well how the devil is everyone?
i have not been here for a long time........totally lost track of what is going on in jw land, apart from the little bits i hear from family members still in.
(they say everything is swell and that armageddon is just round the corner).... :).was hearing that anniesland congregation in glasgow has been (or is about to be) disbanded.
I agree WT is in meltdown. I wrote a thread about it which Morph is still giving raving reviews.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6316808367767552/reasons-concluding-that-watchtower-serious-financial-trouble
Anniesland is still listed on JW website. Stevenston and Kilbirnie were apparently combined, but apart from that I don't know of any Scottish closures as a result of the new mergers policy.
so these countries roughly constitute europe.. here's how well they did in 2017 vs 2016:.
2017 peak pubs.
2016 peak pubs.
I think they announced the British memorial attendance at the meeting in a letter, but I was almost asleep with boredom and I've no idea what it is.
l have researched this subject and come to the conclusion that no we didn't.what do others think?.
I guess he simply means they dismantled the technology infrastructure for moon landing because they stopped going and they would need to build it again if there was a new moon programme.
l have researched this subject and come to the conclusion that no we didn't.what do others think?.
I’ve got a friend who doesn’t believe men went to the moon. He is quite sensible otherwise and I’m not sure how to deal with it other than make a joke about it. People saying conspiracy stuff online is one thing, but people in real life I find difficult to take seriously. He sent me this video the other day which I found amusing.
i have been sadly watching as the number of jws in other countries are decreasing (for the most part), while the numbers in the us are strangely increasing.
while i question the organization's self reporting numbers, i think 2018 may be the year for another mass us exodus.
leah remini's show will be focusing on jws in her show on a&e.
Watchtower has already collapsed. We were expecting the collapse to come physically but it was an invisible collapse.
how about .... the international brotherhood of stupidity.. the righteous zombies club .
Acts 15 Symeon has related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written: ‘After these things I will return and raise up again the tent of David that is fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the men who remain may earnestly seek Jehovah, together with people of all the nations, people who are called by my name, says Jehovah, who is doing these things, known from of old.’
i have been sadly watching as the number of jws in other countries are decreasing (for the most part), while the numbers in the us are strangely increasing.
while i question the organization's self reporting numbers, i think 2018 may be the year for another mass us exodus.
leah remini's show will be focusing on jws in her show on a&e.
I think a number of long term internal pressures will bring decline in the United States. (Unless the organisation actually collapses which is also possible)
First there's the poor leadership on display in the broadcasts. Plus there's the incredible doctrine, especially the overlapping generation. Then there's the alienation of young adult JWs through mandated shunning for DFed or informal shunning of inactive or non-baptised. Plus there is the fallout from abuse scandals being uncovered. And there is the financial pressure of an organisation in decline.
They closed over 400 congregations (net) in the US last year. That must mean a lot of JWs who have lost contact with old friends and have further to travel to the meetings. That's got to have an impact in terms of future decline.
how about .... the international brotherhood of stupidity.. the righteous zombies club .
I can't think of a better name than Jehovah's witnesses. I might return to lower case "witnesses" that's all. They are Jehovah's "name people", like it says in Acts 15. Plus it's the name under which they refused to fight for the Nazis and others. Worth keeping.
so these countries roughly constitute europe.. here's how well they did in 2017 vs 2016:.
2017 peak pubs.
2016 peak pubs.
Very interesting display, thanks.
Poland has been decreasing for years. Why? A few reasons possibly. For one I think the population of Poland itself has been declining due to migration. This doesn't explain the extent of JW decline however. Initially Poland was one of JWs' greatest successes in Eastern Europe in the 1990s. So as with Japan, Poland's decline might to some extent be in proportion to its previous meteoric rise. Poland also has a strong Catholic national identity to fall back on of course. There is a strong "anti-sect" discourse in Eastern Europe, especially relating to JW refusal of blood. East Europeans find this disregard for human life particularly offensive. Plus nationalism has been on the increase in Poland as the rest of Europe. As has been mentioned, Polish apostates seem to be active and effective as well.
Another statistic I find intriguing is the increase in Ukrainian congregations at a time when their publisher numbers are decreasing. If it wasn't for the increase in Ukrainian congregations then the Europe wide figure would be over 100 congregations lost.
Netherlands and Denmark continue long term decline.
Baptisms are down in the majority of countries, even as the WT has stressed getting baptised young,
Greece lost 5% of its congregations in a single year, which is higher as a proportion than the United States.
An interesting statistic I thought might be worth calculating is baptisms per publisher. This would probably be a good indication of future decline because you need a certain number of baptisms each year to cover deaths and losses. Worldwide the figure is over 3%, but for declining countries it is much lower. Poland has just over 1% which I think is the worst in Europe and Japan has just under 1% which I think is the worst in the world. As long as baptisms remain so low these countries will continue long term decline. When JWs were growing strongly in the 1980s and 1990s they were baptising 7 or 8% of their publisher numbers per year.
if you have a look at the december broadcast on jw tv they tell you that they wont be showing you a normal format for december but the 143rd event of gilead because the watchtower does not have the resources other wise to translate it many different lanuages.. with all the cuts the watchtower have made and are going to make you would have thought that they would have lots of resources.
I've watched a few broadcasts in the last few days. I don't take pleasure in saying this, but it strikes me just how unlikeable most of the GB appear. (I can only say "appear" because I can only go by their appearance on screen) Morris is the worst. He seems like a horrible man: arrogant and stupid and has no concern for anyone else. Herd and Loesch just seem like they don't care. They are literally reading script the whole time. Jackson seems a more genuine person, but very deluded. The only one who seems anywhere near normal or remotely likeable to me is Mark Sanderson. Once the honour of being appointed wore off, I wonder if he started to consider exactly what he's got himself into here. Yet he still seems reasonably cheerful.
