WT is lying about the actual publisher numbers

by JustHuman14 32 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  redvip2000

  Well we already know that these numbers are massaged as it is. I don't think the number is completely fictitious, but the rules of what constitutes a member are done by the Org.

  In other words, members are basically a calculation of the month where the most people report. Is this a truly honest assessment? Well no...but the Org calls the shots on how it is calculated. If tomorrow they decide membership is based on a slightly different calculation that somehow favors them, they will do it so that the number look somewhat palatable.

  In other words, we really don't have an unbiased way to know membership.
• 

  JW GoneBad

  Who knows with these jokers. Maybe individual carts are now counted as 'publishers'. They might be considered as some type of 'silent witnesses'.

  Good one sparky 1!

  So with 120,000 congregations and each congregation having on average 4 magazine witness carts...that's an additional 480,000 silent witnesses WT can add to their numbers!

  ...let's face it they're already calling 9,10 & 11 year old baptized kids 'Ordained Ministers'!
  
  
• 

  Designer Stubble

  Publisher numbers are artificially kept higher than in the past. for example: Sick and Elderly publishers can report 15 minutes and are pressured to do so. Both parents can count 4 hours a months for family study, regardless if it happens or not...after all they take them to the hall, pray at mealtimes, etc.

  Also, it be noted that the elders will generally put one hour on your report if you fail to hand it in. This way you do not become irregular/inactive that easy and they don’t have to explain to the CO when he visits. I have seen this on my own report.

  Then the focus shifted from average to peak publishers.

  So, at all levels there is some number fudging - individuals, parents, elders...and I am sure this continues going up the ladder. And as commented before, they lie about everything else, why not about the numbers.
• 

  JW GoneBad

  You might add to your list Designer Stubble that they now count return visits on someone's front door step 'Bible Studies'...geeez talk about fudging numbers!

  So if a rank & file JW makes a 5 minute long front door step return visit...it now is worthy of being called a Bible Study...I call that desperate & fudging on WT's part!
• 

  NewYork44M

  It is all about definitions.

  We may have a definition of a bible study and bible studies are down, simply change the definition:

  So if a rank & file JW makes a 5 minute long front door step return visit...it now is worthy of being called a Bible Study

  Losing pioneers, simply change the hour qualifications. What is it now?

  Publishers are down, call anyone who puts in 15 minutes a publisher.

  You may call it fraud, the Wt is simply redefining what they measure.
• 

  snugglebunny

  Things have gone down hill!
• 

  Corney

  300 (not 310) is the number of congregation mergers during the last 12 years, and during the same period, 194 congregations (mostly foreign- and sign-language) were created. The number of KHs in Germany has decreased by 135, or 1/8, since 2011. It doesn't mean all 135 KHs were sold. Some KHs could be rented (so they couldn't be sold), their methodology could be changed etc. Anyway, I think it's safe to say that the number of KHs in Germany has decreased by at least 1/10 during the 2010s, as it also happened in Austria and Spain.

  I also doubt that the OP isn't just an example of wishful thinking based on unrepresentative observations. In fact, generally number of self-reported JWs according to census data is higher than pub numbers from Yearbooks. More than 2 million Americans identified themselves as Witnesses in 2014, and 3 million Mexicans and Brazilians did this in 2010. So, why is 8 million an incredible number? I don't see any reason for this.

  Certainly, it doesn't mean there is no cause for concern for Watchtower. For example, they are stagnating, JWs are becoming older etc.
• 

  steve2

  In fact, generally number of self-reported JWs according to census data is higher than pub numbers from Yearbooks.
  

  This trend towards more people identifying as JWs than the official number of active publishers is true of most religious groups. More self-identify than who affiliate.

  I also note that here in New Zealand, the peak number of self-identified JWs in Census reports hit more than 19,000 (in 1996) and in subsequent Census reporting feel back to just over 17,000 - which is still higher than the organization's own record in 2011 of over 14,500 peak publishers (2017 put the peak at about 14,100).

  But a downward trend in both Census reports and JW organization's own reports is apparent.
  
• 

  JW GoneBad

  It's worth repeating...however impressive these numbers may appear...a very high percentage of the JW publishers are children less than15 years old. How long lasting can the life of a cult be when the age of its members swings like a pendulum from what it once was, from 40 to 70 year olds to what the current trend is...to less than 21 year olds?

  The WT knows that it's losing the war on making disciples of informed grown adults. What good will it do this cult to focus on making disciples of children? Only doom & gloom await this cult!
• 

  john.prestor

  JW Gone Bad, they're definitely declining, no doubt about that... But I would be surprised if they don't keep going for a lot longer, just with less Witnesses, less hard copies, less Branches and Kingdom Halls, etc.