by sandy 26 Replies latest jw friends
I always wondered why we remodeled our KH. There wasn't really anything wrong with it. I could see painting or putting in new carpet when needed. But a complete reconstruction! It just didn't seem necessary.
I think this is a waste of money that can be given to needy families.
I always felt bad about it when I would hear reports of those in foreign countries who didn't even have a building to worship in.
Anybody else have similar rebuilding or remodeling done to their KH that was unnecessary?
All the time (in the US). Here's how it goes. Congo build new hall. Congo takes out WTBTS loan to build said hall. Congo pays off or gets close to paying off said hall. C.O. begins to 'pressure' congo to remodel. Guess where the $$$$ for the remodel comes from? Your pocket. Yep, another WTBTS loan to 'remodel', which YOU payoff.
One hall I was loosely associated with a) built new, even though they had not outgrown the old, b) remodeled 2 years later, c) remodeled another 3 years after that. Last I heard they were being pressured to build ANOTHER hall. This in spite of the fact that they have less KH attendence now than when they built the hall in the first place.
As in all things in JW land - just follow the $$$$$.
Yes, unnecessary replacement of carpeting. I was in one congregation for 11 years and the carpets were replaced twice during my time there, and the wear and tear on both occasions was negligible.
As with everything, there's always a hidden agenda... as I understand it, Circuit Overseers are under orders to push renovations as a way to put the Society's money in play, and this scenario is being played out all over the place. It's a far cry from the 50s when most Kingdom Halls were rented storefronts or walk-ups in office buildings, etc. and that was a actually a source of pride among some JWs, who loved to chide the Catholics for their cathedrals and remind them that ``God does not dwell in handmade temples.
It's happening all over the place.
It happened recently here at my old Kingdom Hall. From what I understand, it went from 80's beige to "Thoroughly Modern KH."
I've seen it happen a lot, also. The funny thing is that typically the body of elders pick the manner in which the KH will be redone without consulting anyone in the congregation, esp sisters. That is why the remodelling often looks so godawful.
We had a remodelling (I think when the regional building committee found we had £20,000 in the bank)
The remodelling proposed was for £20,000 !
We had one option to consider, not a range of proposals, and everything we would have was already decided ... "oh, what a living arrangement"
We spent all the money on carpets and chairs. "Luckily", the people on the building committee were able to spend out money with themselves so that their businesses benefitted form the hyped up prices and lack opf competitive quotes.
We paid something like £50 per chair ! I could go into a shop and buy 1 chair for that ... if I was buying 200 I'd expect a bit of a discount.
Oh, and they were uncomfy as hell.
I was really amazed at the frivolous way that they would throw money into re-decorating, re-carpeting, re-tiling, new seats, new rostrum, new kitchen units, new roof, windows, gates, block-paving, security cameras, blinds, hoovers, and the list goes on. I would say that for the majority of these items, they were totally unnecessary.
I actually thought it was disgraceful how they would pour scorn on those that could afford good holidays, nice cars or those that had a comfortable lifestyle and lived in a decent home.
How hypocritical! But thats just what we should expect isn't it? Double standards as always.
Yeah Simon. They did it at the local hall too. Took out the old, comfy theatre seats and replaced them with hard, unpadded bench type seats. Pews? Many people stopped going after that and others carried pillows from home. Whatta waste.
Seems to be the opposite where I'm at. Some halls are an embarrassment. Outdated colors and fabrics. Worn out/damaged carpet and furniture.
I remember at one hall, the carpet was damaged and needed to be replaced. There were several congregations sharing this one building and the different elder bodies could never agree on how to pay for it. It seems that one congregation "owned" the hall with the others just "using" it. The elders from the "using" cong. did not want to spend money on upkeep/repair/remodel leaving the "owning" body of elders holding the bag. According to info from the WTS somewhere along the way, all cong. were to share in expenses and decisions. Since some were so stubborn our elders figured they couldnt do anything. Along comes the Circuit Overseer and he is upset about the carpet. At the elder/MS meeting he asks why nothing has been done. Elders explain that the others wouldn't help. How much would it cost asks the CO. For repair without replacing, less than 500. The CO just looks around the room and says "between the 12-14 brothers in this room you mean to tell me that you can't come up with $500?" Two weeks later the carpet was repaired. Paid for by the majority of the brothers sitting in that room. And to top it off, it was announced to all the cong. that repair would be made on a certain date and that volunteers would be needed. On that date, the only brothers to volunteer were from the "home" or "owning" congregation.
