by Had Enough 46 Replies latest jw friends
Hello Had Enough,
having seen the many replies to your post,
I'll prepare a more detailed presentation of figures - always
from the Wts official publications - that will give the same
conclusion:
* From the year 1961 to the year 2000
around 30% of the total of all baptized
ones are missing!
So let's see how and where they ...have gone.
Agape, J.C. MacHislopp
G'day Had Enough,
You've started a Hot Topic! Well done.
Ozzie
Had,
I nearly lost my false teeth when I read that bit about "What's the name of my talk?"
Oh my God that has got to be one of the funniest things I've heard.
It reminds me of our old CO Brother Scaglione (one of the nicest people I ever met in my life) who, during Keynote Addresses on Sunday, employed an interesting technique.
He knew everyone was asleep, (or trying) so every like 5-10 minutes he would take this conductor's stick out and bang on the microphone and say "Wake Up! This is important." VERY FUNNY STUFF Had, thanks a million.
in canada, we actually had a kind of unusual part last year in the Service Meeting just discussing the numbers from the '99 yearbook. prolly everyone had this part. i gave this talk so i remember it. as usual, i tried to be a little more insightful than just 'look at these numbers! they're so BIG!' mentioning, for example, that the increase in studies was significant because it had been decilining steadily for a few years before and was probably due to the change in pioneer hours (getting nods from the few intelligent audience members and blank looks from everone else)
i dont think there was a similar part this year altho there certainly could be. all the numbers are pretty positive except the big drop in baptisms. i dont think we would have parts like this much in future tho. the idea about statistics no longer being published is interesting. i could see that. 'simplified arrangements' and 'faith in jehovah' and 'numbers arent what's important' and such. the last WT study was about what 'growth' means. numeric yes, but thats just a part of it.
mox
Hi Ozziepost,
The link I have on statistics is to the page at:
http://www.jwic.com/stat.htm
If there are any errors in their page, please let them know.
Randy Watters
It's nice to see the responses you folks have made to this topic. I felt that if our Bethel branch was concerned enough to bring this out at an assembly, then perhaps there's more rumbling going on than we know.
I'm really glad to see the figures and graphs presented here as they help with the picture I'm seeing.
larc referred us to his thread where a "decline discussion" was a few months ago at:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?site=3&id=1768&page=1
I read many very interesting insights there.
One thought as to how the WTS will probably respond to a noticable decline was mentioned by waiting. She said
Growth rates go up: Look! That proves we're Jehovah's organization and people are fulfilling the prophecy about foreigners hanging onto the fringe of Jehovah's true followers to go worship with them.
Growth rates go down: Look! That proves we're Jehovah's organization because we fortold that the love of the greater number would cool off and the end would come. Well, the love is cooling off which proves the end is coming. Wait on Jehovah.
Yes it still amazes me that I, along with most others, never noticed the WTS's flip-flop answers. When there's an increase..."it's proof of God's holy spirit directing the work". When there's a decrease..."numbers aren't really important" or another one is that "God's doing a cleansing work weeding out the undesirables".
Those are such a typical responses from the "powers that be" so that no matter what happens, it'll just be "fulfilling the Bible prophecies" they have been telling us of. So they'll say "see, we're right again..God's directing this organization".
I wonder too, like Moxy said, if they might just stop publishing the figures in the WT of the annual report if the numbers keep declining. hmmmmmm?
Had Enough
I wonder too, like Moxy said, if they might just stop publishing the figures in the WT of the annual report if the numbers keep declining. hmmmmmm?
For what it's worth, up until last year or so, the statistics page on the official WT website used to have growth/decline percentages and last year's figures for comparison, just like the printed annual reports. If you care to take a look at the current chart ( http://www.watchtower.org/statistics/worldwide_report.htm), you'll see that those data aren't listed any more. I also find it interesting that they do not list the "average publishers" figure there, just the "peak" figure.
Maybe they're afraid of running out of *'s :-)
f.
Here is the most detailed JW statistics I ever seen so far in electronic format from 1881-1996
Microsoft Excel 97 Format http://www.geocities.com/notebookdealer/Jwstat.xls
Microsoft Access 97 Format http://www.geocities.com/notebookdealer/jwstats.mdb
Do any of you canucks live near Kingston, Ontario, Canada?
hawk
I live in Toronto
