Changes In Canada
by LetTheTruthBeKnown 48 Replies latest jw friends
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katniss344
they've been shrinking them in Niagara too. multiple congregations are now sharing the same hall and just having meetings on different days.
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The Big Machine
I learned some more details about the deletions in Ottawa over the weekend.
I don't know everything happening in Ottawa as each congregation only knows what effects them (information control), but here is what I learned.
Confirmed to be deleted:
Meadowlands, Ingleside, Blossom Park
Probably deleted:
Carleton, Alta Vista
All of the territories have been re-drawn so I assume every congregation in Ottawa is affected and there are probably more deletions that I have not heard about.
The congregation of Long Island has been split up completely. Some people going to Cedarhill, others going to Kemptville East, and some others to Rideau. Long Island now consists of a little piece of Barrhaven and what used to be Meadowlands. For some reason they kept the name Long Island even though the island itself is no longer in the territory but Meadowlands still is.
Blossom Park was completely broken up and now is part of Hunt Club, Rideau, and Kemptville West.
Part of Rideau is now part of Kemptville East.
I believe Ingleside is now going to Kemptville West.
I'm pretty sure Carleton is now part of Centrepointe and Island Park.
Alta Vista has been broken up as well (a portion is now part of Hunt Club.)
Cedarhill possibly has part of a Kanata congregation.
That's as much as I know for now. There are many people who now have to drive at least 40 minutes to get to their congregation. Needless to say, most people are very unhappy with the changes.
All of the changes come into effect in March.
Supposedly there are no Kingdom Halls to be sold at the moment. However, I don't see the purpose in re-drawing all of the territories and making all of the congregations upwards of 150-200 publishers unless Kingdom Halls are being sold. Maybe in a year or so they'll be put up for sale or they'll start being put up for sale in March and they haven't told everyone (information control wouldn't surprise me).
At this website (Canada Revenue Agency), you can see all of the congregations that have been deleted in Canada since January 1, 2019: https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/hacc/srch/pub/advncdSrch?q.srchNm=jehovah&q.bnNine=&q.accountType=RR&q.accountNumber=&q.stts=0014&q.sttsEffctvDt=2019-01-01&q.snctnTypCd=&q.cty=&q.prvncSttCd=&q.pstlZpCd=&q.dsgntnTyp=&q.chrtyTyp=&q.chrtyCtgry=&p=1
Right now it sits at 77. It will be interesting to see how high this number gets over the next few months once all these changes are implemented.
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road to nowhere
Good old information control. Listen obey and be blessed. What is that 40 minute drive in less than ideal weather? Not to mention a lot of older ones dont see well at night.
We used to see BOE broken up to mitigate cliques, now it may be for breaking up thinkers.
The names that dont fit territory are always a puzzle; along with canning " pretty" names. Like changing rosedale to mechanicsville
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truthlover123
This list is only up to January 2019- since then many more are gone-- three in my area (Eastern provinces) and others have gone too so probably double or triple that number. Thanks for the site to find out what is going on truthfully.. so much for lies, as per the WT sunday.
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LongHairGal
THE BIG MACHINE & ROAD TO NOWHERE:
What would be the reason to do this shuffle of people..if the JW religion isn’t planning to sell off some of these halls in the immediate future?
As far as people driving an extra 40+ minutes to the new hall (and on winter nights no less)..good luck with that..It wont be just elderly who have trouble seeing at night who will stop going!
There was no way in hell I would’ve driven this long distance.. I missed meetings with a hall less than ten minutes away.. I would simply have been out of the religion sooner.
This is good news for would-be ‘faders’ but not-so-good news for the ‘faithful’ or ‘needy’..It definitely looks like the religion is downsizing..Who knows where this will all end?
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LetTheTruthBeKnown
Well it took awhile to confirm some rumours, but I have now confirmed just about everything.
19 congregations in Eastern Ontario and Gatineau area have been dissolved, moved, merged into other congregations.
The Aylmer Assembly/Kingdom Hall Complex has only one remaining congregation. To be taken care of shortly. But probably not until the below, as someone has to take care of the building.
The Aylmer Assembly/Kingdom Hall Complex will be put up for sale. Time frame unknown, but they probably have to do some renovations first. I wonder who will volunteer for that? Lol.
It's definitely on a premium piece of property. Right on the Ottawa river.
The Long Island Hall is also going to be put up for sale. Time frame unknown at the moment.
My feeling is the demographics are changing. The baby boomers are dieing off, and the massive growth from the 1960/70/80's is done, with people leaving and no one getting baptized. Give it enough time and eventually it will be just the original congregation - Gladstone.
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LetTheTruthBeKnown
One other thing.
Elders are making "Shepherding calls" during service of course since they can count the time. To encourage the "friends" to go where they are assigned.
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LongHairGal
LETTHETRUTHBEKNOWN:
I believe exactly as you do that the demographics are changing. Unfortunately for the religion, the demographic of Baby Boomers and the faithful affluent elderly (between 80-90+ years old) had the disposable income.
These elderly were the ones throwing money around like confetti:.giving $ to deadbeat pioneers and paying for unnecessary hall renovations. (Some idiot didn’t like the color scheme.)
Once these people are gone..the religion will NEVER see the likes of them again.
Also, as you said, many younger JWs are leaving and very few baptized. What can’t be forgotten are the many lawsuits which will further whittle it down. And as you said, give it enough time and there will maybe be a small group left.
Any stragglers anywhere will be on their own and any ‘needy’ types who need congregations to beg money from..will be Out of Luck.
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The Big Machine
Thanks for the update LetTheTruthBeKnown!
I started a thread on Reddit about this a few days ago and someone commented and gave a very plausible reason for all of the congregation changes going on in Canada: the pending Canadian class action law suit. This could be still the case, but now that you found out that Aylmer Assembly Hall and Long Island are planning to be sold, the congregation merging makes more sense.