yes, you read that correctly.
last night during the service meeting, the cobe gave an announcement that we should start printing or using jw.org for any special literature such as the daily text, the yearly calendar, etc... he also mentioned to please cancel any orders of the wt and awake on cds because no one is picking them up and they are piling up.. .
my question is, where did this elder get this info from?
The real "doctrinal" issue before the Watchtower at the moment is whether Jehovah prefers the "dot" on the top right, or the bottom left. Apparently he has not revealed the truth on this pressing issue.
JW.
org
or.............
JW
.org
??????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TAtRCJIqnk
JV
after 140 years of preaching and millions of books, magazines, and tracts, all the wtbts has to show is a measly 7 million members.
the mormons, baptists, pentecostals and many other religions have more members without the preaching work.. in your opinion, is 7 million members way too many for all the odd beliefs, doctrines and practices ?
or, should be more members since they have had over 140 years of being in the religion business?.
Part of the problem is that for every new convert they might get from the door to door work or from family preaching, they lose one to the DA or DF policies.
It has been true that at least 75% of new JWs are JW children being baptized. Some Kingdom Halls have over 25% of their membership consisting of teenagers between 12 and 19. The problem for the WT is that those are the very ones who will drift away or be DF'd as soon as they leave home. The good news is that they are typically replaced by more kids attaining the age of 12 or more. You still see a lot of 7, 8, and 9 year olds being baptized and they go on the publisher roles as soon as they do.
An adult convert, other than a non-JW spouse who finally converts or a close relative like siblings who move in with JWs due to financial or family issues, is still quite rare. I asked a DFd fellow who had been a CBE until his leaving how many converts he had actually met. He served in two KHs and he told me that both had no adult converts in recent memory and definitely none while he was serving there. He mentioned that the last major conversion he heard about was when the male member of a family raised as Mennonites and then shunned by their community converted to JW (cult ----> cult) and brought his whole family of eight into the the KH. They all got baptized within a year, so the congregation showed a +10 growth one year when they were combined with the +12 year olds who were already attending.
Think about it. An annual growth of 1 or 2% should be expected just from children and close relative conversions. Conversions due to Memorial invitations or local convention walk-ins are now miniscule compared to the 1950s and 60s when these were relatively common. I remember that quite a few, escpecially in the New York, San Francisco, and St. Louis areas became converts because of the temporary housing work (asking the public to allow the brothers to rent spare rooms during a convention). They would see the JWs come visit for 5 to 8 days and notice that they were well-behaved and otherwise good citizens - and would become interested from that experience. I don't know if that work is still a part of convention prep - or if that has been replaced by using current JWs and hotel discount programs. Some one will have to up date me on that. But if you fit 50,000 families and individuals into a large city renting rooms from the public, there has to be some conversions related to that.
What I find amazing is that more DFing seems to happen in smaller congregations ( < 100 baptized members) than larger ones (> 125). A nearby congregation DF'd a MS a couple years back and his whole family (wife, sister-in-law, and 5 minor children) were all out within months. Eight people in a small congregation suddenly disappear forever and the KH looks pretty empty on a Thursday night.
JV
the annual meeting of the governing body of jehovah's witnesses will be in october 2014.. .. in november 2013, just after the last one they published this now famous statement in the 15th of november 2013 watchtower page 16 paragraph 17 says:.
"at that time, the lifesaving direction that we receive from jehovahs organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint.
all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.".
Yes, expect changes in both blood and pedophile policies, but probably seemingly quite moderate and maybe undecipherable to the average JW. Also, potential major corporate name change for one of the major entities (likely the NY corp.)
Look for more flexibility and less discipline connected with blood transfusions, and tighter controls and more cooperation with law enforcement when dealing with pedophiles. Again, the changes may appear so minor as to be considered uneventful and of no particular interest, but looks like that will be where change is most likely. They will never admit that they are finally making changes due to outside pressures, but rather because Jehovah told them that it is now his will that they change.
Wonder if Jehovah has a booming voice, like in the movies? Or maybe a little squeaky voice like a cartoon mouse. And just which one of the GB members gets to answer the Jehovah phone? And when does he speak to them? When they are all gathered around the big table in the conference room, or when each of them is sitting on the toilet taking a dump? Inquiring people want to know...
JV
we may believe that the wt is having financial problems because of the sell-off that has been happening lately.
however, i think the opposite.
i believe the gb has realized that in today's world the money is in the properties that the sheepies have already paid or are paying for.
Menlo Park (CA, USA) Kingdom Hall near San Francisco has an estimated worth of $2.5 Million. However, considering its location right near a major thoroughfare and across from a VA hospital that is expanding, you can figure it might be worth another $1 Million by 2015/16. That KH was the subject of a major property snatch by the WT HQ in 2011-2013. It is just one of dozens more in California alone that are in the same category.
JV
yes, the jws continue to bleed their young ones, so far in my local kh 3 were dfd, one girl just turned 18 this month and packed her bags and said goodbye to the cult and her cultish parents, another young 18 year old man decided to have a non-jw girlfriend and decided to stop attending and is no longer a witness.
they continue to leave and wt leaders dont give a damn.
they dont do anything to help kids be successful and live a healthy life.. .
