| What | Religious activities |
| Who | Other charities/Voluntary bodies General public/Mankind |
| How | Provides human resource(eg staff/volunteers) Provides buildings/facilities/open space Provides services(eg care/counselling) |
| Mailing & Submissions |
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| Financial History |
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Hope this helps Core
Edited by - core on 1 January 2003 8:55:36
Edited by - Simon on 1 January 2003 13:3:46
G'day Kaytee,
There's been some very interesting posts on this in the past. Here's a couple:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=13917&site=3
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=14295&site=3
There was some info on the now defunct Watchtower Observer.
I hadn't heard that EACH congo was a registered charity. Is that a new development?
Cheers, Ozzie
OZZIEPOST
In the UK yes all congs are charities in their own right, with a model constitution from the Society, this came about because of a tightening in the UK of the powers of the Government Body The Charity Commission, following several frauds on charities which were not regulated/registered. The Commission could, at will, take over the running of charities which were negligent or financially unsound.
If congs had not registered then they would have had problems with any form of fund raising (including collection boxes) and owning property, as the Charity Commission would have probed transactions deeply.
The Society chose not to make the congs part of one charity (the IBSA) as this would expose the branch to clear responsibility for what happrens in congs. It also removed at a stroke some probable legal responsibility the branch had for congs - leaving the local elders (who are all trustees of the charity) responsible for any and all legal actions against the cong/ charity.
Power was not lost the the Society as the Constitution strictly controlled what happens to any funds in the case of cong closing/merging or whatever.
Most elders are blissfully unaware of the legal responsibilities they hold and the consequences for them if any action is taken against the cong.
At about the same time congs were asked to pass Resolutions allowing the Society (the IBSA or new Watch Tower Society of Britain) to use donated funds in any way and any part of the world it wished. The Charities Laws do not allow charities to spend money on anything other than the aims of the specific charity so special provisions (the Resolutions of Approval) were passed to approve expenditure outside the scope (outside the UK) of the Charities Commission - so money donated for the British KH Fund, for example, could be spend in Africa or indeed anywhere.
Registering as individual Charities for every congregation allowed the Society greater, not lesser control over the congs as it is now written into cong Constitutions that the Societys can at will appoint or delete elders etc. Other provisions exist which give the society control of cong property/funds.
The situation is unique to the UK (England and Wales) with different provisions in Scotland, the Isle of Man is not covered by UK Charity Law even though it is administered by the british WT branch.
Hi Ozzie:
In Canada, every congregation, circuit and district are set up as separate charitable organizations. There are almost 1500 JW related charities in Canada, according to Canada Customs & Revenue Agency files (available online).
http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/tax/charities/online_listings/charity_listings-e.html
Edited by - Scully on 1 January 2003 10:35:24
Let me understand this.....WT is doing this, I pressume, to avoid paying taxes, correct? If so, if they registered certain congregations as charities with their local governments, doesn't that mean that they are now suppose to do charity work, and if they don't do so, aren't they setting themselves up for somebody to "blow the whistle"?.......please enlighten me....[we all now how "big" WT is about charity]....rocky220
Edited by - rocky220 on 1 January 2003 11:37:52
Rocky 220
Yes - Tax benefits in UK for charities - congregations register as Charities because their aim is stated as :
THE PRACTICE AND ADVANCEMENT OF CHRISTIANITY FOUNDED ON THE HOLY BIBLE, AS UNDERSTOOD BY THE DENOMINATION OF CHRISTIANS KNOWN AS JEHOVAH;'S WITNESSES, INCLUDING THE PREACHING OF THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S KINGDOM BY JESUS CHRIST WITHIN THE CONGREGATION AREA AND THE HOLDING OF MEETINGS.
this is accepted by the Charities Commission so no 'charity' in the sense most people understand it is involved.
It has been stated that much of the WT income in Britain is fromn 'Deeds of Covenant' or 'Charitable Giving' - for every 1 given by a taxpayer the Government adds an amount - around 25% (not got latest figures to hand).
All religions / churches and non-profit organisations with aims that include Education or something which has the general aim of helping the population in some way are allowed to register for Charity status.
Core-thank you for the information, it seems like just another of WT's many loop holes......rocky220
Many thanks to everyone for all of the very useful info. I have found the information absolutely brilliant ! Well done all of you, I have printed it out and will read it carefully.
Special thanks to Core and Scully for sharing your research on this subject.
Just to put you in the picture, briefly:-
Certain ones have been lying for quite a few years on the subject of Restricted Funds, i.e. Money donated specifically for a Lift for the disabled (due to the fact that the Main Hall where all congregate, is upstairs, with no access for disabled) We knew full well that donations had been given for this Lift Fund, but certain ones changed the name of the Fund to call it a more general name, They have even written to the Charity Commissioners to say that there had NEVER been a Lift Fund !!! (We have far more than two witnesses to this effect) We were certainly under the impression that Restricted Funds could not be changed to General Funds, without the permission of the donor or donors, but as a christian we are told to "Not blow our trumpet", and not advertise our gifts.
Thanks again
KT
Hi Ozzie
We haven't heard anything about the fires down under, so we presume that you survived that roasting!
We checked out the two links that you posted and they were very interesting. We have added them to our Large file that's getting bigger all the time !
Hope that you are all keeping well.
KT & Twink
