Gill, I'm not suggesting they will cut out a meeting, rather that they will simply shift the bookstudy to Saturday morning. That way they can avoid any suggestion that they are providing less spiritual food.
Willyman, that quote by Ray Franz about one of the GB saying that the publishers will only use the extra time to 'watch tv' is an old quote, going way back to the 1970's. Any slackers who might be inclined to do this can simply be encouraged to do more 'personal study'. The Society could stimulate more personal study and self-sufficiency by the rank and file through, say, scrapping the currently pathetic 'days text' and replacing it with a much better, comprehensive version that encourages the JW to read, say, a whole chapter of the bible every day augmented by a much fuller scriptural discussion instead.
That is, by the way, another prediction of mine: a complete overhaul of the 'days text'.
Yes, this has obviously been mentioned numerous times in the past, but I am speaking of it specifically in the context of the relatively recent developments of decreasing publisher stats in the western world, decreasing meeting attendance, increasing elder burn-out, and has become very apparent through the recent changes to the Awake and future change to the Watchtower, the cashflow/costs problems the Society is increasingly experiencing.
As Gill has enumerated, the Society HAS made many changes before, although nothing particularly 'revolutionary' as you say. But shifting the bookstudy to a Saturday morning is hardly 'revolutionary'. It would be mere arrangement rejigging that has obvious flow-on benefits.
yaddayadda
JoinedPosts by yaddayadda
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27
Will the change to the Watchtower be followed by a change to the meetings?
by yaddayadda ini expect that a significant change to the meetings is on the horizon, most probably in the form of a shift of the bookstudy from a weeknight to a condensed saturday morning version.
some congregations already hold bookstudy groups on saturday mornings.
a universal change to this for the whole organisation make senses as it would help resolve a number of growing problems for the society, specifically, meeting attendance is clearly diminishing at the rate of knots in the western world, many elders are burning out and resigning because they cannot cope with all the pressure heaped up on them that so many meetings in no small measure contributes towards, and magazine 'sales' are apparently down and such a change would work in very well with the upcoming new change to the watchtower magazine in january 2008. .
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yaddayadda
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Will the change to the Watchtower be followed by a change to the meetings?
by yaddayadda ini expect that a significant change to the meetings is on the horizon, most probably in the form of a shift of the bookstudy from a weeknight to a condensed saturday morning version.
some congregations already hold bookstudy groups on saturday mornings.
a universal change to this for the whole organisation make senses as it would help resolve a number of growing problems for the society, specifically, meeting attendance is clearly diminishing at the rate of knots in the western world, many elders are burning out and resigning because they cannot cope with all the pressure heaped up on them that so many meetings in no small measure contributes towards, and magazine 'sales' are apparently down and such a change would work in very well with the upcoming new change to the watchtower magazine in january 2008. .
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yaddayadda
I expect that a significant change to the meetings is on the horizon, most probably in the form of a shift of the bookstudy from a weeknight to a condensed Saturday morning version. Some congregations already hold bookstudy groups on Saturday mornings. A universal change to this for the whole organisation make senses as it would help resolve a number of growing problems for the Society, specifically, meeting attendance is clearly diminishing at the rate of knots in the Western world, many elders are burning out and resigning because they cannot cope with all the pressure heaped up on them that so many meetings in no small measure contributes towards, and magazine 'sales' are apparently down and such a change would work in very well with the upcoming new change to the Watchtower magazine in January 2008.
The Society is under increasing pressure to do something to boost flagging meeting attendance and to ease the burden on the elders. The Society is fully aware that the elders carry a heavy load, something starkly admitted in the 1st April 2007 Watchtower. No doubt the GB is bugged by increasing reports from the worldwide Branches of elders burning out. Historically the Society has declined to do anything realistic about this problem but this can't go on for much longer. The Society is evidently struggling with the issue of what to do about losing more and more senior 'family men' type elders that are being replaced by increasingly younger, single, MS school graduate, pioneering type elders.
By removing the burden of having to drag the family to the bookstudy on a weeknight through combining the bookstudy with Saturday morning FS, the Society can claim to be addressing these problems. It would kill a number of birds with one stone. Firstly, The Society can say that it is trying to make the load a little less 'heavy' for elders and families by eliminating the need to attend two weeknight meetings. Meeting attendance may also be bolstered from shifting the bookstudy to Saturday morning since partificipation at the remaining weeknight meeting (the Theocratic Misery School and Service Meeting) is likely to increase. The rank and file will be more inclined to get off their chuffs to attend the TMS and SM instead of opting to sacrifice one weeknight meeting for the other, especially during winter. The TMS and SM would logically be moved to a Wednesday night. This would also have the benefit of JWs having more time for 'personal study' and bible reading. The Society is accused by outsiders of squashing desire for genuine 'personal study' and bible reading because there of so much emphasis on and time spent in relation to the meetings.
