freddo

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Posts by freddo

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  30

  JW Statistics for "Britain" 2015 over 2014

  by freddo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  population listed.

  peak pubs.

  ave pubs.

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  freddo

  Why is Britain in scare quotes?

  Because I'm not sure what "Britain" is in jw terms.

  Politically Great Britain and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom.

  Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales

  Britain (used much less formally) is England and Wales combined.

  Ireland is usually the Republic of Ireland (sometimes called Southern Ireland) excluding Northern Ireland

  But I believe in JW Land that Britain is England, Scotland and Wales and that Ireland is Northern and Southern Ireland combined.

  So "Britain" in this post means whatever Britain is in JW Land!
  
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  21

  CoBE Joins those Elders Deserting the Sinking Ship

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from a reliable source:.

  a young cobe - late thirties, maybe forty - has resigned in december 2015, both as the cobe and as an elder.

  word is that he is a man with a young family who is stressed out and has had enough.

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  freddo

  CoBE - Coordinator of the Body of Elders used to be called Presiding Overseer before 2008 and way back in 1971 before the elder arrangement it was the Congregation Servant.
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  10

  "The church is reeling after a Royal Commission in Australia made 77 adverse findings"

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  http://m.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/14168160.former_jehovah_witness_from_hartlepool_agrees_to_be_interviewed_as_part_of_nationwide_investigation_into_the_church/.

  chris webber, reporter (stockton/hartlepool) / friday 25 december 2015.

  a former jehovah's witness from hartlepool calling for changes in the way the church deals with victims of sex abuse has been interviewed as part of a major national investigation.

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  freddo

  "The church is reeling" due to the Royal Australian Commission eh?

  You know what? I think that's "Reely" good news!
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  30

  JW Statistics for "Britain" 2015 over 2014

  by freddo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  population listed.

  peak pubs.

  ave pubs.

  1. 
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  freddo

  Population Listed
  

  2014 - 62,300,000 --- 2015 - 62,863,330 - % plus 0.9% approx

  Peak Pubs

  2014 - 138,515 --- 2015 - 137,631 minus 0.6% approx

  Ave Pubs

  2014 - 134,308 --- 2015 - 134,491 plus 0.14% approx

  Memorial attendance

  2014 - 230,577 --- 2015 - 225,584 minus 2.16% approx

  Aux Pios

  2014 - 10,143 ----- 2015 - 6,738 minus 33.5% approx!

  Baptisms

  2014 - 2,928 ------ 2015 - 2,286 minus 22% approx
  

  Yes indeed those Auxiliary pioneers dropping by one third and those baptisms by over one fifth tell a story.
  
  
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  31

  Yearbook 2016: Annual Report (15177 Partakers)

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the 2016 yearbook is up on jw.orgbranches of jehovahs witnesses: 89 (was 90)number of lands reporting: 240 (was 239)total congregations: 118016 (was 115416)worldwide memorial attendance: 19,862,763 (was 19,950,019) decreasememorial partakers worldwide: 15,177 (was 14,121 in 2013:13,204) large increasepeak of publishers in kingdom service: 8,220,105 (was 8,201,205) minor increaseaverage publishers preaching each month: 7,987,279 (was 7,867,958)percentage of increase over 2014: 1.5 (was 2.2)total number baptized: 260,273 (was 275,581)average auxiliary pioneer publishers each month: 443,504 (was 635,298) huge decreaseaverage pioneer publishers each month: 1,135,210 (was 1,089,446)total hours spent in field: 1,933,473,727 (was 1,945,487,604) decreaseaverage home bible studies each month: 9,708,968 (was 9,499,933)

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  freddo

  They are fudging. They emphasize what gives the best "spin" for them.

  Peak to peak comparisons show a drop in western lands including USA/UK/OZ. What their percentages show is Average to Average. Last year's peaks compared with this year's shows a drop all over the west. But in the world statistics where they do show peak increase they get a paltry increase of 18,000 or so.

  Memorial attendance is down and has previously been stagnant for four or five years.

  The child abuse cases and the money grabbing is taking it's toll. Now add in the fall out from the RAC, the generation overlap, closing halls and booted out bethelites and for this year we have a further recipe for dropping figures.
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  42

  2016 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the 2016 yearbook is now on the official site.

  pdf.

  it has been added to the archive of all prior yearbooks.

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  freddo

  Peak to Peak (not Ave to Ave)

  2014 / 2015

  Australia 68,635 / 67,606

  -1029

  Britain 138,515 / 137,631

  - 884
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  23

  How did you feel on Christmas as a JW child?

  by cookiemaster in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is obviously a question for born-ins like me.

  so, how did christmas feel to you as a child?

  to me it was awful.

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  freddo

  Not having Xmas was (and is) no big deal. I had "worldly" grandparents who gave me £5 each at Xmas which would be like about £50 now I guess. But going to school afterwards evading the "what did you get?" kind of questions was difficult.

  My mother actually used to get me something a few days after the 25th "in the sales" - I remember one year when I was about ten getting an Airfix kit (UK version of the type of Revell plastic models) of the Saturn V Apollo rocket that went to the moon which was all the rage in the late sixties early seventies. Another year I got a "Blue Pullman" Triang-Hornby train set.

  So I just said that these presents were "for Xmas and that we got a good deal because they were cheaper after the holidays".

  The defence mechanisms we learned eh?
  
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  42

  Beards

  by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a beard.

  i spend a month on vacation with no worry from the congregation overseas of course.

  i grew a full beard now and with glasses i finally have posted my picture on facebook og me... next to half life 2 cover showing i look like gordan freeman lol.

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  freddo

  In the surrounding congs (let's go with the twenty or so in our circuit in the UK) let's assume that there are 180 or so elders and about 120 servants.

  Circuit level: CO's still enforce "no beards on the assembly platform" made up rule.

  Cong. Level: I can think of three/four elders with full beards and another three/four with goatees. I know some congs do not let elders with beards/goatees give public talks or go on the platform. I believe about half a dozen or more min servs have goatees or beards.

  So out of an "appointed man" body of say 300 around 15+ have something beyond a moustache. 5%?

  We have had visiting elders give public talks with a beard at our hall from time to time.

  Out of 20 congs I think a handful have a prevailing view that a neat beard is ok on the platform. Some forbid it and a couple really get on the case about it even for background things like running microphones.

  
  
  
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  29

  Latest, SHOCKING JW Paedophile case.

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  http://www.stratford-herald.com/45973-jehovahs-witness-jail...

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  freddo

  Well done Barbara!
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  19

  Disassociation letter

  by BeautifulMind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  good evening.

  i have a question about where to send my disassociation letter.

  do i give a copy to the overseer of the cong i was in and the branch?

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  freddo

  If you are determined to go ahead, why not give a copy to everyone you know listing your reasons?

  Don't make it too long - anything up to one page - listing such things as child abuse, money-grabbing, failed predictions - with scriptures and WT quotes to support your view.