This thread doesn't deliver, sorry. Information? Where? I can read baptism figures in the report. The rest is a statement of the bleeding obvious. And no mention of what is clearly the most pressing issue to the leadership at the moment - the severe lack of money.
Sorry to disappoint. I knew a lot of this was already "known" but I was confirming that it was actually the case vs most that were simply assuming.
The money issue is a hard one. That is at the top of the top to know the world wide finances. Only information I can give you on that is that in local congregations, esp the one I am, the amount we were supposed to be sending has already been cut in half as we were not able to get close to the amount we voted on.
I can also confirm that the remodels to the Wallkill resident buildings have gone millions over budget vs what they were planning. The same were true for Warwick.
If I were to say one thing, I don't think they are currently struggling financially. I feel as if they are expecting a big pay out and are preparing for the storm ahead of time. The numbers don't add up. All the branch closures, money grab, more donations and so on should have been more than enough to carry them. Our hall alone sent close to $50,000.00. Granted they already had access to this money since all congregations kept surplus with the branch. Only thing I can think of is that they realized they couldn't pay back these congregations if they decided to use the money for their kingdom hall.
It's as if they are preparing to be financial strained.