My brother called me today and said last night at the meeting there was a talk about building a new hall. They went over the 3% interest on the loan and all that jazz. Then they passed out contracts to individual congregation members. My brother said that the Overseer explained if each member gave 22$ a month they could get a new hall. He also said that on the form if you gave over 3,000 dollars it would be considered a loan but you couldn't charge interest. This evidently caused a big discussion in my family and it seems raised a lot of eyebrows. So I am wondering if this is common. It sounds an awful lot like tithing to me. I told him that they wouldn't own the hall just kind of be proxy keepers of it. He said he was going to ask around as he felt that the members owned it. He conceded though it would not be in the interest of the Society to give ownership to members. I know this, he sounded pretty raw over the fact that the Society was charging interest on the hall.
Hall Build Plans and tithing (is this common?)
by Burger Time 26 Replies latest jw friends
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blondie
I understood this was done anonymously at least it was at the last remodel I know of. They just write down what they can give monthly, or outright, no names. Then they add up what is offered to see if they can swing it. My husband was the accounts servant at the time...no names on the slips.
As to interest, the WTS used to charge at least what money would earn in a savings account so they would not go in the hole.
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Burger Time
Well let me restate this, I don't think he was bothered so much by the Society charging interest, just that they didn't want anyone else to charge interest when loaning money. That and if the usual question of , "if I have given 2,000 dollars to the worlds wide work shouldn't that cover the expenses?". According to my brother, these are legal contracts.
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blondie
*** km 5/76 p. 4 How Do You View Your Kingdom Hall? ***
Financing the Kingdom HallWhen the congregation is discussing the possibility of obtaining a Kingdom Hall, you personally may find it possible to make a donation to the project or to loan funds that you may not need presently. In addition, you may wish to determine how much you feel you can regularly contribute each month, with Jehovah’s blessing. While this is not a tithe or assessment, it being entirely voluntary, the elders may seek this information from those associated to help them in making plans. Unsigned slips with the amount thereon would suffice to give this estimate.
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OnTheWayOut
It is perfectly normal to charge a slight interest to get the funds from Mother.
Other religions do it. It's legal (obviously). It's perfectly normal to poll the
members and see what financing they can do.I get what you are saying about interest. The society is out of interest if they
just loan it to the building, so they charge the interest. The publisher is out
of interest, and they tell them "too bad." Worse yet, the local members are
charged interest to pay back the society for a loan on THEIR building.Technically, the local building belongs to the congregation, and the legal jargon
says that they keep it unless the congregation is dissolved, then it reverts back
to the organization. The problem with that- the organization can decide years
later to dissolve the congregation. There are break-away congregations outside
of JW's over doctrines or disagreements with their organization, but I haven't
heard of any (modern) breakaways from WTS. Essentially, that makes the
building the property of the parent organization. -
blondie
The WTS has a variety of ways to donate or loan money to them. They print that in the November WT each year and they have a booklet as well.
*** w06 11/1 pp. 20-21 Unitedly Building to Praise God ***
WAYS IN WHICH SOME CHOOSE TO GIVE
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLDWIDE WORKMany set aside, or budget, an amount that they place in the contribution boxes labeled "Contributions for the Worldwide Work—Matthew 24:14."
Each month, congregations forward these amounts to the office of Jehovah’s Witnesses that serves their respective countries. Voluntary donations of money may also be sent directly to WatchTowerBibleandTractSocietyofPennsylvania,AttentionTreasurer’sOffice,25ColumbiaHeights,Brooklyn,NewYork11201-2483, or to the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses that serves your country. Checks sent to the above address should be made payable to "Watch Tower." Jewelry or other valuables may be donated as well. A brief letter stating that such items are an outright gift should accompany these contributions.
CONDITIONAL-DONATION
TRUSTARRANGEMENTMoney may be placed in trust with Watch Tower for use worldwide. However, upon request the funds will be returned. For more information, please contact the Treasurer’s Office at the address noted above.
