The thread about the mood of the congregation got me to thinking about when new halls are built when attendance doesn't seem to justify it.
Does a congregation whose attendance is stagnant, maybe decreasing a little and who is sharing a hall with another congregation or two need to build a new hall to call its own? Looking at it strictly from a local financial standpoint, it doesn't make sense. Why add a burden to the friends in building a new building and having all new mortgages and expenses?
But, if you think in WT terms, maybe it does make sense. Why? You get them all excited about new property, and building a new building. Donations go up. Time in service may not go up, but time dedicated to planning/building the new hall keeps them busy. A congregation that is encouraged to build a new building every twenty years or so will believe that it is God that is making it happen(even if the average city attendance is not growing). As the new hall is ready to move in, the Circuit or District overseer uses the dedication talk as a way to motivate the congregation to do more in the ministry. You've got a new hall, now fill it, so we can build more. This is Jehovah's will. Meanwhile, after all the work is done and money donated, the WTS will come in and add a new spanish congregation because of the influx of legal and illegal immigrants in the area with no added cost to them.
Make sense or am I just thinking too much?