by JHK 49 Replies latest watchtower scandals
Blondie, the accounts report is still read.
While it is true that there is some degree of transparency in the local congregation, most of that money is then immediately sent to the branch. It's actually a form of money laundering when you think about it. By sending the money to the branch but thinking it's accounted for locally it creates degrees of separation that allow for funny business with the moneyand no actual transparency.
@blondie in some congregations it is still read out aloud at the service meeting once a month. In all others it is on the information board as well as the monthly thank you notes/confirmations of the branch offices for received donations from the congregation.
@Jonathan they did not pay anything yet. And what they did pay over the years to out of court settlements is just a tiny tiny drop from the bucket not even worth mentioning. Besides that every JW is part of the organisation. So if the organisation is forced to pay things they collectively share the burden.
@Sir82 trust me the financial health of the WTBTS has never been better
So lets assume the persons shown donated 10 euros to the worldwide fund... And now they would like or think they are entitled to international transparency?
Are you out of your mind? If they dont trust it they should stop donating or donate only to local expenses
Every member of an organisation should have the right to view audited accounts of the organisation. Being able to see the accounts of UK based WTS charities throws up lots of questions about how money is used and the methods by which funds are solicited.
Local expenses - ha! There are many witnesses who have donated large sums of money for their local congregation yet these have been grabbed by the branch now. Some of these donations are legacies and some of these will have had an express purpose associated with them, such as "put towards a new hall for the local congregation". These funds have been passed on to the local branch and then, in some cases, off to HQ to then be used to pay off victims of paedophiles in the congregation. The wishes of the original person are ignored.
Of course, many will have given explicit or implicit permission for the funds to have been used however the congregation sees fit but this does not change the fact that as independent charities with local trustees (the elders) the funds are there to support the local charity. It is the trustees responsibility to manage the funds in the interest of the local congregation, not the WTS. We all know though the the trustees do whatever the WTS tells them to do and the members of the congregation never speak out or request new trustees. If a congregation that needed a new hall is now no longer able to afford one because the money that was bequeathed explicitly for that purpose has been passed onto the WTS by the charities trustees (the elders) then it calls into question if the charity is being managed correctly by the trustees.
insidetheKH: "...trust me the financial health of the WTBTS has never been better"
Did you consider how it gets its financing before making that boast?
@konceptual congregations that need a new hall will get a new hall
I know hundreds of active witnesses but never heard one about wanting to know about the international accounts.
Only on boards like this you hear people screaming about transparency... people that no longer contribute and from which the majority is not even a witness anymore.
Besides that every JW is part of the organisation. So if the organisation is forced to pay things they collectively share the burden.
InsideKH, I see.
Isn't that exactly what the court cases, that the WTS is fighting right now over child abuse settlements, are all about? That the 'organization' is 'arm's length' from its members?
It sounds to me like 'having your cake and eating it too'...
@VI it's not boasting, it's a fact.
To name a few things,...
The new arrangement does bring in much more (and will continue to do so) than ever before and so does the real estate.
Also costs are reduced by new equipment, able to do much more and more efficiently at reduced costs.
Centralising the work by merging branch offices, building more and bigger assembly halls and so reducing costs of renting facilities for district conventions. Reducing costs on thousands of products by a centralised purchasing department. A new strategy for New Kingdom Halls is in the making that means selling old ones and building cost efficient new ones. .