CHARITABLE
PLANNINGIn addition to outright gifts of money, there are other methods of giving to benefit Kingdom service worldwide. These include:
Insurance:
Watch Tower may be named as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or a retirement/pension plan.Bank
Accounts: Bank accounts, certificates of deposit, or individual retirement accounts may be placed in trust for or made payable on death to Watch Tower, in accord with local bank requirements.Stocks
andBonds: Stocks and bonds may be donated to Watch Tower as an outright gift.Real
Estate: Salable real estate may be donated either by making an outright gift or, in the case of residential property, by reserving a life estate to the donor, who can continue to live therein during his or her lifetime. Contact the branch office in your country before deeding any real estate.Gift
Annuity: A gift annuity is an arrangement whereby one transfers money or securities to a designated corporation that is used by Jehovah’s Witnesses. In exchange, the donor, or someone designated by the donor, receives a specified annuity payment every year for life. The donor receives an income-tax deduction for the year in which the gift annuity is established.Wills
andTrusts: Property or money may be bequeathed to Watch Tower by means of a legally executed will, or Watch Tower may be named as beneficiary of a trust agreement. A trust benefiting a religious organization may provide certain tax advantages.As the term "charitable planning" implies, these types of donations typically require some planning on the part of the donor. To assist individuals desiring to benefit the worldwide work of Jehovah’s Witnesses through some form of charitable planning, a brochure has been prepared in English and Spanish entitled CharitablePlanningtoBenefitKingdomServiceWorldwide. The brochure was written to provide information on a variety of ways that gifts may be made either now or through a bequest at death. After reading the brochure and conferring with their own legal or tax advisers, many have been able to help support the religious and humanitarian activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide and maximize their tax benefits while doing so. This brochure may be obtained by requesting a copy directly from the Charitable Planning Office.
For more information, you may contact the Charitable Planning Office, either in writing or by telephone, at the address listed below, or you may contact the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses that serves your country.
Charitable
PlanningOfficeWatch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
100 Watchtower Drive
Patterson, New York 12563-9204
Telephone: (845) 306-0707
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chickpea
i know when the KH where i attended went thru the same process for a remodel to "correct the SICK BUILDING" issues from the crap design provided by the borg in the first place, the understanding was the "suggested sum" ( as in the $22) would be a monthly obligation... and they counted ALL the publishers, like the teenagers and younger who had taken the dip.... so some families had the "suggested obligation" multiplied by 4 or 5!!!
we were already on the slippery slope of fading so we ignored the paperwork, which yes.... was a form much as described..... not an anonymous slip of paper.... and believe me there was more than one "reminder" to prayerfully consider what part we could play ( or PAY).... part of what soured the hub even further.....
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blondie
If it's not anonymous, don't fill it out, turn it back empty.
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Finally-Free
They have a good racket going. First the congregations donate free money to the kingdom hall building fund. Then they borrow the money back, effectively paying interest on the free money they initially donated. Then, they build the hall with their own money, pay interest on whatever they borrow, only to have the building specifications dictated by the regional building committee.
In the late 1990s we built a new hall. Initially they handed out forms to do a survey of who would donate, and how much. Someone must have raised hell because they had to do it again without asking for the names of doners. I donated nothing.
W
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OnTheWayOut
They have learned to heavily caution the members with their anonymous slip.
When you don't have to sign a committment, but just guess how much you can
give, many people go on the high side of their monthly available funds. They are
not lying, but being overly-optimistic. When a few months have passed, they
start putting in less because of ordinary life events.They didn't want to guess low because the congregation "sells" the whole project
to them by saying they can't do it without the funds. So the members feel that
they can only get started if a big enough committment is there.The last time the anonymous slip was requested in a cong. I attended, I wrote
"Zero monthly" and a one-time donation of a small amount. As an elder, I encouraged
others to guess on the low side, as the hall wasn't in bad shape, and remodeling was
a luxury that poor JW's shouldn't feel bad about if it didn't happen. Well, our whole
cong. was low in it's committment, but the other congs. carried the load.