by Watchtower-Free 80 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Defianttruth: good for you, unfortunately too many bosses can't summon the guts to do that.
The lack of transparency at the WTBS makes it impossible to know what's going on. Given the value of their real estate, I can't believe that lawsuits can create losses big enough to really hurt them. But I think something is brewing, I'm just not sure what.
Deer in the headlights look.
Seems like they're in serious trouble, or they're giving a good impression of it for some reason.
JustVisiting - "I thought that was a little odd reaction to negative news."
Please.
The loyalist rank-and-file would find it just as happifying if a GB member announced that the Trinity concept was acceptable, now...
OMG! I just watched this. This announcement was a long time in coming. His body language speaks volumes. They are having significant money problems. How is the work expanding if they are reducing branch sizes? This can only signify that WT is having real problems.
Isaac
I've heard this speech a bunch of times at private employers, usually at the beginning of a new year. Last year's speech was all about how the company is growing, the product line is selling beyond anybody's predictions, we're all going to get raises and bonuses etc. The short version of this year's speech is "What we told you last year (or last week) was bullshit."
This doesn't mean they're broke, it does mean they don't have the cash to do what they thought they were going to do. Based on my time working in real estate development I estimate the Warwick project will cost them three hundred to five hundred million dollars, if everything goes well. Anybody that's done development knows that's a gigantic "IF." I can count on the fingers of one hand the projects that came in on time and on budget.
What we don't know is what is causing the cash sort-fall. My guess (again based on experience in the area) is that somebody had their rose colored glasses on when they estimated the cost of Warwick and now they're trying to cover their costs. This has the potential to suck up a gigantic pile of money.
I doubt it's lawsuits, those will be a pain, but I don't think they can cost enough to raise this kind of problem.
One thing we don't know is what they netted from the sale of NYC property. They may have had liens, or they may have financed the sales themselves - not a bad plan as it insures a steady stream of cash, and if the buyer goes under they foreclose the property and sell it to somebody else. If Warwick is going way over budget, the planned income stream may not be enough. Or perhaps something is holding up a sale. We don't know.
That's my .02 on this.
It's a longer term trend than just the new compound in the US, but it seems that has really pushed them over the edge. Wasn't there hints from one member of the GB that it was a tough call whether they did it or not?
Donations seem pretty stagnant, at least on a per publisher basis, in the countries where they have to release accounts. With flatlined growth, their revenue is flat. So if they're reliant on third world growth then there has to be a cross-country subsidy to maintain what they've been doing. So would that explain it? Over-expansion, over-optimism as they come up with new ideas which stretch them too far financially without the donations ever catching up? They may not have taken enough corrective action soon enough, doing the whole Jehovah-jireh 'Armageddon will be here next year' thing, and they're now forced to make major spending cut-backs.
Definitely think JeffT's point that their ability to sell land/buildings means they're still a long way off from a true financial meltdown. They have assets there to sell. They've already shown that they'll ride roughshod over local congregations to do that when they want to. They're mutating again so wouldn't surprise me to see them making even more moves to consolidate congregations in areas where either growth is absent or there's a real decline in numbers.
They are restructuring their whole operations.
Prior to this latest reduction in the magazines they announced that it was with the hope that they could focus on more translations. They've been buying up smaller buildings around the world to serve as translation offices.
They've already spent a lot of money in order to produce video presentations. They've had all KH's invest in screening equipment. They've said that they plan to produce movie video's, they paid $6 million for a dedicated studio not long ago.
These are expenses they didn't have before and who knows what else they have planned. They've got to cut down on spending for things that aren't necessary to meet their new goals.
They don't need to pay for pioneers, they've got plenty who will do it for free. The number of hours spent in the witnessing work has gone up far greater than their increase in publishers.
They are cutting down on labour within the Bethel's for work that is unnecessary. They will probably only recruit for qualified individuals in the future.
They see the need to become smarter with their money.
The ending was very touching:
"With every good wish: Your Brothers The Governing Body"
What utter dreamworld hypocrites. They are in very serious trouble I would not doubt that they might do some jail time over this Australian Royal Commission inquiry and they finally get through with them and hands them over to the proper authorities.
