http://tbo.com/central-tampa/jehovahs-witnesses-meet-in-tampa-after-30-year-absence-20130713/
Tampa with 24 baptized with attendance about 6,000 = .4%
anyone getting/hearing how baptism numbers are this summer @ conventions?
in previous years, reports showed less baptisms per attendance numbers.
overall, annual 2012 service report showed for u.s. reduction in baptisms..
http://tbo.com/central-tampa/jehovahs-witnesses-meet-in-tampa-after-30-year-absence-20130713/
Tampa with 24 baptized with attendance about 6,000 = .4%
i have never posted before.
i have been lurking for a few days and have decided to give it a try.
the subject of child abuse caught my eye.
Miss.Fit, welcome. So sorry for your circumstances when you were young. That would be a lot to come through. Take care.
hi folks.
i apologize if this is old news to some, but it's news to me.. i stumbled on a comprehensive list of all the sold properties on wikipedia on this link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/watch_tower_bible_and_tract_society_of_pennsylvania#brooklyn_property_sales.
it's just a mind-boggling amount of money, and useful information to have handy when talking to witness relatives.
It seems reasonable to sell these properties in Brooklyn. Maintaining and updating old buildings is a big expense even with free labor. In real estate, costs are high in the city, as real estate is picking up again. It's expensive in the city. Going to the country areas and building according to the needs, makes sense, cost-wise. (This is of the very few things I can accept as agreeable of the WTS)
It makes me wonder, though, how these devoted, highly experienced Bethelites will 'serve' congregations any more. In New York city areas, this was a big part of their responsibilities. At least it was a nice 'break-away" from Bethelites and getting with others and more reality at times.
Just was thinking, (uh-oh), about donations of the Worldwide part, to the WTS. I would guess about half of publishers don't donate at all or so very little. So, if the other half, say as an average, donated $20/month, some more, some less - that would still be possibly $75M/month = almost a billion a year. What do you think? Does that sound plausible? Doesn't sound like that would be hurting them?
On another site, I see Candace is engaged and finished this year of school.
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I am happy for her and certainly wish her the best!
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20131015/.
needless to say, banging on again about education and also creation/evolution.
can they not think of anything original?.
Interesting St George,,poor JW kids can't celebrate anything,, no birthdays, even graduation parties are criticized now too. No wonder most of their youth are leaving.
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20131015/.
needless to say, banging on again about education and also creation/evolution.
can they not think of anything original?.
About Malcolm Allen's story, it is strange. I can't think Malcolm would have been so naive to think he could leave Bethel, about 53ish yrs old, be gone for 12+ yrs. (were they even pioneering then?, no word about that) and think Bethel would consider him, then at about 65+ yrs. old . Back then, anyone leaving Bethel for anything, would not expect he would be called back. I think Malcolm liked Bethel, but not so sure about Gracie. She rarely smiled, unless that was just her way. Many or some husbands like that Bethel life. But many to most, the wives don't, but they accept their "lot in life." (ugh,,doesn't that make you start to choke?)
So what was the purpose of this article? Only thing I can come up with. And that is a switch. But perhaps, it's the Bethel's version, one's serving a long time, fulltime at Bethel, how things can change (though Malcolm had to leave due to personal family need) but Bethelites, even old ones have to leave but due to "downsizing" now-a-days. The article in the beginning states "Life is unpredictable at times, uncertain, and even hard to deal with. But . . . . blah,blah") Bethel sometimes, back then by some was considered a career. There is no promise of a "career" there anymore.
Maybe this is a version, of the crazy happy ending for ones that have to leave Bethel, though old, and can still live "happily ever after."
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/5138/1/who-is-running-the-watchtower-now.
some of these were already very old on this list (2000).
this is aside from the listed gb members.. .
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/5138/1/Who-is-running-the-Watchtower-now
Some of these were already very old on this list (2000). This is aside from the listed GB members.
i think many older ones at bethel have a nagging feeling that these new guys that make up the governing body now at bethel don't really give a rats ass what happens to them and that because of all the failed predictions their future is very bleak as the corporation trims all the fat and sends them on their merry way with little hope of material benifits for all years of slaving for the corporation.. the scenario or fantacy cycle for wishful thinking is: a pattern that recurs in personal lives, in politics, in history and in storytelling.
when we embark on a course of action which is unconsciously driven by wishful thinking, all may seem to go well for a time, in what may be called the dream stage(1874-1914, 1916-1925, 1925-1975).
but because this make-believe can never be reconciled with reality, it leads to a frustration stage(1975-2014) as things start to go wrong, prompting a more determined effort to keep the fantasy in being.
Hopefully,, the Bethelites in their 30s and 40s start developing a Plan B. The ones older (50+) better start making contacts with JWs with possibility with businesses that will possibly hire them and possible relatives or close JW friends that can rent a room out for them. And hopefully the younger ones consider a plan B with the long-run reality of getting a special skill school or colleges.
There has to be enough going on this way for them to re=consider and re-evaluate.
it seems to me that in the past large flashes of "new light" have come when the governing body was backed into a corner.
for example the multiple re-defining of what a generation is until it ended up the ridiculous "overlapping" meaning.. what is the reason this time?
are they worried because the number of partakers has been going up?
All 'changes' are for their survival and control.
anybody got information on the amount of money changing hands?.
http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/americas/united-states/jehovahs-witnesses-sign-agreement-to-sell-buildings/.
They don't dare tell their people all around the world that amount. It amazes me that most don't even care to know as most continue to eke out a living. as they make their donations.