Furthermore, as we know, there is tremendous psychological pressure (peer pressure) on JW's to attend EVERY meeting. Not attending all the meetings usually results in being treated more coldly, even being 'marked', by some in the congregation. Shifting the bookstudy to a Saturday morning, before field service, may put pressure on the slackers to get out on FS more, even if only for one hour. It may therefore have a reinvigorating effect on such slacker/inactive ones. The new version bookstudy could be a half-hour to 40 minute version to be immediately followed by magazine presentation demonstrations before everyone heads out into the 'magazine work'. This would most probably boost the Saturday morning 'magazine work' activity.
It would make completely sense for the Society to bring in such a change in 2008 to coincide with the renewed emphasis on offering magazines that will undoubtedly accompany the change to the Watchtower in January 2008.
You heard it from me first. -
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CONFIRMATION new watchtower mag arrangement
by yesidid init was announced at the service meeting.
so it's definately a goer.
starting jan 2008. .
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yaddayadda
We are now definitely seeing a general contraction of operations by the WTS, all resulting from the general decline in the western world of the JW preaching activity and publisher stats. Stats are down in much of the western world and it is most unlikely to reverse. Thus the money is just not coming in anymore and printing so many magazines that no one wants to offer on the doors or read cannot be justified any longer.
The change makes complete sense for a number of reasons, and as I mentioned a few days ago, it is a wonder they havn't done it sooner. It makes sense financially, it makes sense for the rank and file, and it makes sense for the consuming public. It make sense financially for the simple reason that instead of 2 printing runs of the the Watchtower at so many tens of millions each printing run, this has been slashed to 1 printing one for the 'public' version with an additional, much smaller printing run of the 'study' version for a few million dubbies. The cost-savings are obvious. It makes sense for the publishers for a number of reasons: enthusiasm for offering the Watchtower on the doors has been low for many years on the part of the publishers because the strictly religious and more esoterical/specialised content of the Watchtower is not catered to today's increasingly secularized society and much of the content is pitched strictly at JW's via the study articles, so a Watchtower that offers more basic spiritual 'food' to the public, discussing more simple bible 'truths' is going to make the door-to-door work easier for the dubs; the publishers can now focus their energies on prepararing magazine presentations for just two magazines a month now, instead of four (this will simplify some Service Meeting parts also). It makes sense for the interested public also, since they will no longer have to read all the 'weird' study articles and can read more about basic teachings of the Watchtower Society - expect the new 'public' Watchtower version to contain a lot more on subjects such as the condition of the dead, etc.
On this basis, I think it is clearly only a matter of time, as has been predicted, until the Awake magazine disappears altogether. But it will likely not happen for a number of years yet, probably at least five. There seems little justification for continuing with the Awake (with its utterly trivial articles on such things as dog grooming, how soap is made, on animals and plants, Japanese cuisine and crap like this) if the new 'public' version of the Watchtower is going to emphasize more basic bible teachings to the public. The Awake is nothing but a pseudo Readers Digest and is obviously a complete waste of time and money (some would say that about every JW publication LOL).
I confidently predict that the next big change on the horizon will be a significant change to the meetings, most probably a shift of the bookstudy from week nights to a Saturday morning condensed version. This change will come because weeknight meeting attendance is clearly diminishing at the rate of knots in the Western world.
As we know, there is tremendous psychological pressure (peer pressure) on JW's to attend EVERY meeting. Shifting the bookstudy to a Saturday morning, before field service, may put pressure on the slackers to get out on FS more, even if only for one hour. The new version bookstudy would be a half-hour to 40 minute version (no reading of paragraphs) to be followed by magazine presentation demonstrations before everyone heads out into the 'magazine work'. This would most probably boost the Saturday morning 'magazine work' activity. It would make sense for the Society to bring in such a change in 2008 to coincide with the renewed emphasis on offering magazines that will accompany the change to the Watchtower in January 2008.
You heard it from me first. -
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new watchtower mag arrangement
by shadowofbathory inthe latest from brooklyn ( my mate in upper management ) i thought id share.. .
the watchtower is remaining bi monthly.
instead of both monthly offerings sharing same formats there is a change coming into action soon.
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yaddayadda
a) Public Image - Hiding the more extreme doctrines from the public
b) Information Control - Keeping information containted to the loyal few
c) Cost - Less magazines to print since one edition will be only for the 'faithful' (like the KM)
I think Drew Sagan hit in on the head as quoted above. But I would put the order of priority as C, A, B.
It's interesting to see how these things happen in waves. First the change to the Awake from bi-monthly to monthly; now this upcoming change to the Watchtower. Seems they did a test run with the Awake first.
The wonder of it is that they didn't do this years ago.
This will induce a little wave of excitement in the rank and file and will probably keep the publisher stats up for 2007. -
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April 1, 2007 Craptower---All About Obeying 'The Slave'
by Mary ini've just been looking through the latest garbage literature in the above mentioned wt.
both study articles are on obeying the governing body, although the second article is more on obeying the elders.
losing your grip there a little bit fellows?
