Notblind, would you please provide documentation for this? I'm not doubting but I'd really love to have the source so that I can share it with others.
Sure:
Proclaimers book page 241:
Although singing in local congregations was largely dispensed with in about 1938, it was revived again in 1944 and continues to be a significant feature of the congregation meetings and convention programs of Jehovah's Witnesses.
As mentioned above, I think the answer is "Jehovah Is My Shepherd", used continuously since the late 20's.
Honorable mention goes to "Let Your Light Shine" which has been virtually unchanged since the 1944 red songbook. I think it was called "Fidelity" in the 1944 and 1950 books, but the lyrics & melody are nearly identical.
Of course, "continuous" is a bit relative, since Booze Rutherford cancelled all songs and singing at the meetings in 1938, because it took too much time away from the preaching, in his opinion. Knorr had his numerous faults, but at least he did re-institute music at the meetings in 1944.
i'm not sure if this has already been posted and i just haven't seen it, but here's an email i received recently that gave me a chuckle.... ...................... run, idiot, run.
br.
jackson of the governing body concluding a talk @ la district convention had this neat illustration at the very end of the convention.
the december kingdom ministry (km) is online.
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no schedule for the first week in january 2016 - as in previous december kms.. so another evidence, that beginning with january 2016 the org will change the mid-week-meeting.. -----> download link: http://download.jw.org/files/media_publickm/72/km_e_201512.pdf.
How appropriate that the last page of the last Kingdom Ministry ever is half-blank. Much like a store that's going out of business. The place is half empty and they're liquidating everything that's not nailed down - and some of the things that are nailed down.
The Kingdom Misery literally ran out of things to say. They simply quit trying, they have given up, and they just turned the last 15 minutes of the last Service Meeting ever into a Local Needs part - as if to say "Will the last Witness please turn the lights out before you sign the deed over to us?"
They don't even pretend to say anything of import anymore.
1984 - Kingdom Decrease
1985 - Integrity Sleepers
1986 - Divine Sleaze
1987 - Trust in the BORG
1988 - Divine Injustice - The Judicial Committee Way!
1991 - Lovers of Slavery
1992 - Bearers of Darkness
1993 - Repetitive Teaching
1997 - Faith in Tightpants Tony's Word
1999 - Crazy Freddie's Prophetic Word
2003 - Give The Governing Body Glory
2005 - Organizational Obedience
2006 - Deliverance at Hand Since 1874!
2007 - Follow the Splane!
2008 - Guided by the Spirit of a Fart in the Wind in the GB Conference Room
2009 - Keep on the (16,000-dollar Apple) Watch!
2010 - Remain Close to the Contribution Box!
2013 - Tightpants Tony's Word is Truth!
2015 - Imitate the Biggest Contributor in Your Kingdom Hall!
how do you view money?.
a self-examination might alert you to the need to acquire a balanced view of money.
for example, ask yourself the following questions.. am i attracted to get-rich-quick schemes?.
Am I attracted to get-rich-quick schemes?You mean schemes like forcing over 110,000 congregations to empty their bank accounts to send them to 'Mother'?
Do I find it difficult to be generous with my money?You mean a so-called religious organization that spends ZERO funds caring for its aged or poor R&F members?
Do I resort to lying or to other unethical practices in order to make money?Such as claiming that thousands of new Kingdom Halls need to built in the USA within four years, and 9 months later we see SQUAT?
Does money make me feel important?Such as wearing a $16,000 Gold Apple Watch Edition, or wearing a shiny Rolex on your monthly internet TV show, while thousands of your members in the developing world have to scrape together piggy bank coins, forgo ice cream cones, and stage bake sales to fund new Assembly Halls and Kingdom Halls?
Am I always thinking about money?You mean, like not letting a month go by without telling the R&F they need to be sending more and MORE money to fund your pet projects?
i don't know if they're making similar arrangements in other parts of the world but below you will find the letter (and the translation attempt) they're sending to all the congregations in mexico and central america asking them to modify their september 21 and september 28 service meeting programs.. after watching jackson's gold apple watch and lett's pinky ring one can only assume they are a bunch of brazen, shameless and greedy bastards!.
the letter has already been uploaded at the spanish forum and you can find it if you click here or see the attached picture.. the translation "attempt" is as follows:.
august 1, 2015. to all congregations.
recently, we drove by the kingdom hall in galena, il, the sign was removed and it was closed down.
a while back, the hall in taylor mo was also closed.
one congregation in peoria, il was dissolved last year.
A few years ago 3 congs in southern IL were merged into one - both Carbondale and Anna IL were simultaneously shut down due to lack of interest and sent to the hall in Murfreesboro IL. Even that cong is now struggling I hear. I know of lots of others that were closed in the past few years - East Prairie MO, Shawneetown IL, and Flora IL all closed due to lack of interest.
Many, if not most English congs in rural America are teetering on the brink. Most of them are just a few families away from being shut down. Expect more to be closed as the money dries up.
the us kingdom ministry shows the collective total 2014 memorial attendances of the countries that now comprise the us territory in 2014: 2,610,810.. those countries are: the usa, bermuda, jamaica, turks and caicos and puerto rico.. the same collective total for those same countries three years ago - 2011 - was 2,666,592.. that's a decrease of 55,782 from 2011 to 2014. i am happified.. while there has been the occasional year in which memorial attendances from one year to the next have shown decrease, this is a first: decline evident over a three-year period.. comments please!.
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anyone have the know how on how to provide the link for the kingdom ministry download?
Of course the 2011 Memorial attendance figures are higher than 2014; the 2011 Memorial was held on a Sunday. This year's was on a Monday. Sunday Memorials are always well-attended; midweek not so much.
You see, contrary to what the WTS would have you believe, Memorial attendance has very little (almost nothing) to do with growth or potential interest. It has everything to do with the number of inactives, unbelieving relatives, and non-progressive return visits that can be bothered/persuaded/guilt-tripped to show up. And for these people, the threshold for not attending is quite low.
Memorial attendance figures have zero correlation with growth in this organization. How many JW's attended the Memorial as their first meeting? Ask around, and you'll find that the number is excruciatingly low.
with the official letter from the gb to all bodies of elders, a stylized jw.org banner can now be appended to kingdom hall signage.. what an auspicious year this will turn out to be for the organization!!.
among other outcomes, the "link" with the old, baggage-ridden "watchtower bible & tract society" recedes into the background.
furthermore, now you don't pretend to need feet trudging door-to-door - your worker is done at the press of a few directed fingers.
