252 Congregations have closed in Germany since 2015 (page 2)

darkspilver

The above reddit links lists the number of congregations that have apparently been merged.

Summary: 556 congs merged, so 278 congs being closed.

So two congregations are merged into one congregation, therefore one congregation has effectively 'closed'.

Although congregations are merged, other, new congregations may be formed, either in other geographical regions, and/or, in other language groups.

The above reddit chart appears to be based on calender (Jan) years, rather than 'service years' (Sept).

Below is a quick table knocked up to give some comparision of the trend.

Note that the 2006 merged congregation data is from July only. The 2017 merged congregation time period is unknown. The Yearbook data is for the actual year of the book, not the service year (ie 2017 is for 1 Sept 2015 to 31 Aug 2016). I've not double-checked the figures, please let me know if any mistakes!

George One Time

Anyone from Germany here? I am curious if it just might be that they closed down a lot of foreign language congregations? They did that in the Netherlands before.

berrygerry

Anyone from Germany here? I am curious if it just might be that they closed down a lot of foreign language congregations? They did that in the Netherlands before.

The redditor is German, and speaks of resistance inside Bethel (love the terminology). He indicates the opposite - i.e. that foreign group numbers are being used to prop up the number of total congregations, while the reality is a decrease in regular congregations.

konceptual99

A quick look at the source documents and lots of Google Translate suggest alot of consolidation in the foreign language field. Maybe someone will have the time to produce a detailed breakdown but it's certainly interesting data.

The Fall Guy

The WTBTS is rejoicing at gaining their longed for legal status throughout every region in Germany, but many German J.W.'s have/will discover what it really means for their congregations.

The wording on their web site should alert J.W.'s to the real motive behind the cult's determination to achieve legal status - money!

https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/germany/grants-highest-legal-status-to-jehovahs-witnesses/

"The decision is significant for the Witnesses because even though they have been present in Germany for well over 100 years, their national headquarters and the thousands of congregations in the country were considered independent religious associations."

Why would numerous congregations being "independent" be a problem for "mother" in the U.S.? The org in Germany (and by extension, Warwick) now has legal & central control over every congregation and K.H. Corporate J.W.-dom doesn't permit independent thinking, so it's not going to tolerate independent congregations. The org will continue to sell off local K.H.'s throughout the world via merging & consolidation - and convince some J.W.'s that it is a good thing.

darkspilver

Don't miss the wood for the forest.

Germany needs to close another 226 congregations to equal the same publisher-to-congregation ratio as in the USA.

no-zombie

Well I suppose that the question about those numbers, really revolves around the Society's definition of the word 'congregation'. If it now includes foreign language groups within that number, that would explain the discrepancy. And of course, call into question the number of real congregations in any country. Dropping the threshold of what makes a congregation is not without precedent, if we remember how the Organization fiddled with the term 'Publisher' for the sake of older ones who could barely go witnessing, as with the term 'Pioneer'.

No Zombie

slimboyfat: Japan has lost hundreds of congregations. Has there ever been an explanation for that?

A combination of a decrease in the number of JWs and an increase in JWs-per-congregation

The 'hey-day' was the period up to 1998.

252 Congregations have closed in Germany since 2015

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