Am sure the money is dying in the congregation, specially when the Watchtower society charges them for rent, and some might dislike paying for rent. That reminded me when they stopped setting prices for the merchandise, and it was supposed to be that for the merchandise everyone would contrubute on a voluntary basis, but every one got greedy, they would order more than normal perhaps more than twice, and when the merchandise came in hardly anybody would contribute. Then the letter came in from Brooklyn, stating that we owed so much, and that we were supposed to pay. I remember one of the elders telling us over and over that we owed that money and that we had to pay for it.
The Money Is Drying Up In The Organization!
by minimus 49 Replies latest jw friends
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greendawn
I personally think the WTS is too rich to worry about financial problems. They use many tactics to milk the dubs even more.
Would like to ask though if a KH is built with local JW labour and donations (for land and material purchases) do they own it or the WTS? I once heard that an entire congregation left the society so who kept their KH premises?
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delilah
The rich aren't dying off quick enough, and leaving their estates to the society..and.......they frown upon those who buy lottery tickets, but if someone willed their winnings to them, do you think they'd complain????????? UH,....NOPE. they'd be out the door and to the bank with bells on.....
Dee
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Rod P
Speaking about money. Years ago in Canada (Calgary, Alberta) I was at a District Assembly. Since I worked in Banking, I volunteered to help out in the back room counting all the money from the contribution boxes as well as the proceeds from the sale of meals and beverages. Whole beef carcasses had been donated, as well as tons of food, so I would say the food costs were minimal.
So there we were counting and sorting the coins and the bills. In walked the "poor" DO and began exchanging all the U.S. coins in the pile for Canadian dimes and quarters. This was a big pile of coin, let me tell you. It was interesting to see him exchange coin for coin, and not bills for coin.(I think he wanted it to look good.) U.S. money was worth a lot more than Canadian money, and there were a lot of Americans at that assembly. All he had to do was roll it all up in wrappers and take it to the bank and cash it in for paper money. He got to pocket the difference in Exchange between the currencies. He did this wherever he travelled to different assemblies. I don't know how well he did, but I would say he did pretty well personally.
I felt I was in a "Shock and Aw" campaign. At first I was shocked that a DO would be that dishonest in such a sneaky way. Then I said to myself "Awwwww!......He didn't!....Did he?........Yes, he did!....." Damn!!!
Rod P.
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garybuss
The best strategy the Society has for grabbing donations is to pretend impending financial doom or at least poverty. They teach two fantasies, one is where god murders the babies at Armageddon and the other one is the fantasy that the Watch Tower Society is poor and needing funds.
I remember in 1958 I think, where the Society got the chance to buy a nearby building complex. The Society came to the congregations and had them appeal to the Witness people to make as I recall, interest free loans to the Society.
The Society did not like to use secular bankers, most likely because they would need to LOOK AT THE BOOKS before making a large loan.
Here is a quote from the 1975 Yearbook. The brackets are from the Yearbook.
****** yb75 p. 167 United States of America (Part Two) ***
"By far the greater amount of labor in building has been contributed by our own brothers and those deeply interested. We have not had to resort to 'building and loan' organizations (of the Devil's world)."
***
The Society did the same thing in 1969 when they bought the Squibb complex of 10 buildings. They came to the Witness people. That time it seems like they paid a token interest to those who asked. I may be wrong.
Here is the best article I can find to show the loan arrangement. Note in the last paragraph the Society says it never asks for donations and following that, asks for donations. lol
****** w79 5/1 pp. 27-29 Building to Jehovah's Glory ***
Building For The Future
The work in connection with God's kingdom, of preaching and disciple-making, has made remarkable progress throughout the earth during the past 60 years. Initially, the printing of Bibles, Bible literature and magazines in the United States was started at the eight-story factory that was built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1927, and added to during the years that followed. However, the demand for these publications was great, and other factories were established, such as at Berne, Switzerland (1925), and Wiesbaden, Germany (1948). Other installations have followed until, today, there are 39 printing branches of the Watch Tower Society earth wide.
