Was it Lloyd Evans' youtube (linked month ago or so?) where someone stated there were roughly 800,000 JWs in the US! That is really a low figure and probably so wrong.
Don't count on witnessing Watchtower's demise anytime soon.
by Roger Kirkpatrick 69 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
pepperheart
Idont think it matters how many jws there are in the world but how much money watchtower has to pay the bills
-
LV101
Yeah, looks like this approximation of 800,000 US JWs is close to the number in the new post with several other stats. Not many US witnesses but all unverified figures.
Bodies = donations.
-
slimboyfat
Lost in the fog, yes the Dublin branch seems to be a small exception. (It’s only the size of a large house, I think) The branch buildings in Switzerland, Austria, London, and elsewhere have been sold for good money. They kept hold of the Dublin branch building, and publishers from the UK need to travel to Ireland to attend preaching schools there: expensive and time consuming for the brothers, but apparently cost efficient for Watchtower. Plus it might make a good holiday home for high up Watchtower officials. Presumably they will need to sell it too at some point if their financial problems don’t turn around.
-
SouthCentral
The watchtower is a multibillion-dollar corporation that will never cease to exist. It is a gigantic powerful publishing company. They will adjust their teachings/methods and bring in new members as older ones become awakened and exit.
-
Phizzy
Hi SBF,
It is interesting what you say about the Dublin Branch, they used to have a really swish Building out in the Countryside, I know it was for sale for a long time, and they made pioneers and other volunteers go and maintain it, and cut the grass etc ! it must have sold in the end.
I agree that they could sell the Dublin house, maybe soon, the very small Branch could be operated out of someones front room !
-
slimboyfat
SouthCentral, Watchtower used make good money from publishing until they stopped charging for the literature. Now they make nothing. Worse than nothing, they make a loss from publishing. That’s why they are in trouble. They have been living on past glory for nearly three decades now. Plus the legal settlements and payouts are growing. They are not just pretending to be in trouble, they really are in trouble. It is fascinating that so many former JWs find this difficult to believe despite all the cuts and desperate attempts to raise funds. What more evidence do we need? Watchtower is collapsing.
-
Vidiot
Is it just me...
...or are the people here who believe the Tower can fall vs. the people who believe it can’t...
... becoming more and more polarized?
-
Magnum
I agree with Giordano's and slimboyfat's posts.
As to my thoughts... As I've said before on this site, I believe that in one way, we've already witnessed "Watchtower's demise". JWdom used to be marching to the front lines of the battle boldly wielding weaponry. Now, JWdom has turned and is retreating and is just desperately trying to survive. It is not what it used to be; the whole of JWdom is not what it was, and individual JWs are not what they used to be. JWs of today are just not like the ones I remember in the 60's, 70's, & 80's.
When the bell rang, JWdom came out of its corner fighting with boldness and confidence, but after a while, it realized it can't win the fight, so it's playing the ropes, not really fighting, but just trying to avoid the blows of its opponent. Maybe it can survive all twelve rounds in this retreat mode, but I doubt it.
South Central: "They will adjust their teachings/methods and bring in new members as older ones become awakened and exit."
I disagree. The unique teachings are what attracted many to JWdom. If the teachings are changed to the point that JWdom becomes more mainstream, then it will have vast competition from other mainstream sects. It will have lost the only thing that attracted people to it in the first place, and, the requirements to associate with other sects are far easier or even nonexistent.
-
pepperheart
If you go on to the watchtowers OWN website it tells you that in 2012 they closed 20 branch offices