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yaddayadda
This is a high mind-control article with the sole purpose of reinforcing mental submission (bondage) to the GB and loyalty to the organisation.
Their entire reasoning rests on the completely fallacious 1914-1918 creed. It is nothing but a tissue of lies to be dismissed out of hand.
The GB really show how utterly spiritually drunk and puffed up they are with these kinds of shamelessly self-aggrandizing articles.
Moses' striking the rock and claiming he was provided the water for the people is nothing compared to the arrogance of the 'superfine' apostles at the Watchtower Society (2 Cor 11:5).
"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled..." - Matt 23:12
It is undeniable that more and more JW's are feeling uncomfortable that so many years have elapsed since 1914 and are quietly suspecting that something must be wrong. Particularly those who found the 1995 'generation' change of understanding hard to swallow. The Society would probably like to focus less and less on the 1914 date, but this article aptly demonstrates that without the 1914 myth they have no authority and cannot claim such total submission. The WTS has no choice but to keep harking back to their dusty old chronological fantasies because their entire authority as the Christ appointed 'faithful slave' rests on it.
They can only keep painting themselves into a corner for so long. -
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Revived beast sick of Unipolar Babylon the Great
by proplog2 intoday putin accused the united states of making the world a more dangerous place by pursuing policies aimed at making it "one single master".
attacking the concept of a "unipolar" world in which the united states was the sole superpower, he said: "what is a unipolar world?
no matter how we beautify this term it means one single centre of power, one single centre of force and one single master.".
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yaddayadda
You make the error of your time-spans being too short. You're ignoring China. China will without a doubt be a new 'Northern' superpower...this eventuality is only 20 or 30 years away.
Russia will not be a 'revived' king of the North acting alone. It will combine with China to create a brand new king of the north. The final 'beast' will be a Russian/Chinese combine. They are ideology aligned and both regimes are atheistic. This will be the anti-Christian (atheistic) 'beast' foretold in bible prophecy.
A future Chinese/Russian (King of the North) combined worldsuperpower will be what topples the Anglo/American world power (King of the South). The third world war will be between these two opposed geopolitical ideologies. But it is still quite a few years away. -
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10 lies you have to believe in, to be in the "truth"
by pallemar inwell i likeked the headline ;) he he .
so hov manny lies, can we find, you have to believe in, to be in jehovas witness ?.
i will start with the first one.. 1. you must not believe the humand race is older than 6000 years!.
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yaddayadda
That Jesus is returning to kill humankind, not save it.
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Show Appreciation for GodÂ’s Revelations
by Rooster inshowappreciationforgodsrevelations.
1 through the revelations recorded in his word, jehovah has helped us to become better acquainted with him and many of his purposes.
what a great aid thewatchtower has been to us in understanding jehovahs revelations!
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yaddayadda
"In view of what we have learned, we are not anxious about what the future holds, as people of the world are."
Yea right! JW's envisage a global holocaust at God's hands where 99% of the planet's population is slaughtered. The only way to avoid this is to spend the rest of your life attending 5 really boring meetings a week and spend your weekends offering cult religious magazines to people who would rather slam the door in your face.
Nope, JW's aren't ANXIOUS at all!!! -
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Where do you THINK the WT will be in 20 years? (Not what you hope)
by UnConfused indo you think growth will have stopped?
do you think membership will be up or down?
do you think financially they will be in trouble?
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yaddayadda
It will be the same as it is now but there will be a general contraction/rationalisation of operations. The organisaton will just a bit smaller and a bit more more dumbed down than it already is.
There will be some relatively small changes of interpretation (new light) but nothing major. Speculative creeds tied up with the 1914 chronology (such as in the Jan 1, 2007 Watchtower) will simply be mentioned less and less (embarassment minimisation mode). Otherwise it will be the same old stuff ad nauseum.
There will be a fair bit of organisational/administrative tinkering, mainly derived from a need to cut costs and make life a bit easier for the elders. Egs, the Watchtower will only be issued monthly (ala the Awake); the bookstudy will be moved to a Saturday morning; pioneer hours may be reduced even more; the number of assemblies per year may be reduced or the number of days for each assembly reduced further.
Things will pretty much just carry on as usual but in ever decreasing circles.....yawn -
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January 1 WT Contradicts Itself!
by V incompare these two quotes from the january 1, 2007 watchtower page 30 and 31:.
"the first resurrection"--now under way!
(page 30, para 18).
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yaddayadda
Its not a contradiction. The GT, which is an indeterminate length of time (some assert that Revelation suggests 3.5 to 7 years) precedes Armageddon. Armageddon is the 'climax' of the GT. So all the WT is saying is that some of the anointed will still be 'alive on the earth' during the GT, but it is not known whether they will still be alive when Armageddon starts.