In recent years, particularly, an effort has been made to decentralize the manufacture of literature and magazines from Brooklyn. In 1975, construction of a large factory was completed at Wallkill, New York State, and here 15 high-speed rotary presses now take care of the production of English-language magazines and other magazines for the United States and many other countries. Bible and book production remains mainly at the Brooklyn factory. Today, some 1,830 volunteer workers at Brooklyn and 650 others at Watchtower Farms handle the factory work, as well as the work in supplying food, furnishings and many services for all who serve so zealously at these two headquarters installations.
This decentralization has also affected many other branches of the Watch Tower Society. Printing of magazines is now being carried out, or is being planned, for many more locations throughout the world. Thus, if a future world crisis should shut down shipping lanes, supplies of essential spiritual "food" will still be available to the brothers. Thus, at this writing, new branch facilities are just being completed at Bogotá, Colombia, to accommodate 60 workers. A large farm property, of 284 acres has been procured at Cesario Lange, S.P., Brazil, and a start is being made to erect a Bethel home-factory complex there that will provide for 288 workers.
In northern Europe, factory and home facilities will be greatly expanded in Sweden when, in the spring of 1980, a new building housing 126 Bethel workers is completed near Arboga. Here, as with many others of the current projects, the entire construction work is being done by dedicated witnesses of Jehovah as part of their contribution toward the furtherance of the "good news." At Arboga, a large hotel was purchased and renovated to serve as comfortable accommodations for the many volunteers on the job. Later, the remodeled hotel will be sold. Also, the sale of the valuable but outgrown Bethel complex at Jacobsberg is providing a very substantial part of the financing of the new buildings. And the situation will be similar with a number of other Watch Tower branches that are moving from the cities into the suburbs or into the country.
Building With A Purpose
However, why are so many Watch Tower branches moving out of the big cities? Well, take Denmark as an example. Here the printing branch's work has expanded to the point that both working and living quarters are now crammed to the limit. Also, the noise pollution from the highway adjoining the building has become almost unbearable. The Society is therefore in the process of purchasing a farm of 12 acres near Holbæk, about 45 minutes' distance by car from Copenhagen. Construction of the new Danish Bethel is to commence there shortly. These new home and factory complexes, world wide, are generally being erected with spacious surroundings, so that there will be no further problem with expansion during the years to come.
Lack of room for expansion, as well as the crescendo of noise, day and night, from the highways that pass the present building on either side, are also principal reasons for relocating Canada's branch premises on a recently acquired farm property near Halton Hills, Ontario. Volunteer workers there are now proceeding with the construction of a dormitory-factory complex that will house 264 workers. Cramped quarters are one reason, too, that the South African branch plans to move to the countryside; also, there will be more space to take care of their multilanguage printing of magazines and, eventually, it is believed, other literature. Japan has recently shipped to South Africa a new high-speed rotary offset press that will enable them to handle this expanding work.
Extensive expansion is also projected for the Japanese and German branches. Germany already keeps five high-speed rotary letterpress M. A. N. machines busy, supplying many magazines and almost all bound books to European countries. However, they now have on order a four-color rotary offset press that will give greater production and versatility, even printing books such as the beautiful publication for children My Book of Bible Stories. The Japanese branch of the Watch Tower Society recently purchased 12 acres of land at Ebina, midway between the present branch properties at Numazu and Tokyo. A willing team of more than 200 volunteer construction workers are already located on the site, foundations are laid and a two-year project of erecting a spacious factory, together with a Bethel home accommodating 360 persons, is under way. The Numazu factory and Bethel have been outgrown, and now the new facilities will also include a four-color offset rotary press that should prove to be a "powerhouse" in turning out Kingdom literature for the Orient.