When I came across this thread, I had to stop for a moment and read through it again. Over the past weekend I posted an article on WatchtowerWatch.com that touched on this very subject.
I'd spoken to one of my contacts earlier last week. He has been a JW for most of his adult life and has been an elder for many years. He stays in, as he says, "mostly for entertainment," but also because his wife does not want to make their break until after her mother passes - which should be relatively soon. He told me, "As soon as the old lady is gone, so will we be. We may not even say good-bye, just stop going and let everyone wonder what happened to us. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before someone at the Kingdom Hall actually calls and asks, 'Where are you guys?'"
It was our conversation that led me to write the aforementioned article: http://watchtowerwatch.com/blog/why-are-you-still-a-jehovahs-witness
Anyway, as I was reading the comments by BU2B, doinmypart, and rjharris, I kept thinking - geez, I wonder if any of them read my article? We are all on the same page. My contact told me that in his circuit in the Pacific Northwest congregations are losing an average of 5-6 publishers over 18 every six months. He told me that most of the elders are getting nervous, thinking the CO is going to hold them personally responsible. One issue that comes up in almost every discussion connected with a judicial committee meeting is "if we DF this person, that means we will lose another publisher. Anyone know of any new studies that are about to get baptized to replace this loss?"
He also told me that you can see the exhaustion of the elders as they try to keep things together. He said one good thing coming out of these losses is that elder bodies may realize that they will need to take a more accomodating attitude toward some of their flock, especially those who are just asking questions, but have not committed any "sins" - especially those not involving porneia. Problem is that several young people brought before the committee recently have taken the attitude, "do what you gotta do, I don't give a shit." His point is that when they are willing to verbalize their contempt, then you've probably already lost them - maybe not this week, but in a few months they will be gone on their own.
He told me that in one congregation an elder was demoted back to MS - because he acted "like an "f-ing Nazi." He said the CO made a special trip to the KH just to give this one elder a dressing down, "and it began almost before they got inside the conference room."
My contact agrees with sir82. The Watchtower may hope to have a hard core group of JWs who they know will (1) never leave, no matter what, and (2) keep sending money and doing what they are told, because (3) they want to have a home just to exert their authority over others.
JV
check it out and download before i am forced to take it down!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf_rfrusa1c.
I think the Governing Body should allow for "Happy Dance" breaks between sessions of assemblies and conventions. Wake up the crowd, loosen the kinks, clear their heads, give 'em a little excersize and put some joy into the process. I bet attendance would jump for the sessions where this was allowed. And don't forget the song says...
"...Happiness is the Truth!!!"
JV
the guy who owns this website is supposed to be the guy who made the "caleb" videos for the wt......he has recently moved into my wifes' congregation.. (i have been 'in-active' for almost 8 years, so have very few ties to anyone in the congragation except for my wife, and our relationship is more room-mates than anything, so i dast not ask regarding this.
any info from her would be biased anyway).. quite by accident my grandson mentioned that he'll be doing some editing for this fella.
i visited the website momentarily and felt sick at the openiong screen: seriously j-dub influenced.
Sir82 - thanks for the headsup on the link - but for some reason it failed to load the first time for me when I clicked on it.
You are right about the left sidebar - a diffused gray on a black background is very difficult to read, but considered stylish at the moment. The rest of the website is bright and filled with interesting illustrations and graphics - so I'll give them a B+ on the overall looks of the site.
the guy who owns this website is supposed to be the guy who made the "caleb" videos for the wt......he has recently moved into my wifes' congregation.. (i have been 'in-active' for almost 8 years, so have very few ties to anyone in the congragation except for my wife, and our relationship is more room-mates than anything, so i dast not ask regarding this.
any info from her would be biased anyway).. quite by accident my grandson mentioned that he'll be doing some editing for this fella.
i visited the website momentarily and felt sick at the openiong screen: seriously j-dub influenced.
It's interesting that the building shown in the illustration on the About page looks a lot like one of the older Watchtower buildings in Brooklyn. Nicely designed and effective website. These guys are definitely pros - and probably don't come cheap.
the guy who owns this website is supposed to be the guy who made the "caleb" videos for the wt......he has recently moved into my wifes' congregation.. (i have been 'in-active' for almost 8 years, so have very few ties to anyone in the congragation except for my wife, and our relationship is more room-mates than anything, so i dast not ask regarding this.
any info from her would be biased anyway).. quite by accident my grandson mentioned that he'll be doing some editing for this fella.
i visited the website momentarily and felt sick at the openiong screen: seriously j-dub influenced.
Interesting that he does mention his "faith" in his bio, but does not list the Borg among his clients... The Borg may be his biggest and most influential client...
the guy who owns this website is supposed to be the guy who made the "caleb" videos for the wt......he has recently moved into my wifes' congregation.. (i have been 'in-active' for almost 8 years, so have very few ties to anyone in the congragation except for my wife, and our relationship is more room-mates than anything, so i dast not ask regarding this.
any info from her would be biased anyway).. quite by accident my grandson mentioned that he'll be doing some editing for this fella.
i visited the website momentarily and felt sick at the openiong screen: seriously j-dub influenced.
Oops - site did not come up first time I tried. Never mind...
