There is something I don't understand about the selling off of Kingdom Halls

by Tameria2001 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Tameria2001

  I have been reading where the Watchtower is closing down kingdom halls. There is something that I don't understand, or maybe I am just misunderstanding it. Can someone clear this up for me?

  When a kingdom hall is built, it is the brothers from that congregation who takes out the loan and over the course of time pay that loan off. When the kingdom hall is built, it is volunteers who build it for the most part. When a kingdom hall is sold off who gets the money? I am getting the impression that when a kingdom hall is sold off it is the Watchtower who profits from this.
  
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  pepperheart

  That is what i would think as well
  
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  Tech49

  Yes, you are correct. When a KH is sold, ALL of the proceeds/profits go to the Watchtower corporate entity. Even when land has been donated by some elderly couple, to build a KH on, it all goes into the pockets of WT when it is sold. Nothing, zero, gets returned to any of the congregation or volunteers.
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  Simon

  It's a way for them to steal additional wealth from the local congregation. People donate to the WTS but I suspect local funding for a KH gets more response because it's more tangible and directly useful for those who will use it.

  Years later, the WTS takes it away so they have to go through the process again at some point. Rinse and repeat with the WTS getting free real-estate each time. All tax-free.

  Not a bad money maker is it.
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  sparky1

  For some strange reason, God and cash always seem to go 'hand in hand'..........

  
  
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  steve2

  Cash, not love, is the firm foundation of religion. As Rutherford famously stated (when he vainly tried to argue his organization was not a religion):

  ”Religion is a snare and a racket”.
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  Joe Fader

  Each congregation has a different set of circumstances. One may own its property outright and have all the funds for renovation donated locally. Others may have a bank loan. Others still may have had a loan from Watchtower which has since been forgiven. Whatever the case a letter to all congregations in 2014 explained that no matter who held title to the property it in effect now belonged to the Watchtower. It was "dedicated to Jehovah". Local elders could no longer make decisions regarding the congregations propery without Watchtower approval. This land grab paved the way for congregation merges and property sales.
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  ShirleyW

  I am getting the impression that when a kingdom hall is sold off it is the Watchtower who profits from this

  Why do you think some KHs are being sold? If the WT didn't get the money why would they care what happens to the property? Sounds like you forget the Borg is nothing but a Real Estate and Publishing company
  
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  resolute Bandicoot

  Joe Fader, has anybody got a copy of that letter. I remember it well and was the odd one out as I was the only one in the cong who voted against signing over the property.
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  Ding

  I seem to remember that many years ago there was a congregation that got into a lawsuit with the WT over ownership of the KH after most of the members (or at least the influential ones) all left the borg.

  After that, the WT changed the arrangement to make it clear that the org owned the building even though the congregation donated the money and labor for it.