The Watch Tower Society has many other expansion projects under way throughout the earth. Australia is well along with plans for a new Bethel and factory at its Ingleburn Kingdom Farm site, about one hour's drive out of Sydney. London, England, is extending its fine facilities. And not to be overlooked are all the smaller branches, many of them without extensive printing operations, that are expanding or relocating their operations, with a view to giving the Kingdom witnesses better service in their area.
New branch buildings with fine facilities have recently been completed at Dublin, Ireland; Nairobi, Kenya; Athens, Greece; Rome, Italy, and branch buildings or extensions are in course of planning or construction in Guam, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Zambia, Curaçao, Puerto Rico, Solomon Islands and other places. It is hoped that all these new branch facilities will contribute much to the expansion of Kingdom interests, both before and possibly after the "great tribulation."
A Word Of Thanks
How has all this Kingdom expansion been financed? Largely by the willing donations of many thousands of interested persons, just as back in David's day. Also, individual countries with building projects have at times set up loan arrangements, whereby Jehovah's Witnesses in those countries have made short-term loans, which have been repaid after the financing of the project is completed. As this magazine has clearly stated many times during its 100 years of publication, Jehovah's Witnesses never solicit contributions. However, those who are interested in sharing financially in expanding the interests of Jehovah's kingdom are always free to forward voluntary contributions to the branch office of the Watch Tower Society in their country. In the United States, such contributions may be sent to the Watch Tower Society, 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York 11201. This information is supplied so that any persons who have the means, and who are moved by God's spirit to share in the worldwide forward movement of Jehovah's Kingdom activities, may know how to do so. Such donations are gratefully acknowledged. -
garybuss
It sounds to me by this thread that a few congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses are soliciting for contributions. Saying at a meeting "Please contribute." is a solicitation to contribute. Who the heck do they think they are fooling?
I went to a church for over two years and they passed a donation pouch every Sunday and I never once in two years heard a request to donate OR even a reminder OR any expense ledgers read. I heard pleas (solicits) for money constantly as a Witness. Almost every Thursday and at every convention. -
Terry
Good news. Let it be preached for a w... Ooops. Must be an
engramold tape stuck in my brain.S
Is there a Scientologist in the woodpile?
T.
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Satanus
Hee hee. Terry gets a prize for catching that. Dianetics is a book i read yrs ago. Then i read few things by an exscientologist who took things from scientology that are supposed to work and put them in book form. Also, the story of hubbard building the church is quite interesting. But no, i'm not a scientologist and never was. I don't practice any of their stuff iether.
S
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Thechickennest
People in middle age or over are playing a game of catch-up trying to save money for their retirement!
As Sweet Tea says: They have a dilemma: better educated people make more money - but people who are educated can see through them better but they can't have that. They want ignorant downtrodden adherents. They don't want an educated congregation. They feel educated people can't take counsel.Yes, I agree. I was trusting enough (and stupid enough) at 18 years of age to join this cult and shared in it's sins for another 25 years! The whole damn 25 years I was broke, suffered from depression, and disowned my extended family. I used up about 30 4-door sedans, 50 suits, 1000 notebooks, gained about 100 pounds on all the damn donut breaks in the "service", and every bit of discretionary money I had!
Then I went to college, got a good job, health insurance, 401K, my extended family took me back...(I don't know why, I treated them like shit) The depression subsided, I resigned from the cult after figuring out the folly of it all...No more downtrodden adherent here!
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Terry
Hee hee. Terry gets a prize for catching that. Dianetics is a book i read yrs ago. Then i read few things by an exscientologist who took things from scientology that are supposed to work and put them in book form. Also, the story of hubbard building the church is quite interesting. But no, i'm not a scientologist and never was. I don't practice any of their stuff iether.
S
I had a very dear (eccentric) friend years ago in California who could not stop talking. I got the entire religion in my ear from him. I visited the Celebrity Center, attended a lecture and watched an auditing session with the E-meter and soup cans.
I can usually pick up from the language who is Scientologist.
Thanks, Satanus
Terry