Jehovah's Witnesses requesting financial transparency in Spain (page 4)

insidetheKH

@blondie i am in a hall that houses 3 congregations in total combined they donate U$3850 every month to the new arrangement and about U$2100 to the worldwide work. Also when the arrangement started bank accounts were cleared and sent to the branch. That was a total of U$59,000 from our Kingdom Hall.

Before the new arrangement there was also a box for kingdom halls around the world but the combined total of three congregations that was sent to the branch when that arrangement was in place was never more than U$500 a month.

So now they get 3350 more every single month.... from just one kingdom hall

JHK

"But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness".

konceptual99

@insidetheKH

@konceptual congregations that need a new hall will get a new hall
I know hundreds of active witnesses but never heard one about wanting to know about the international accounts.
Only on boards like this you hear people screaming about transparency... people that no longer contribute and from which the majority is not even a witness anymore.

Your argument was about entitlement not whether or not anyone was interested. All should be entitled.

I agree that a minority are really interested but I also know hundreds of active witnesses and many more are interested in what has been going on with congregation funds than before the change.

I go back to my point that the point of trustees of a charity is to administer the funds of the charity properly. I know few witnesses really care but they should do, especially if they are an elder. They have all the legal responsibilities of being a trustee but no real power to act outside of the "suggestions" from Bethel.

As for those needing a hall will get a hall... there's the rub. It's now Bethel who decide. For example, I know two congregations NOW who have had their plans vetoed by Mill Hill when they were about to sign on the dotted line for land to build a new hall to share. One gets to stay in it's existing hall, the other has to sell it's hall and go to another hall in another town. Who will get the cash from the sale? Not the local congregation. What about the money that was bequeathed in wills for the express purpose of going towards their new hall?

The WTS may determine that the need of congregations elsewhere may be greater than the need of a couple of congregations in the south of England and there are many who would reason that it does not matter if their hall plans are scuppered if the greater good prevails. What is really behind it though is simple asset grabbing.

I accept that many of the people who do contribute don't actually care. I agree that most of the complaints come from those looking at the WTS with a critical eye. Don't make that a strawman argument however. Just because people don't care doesn't mean they shouldn't. It does not make the actions of the WTS less mercenary.

insidetheKH

@konceptual i cannot comment on the situation and example you refer to simply because i am not familiar with that situation/location. As far as elders are concerned they are responsible for their congregation and should trust the brothers at the branch and international offices, just like all the other JW's should trust the brothers.

within JW ranks there is not a real movement of people who think there is any reason to distrust the organisation. things are going fine as far as the majority is concerned.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Nobody cares about any single piddly congregation with its $1000 checking account and $800 monthly expenses.

Actually, when I was involved, I was surprised at how feverishly the CO cared about the congregation accounts and auditing. It wasn't just that the receipt totals needed to match the deposits, but that the deposits had to be made right away after each meeting, no matter how small the amount of money collected or the inconvenience about finding a way to get that last deposit in before the month ended. Most of these accounts servants were rather downtrodden MSs with crappy jobs working long hours, so their wives were helping... but had to find some young, snot-nosed, newly baptized kid to sign the receipts because women didn't qualify to sign things in those congregations.

So there's transparency at the congregation level. There is much less transparency at the circuit level. And believe me, I've been in circuits where the CO has dipped into circuit funds like they were his personal piggybank. Above that? The money disappears into a black hole.

NVR2L8

JWs build KH financed with the money they donated in the first place and their free labour only to be perpetual tenants of the WT society who own the building. Then the WT can sell the building for a profit and have another one built with more free labour from their perpetual tenants. If this isn't a scam what is? Then these perpetual tenants lease their assembly hall, the one they built for free and paid for with their donations...I guess it is too much to ask where all that money goes...all we should do is to shut up and keep donating.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

all we should do is to shut up and keep donating.

"My thoughts exactly!
When you give to Jehovah, it's nobody's business what I do with all that cash!
It's your job as JWs to shut-up and preach!"

adjusted knowledge

I think it is quite comical whenever I read insidetheKH comments. He speaks as if he is of high rank and knows the ins and outs of the organization at the upper echelon.

within JW ranks there is not a real movement of people who think there is any reason to distrust the organisation. things are going fine as far as the majority is concerned.

Or perhaps they are like you and disregards God's mouth piece, The Faithful and Discreet Slave, AKA GB, commandments and visit, register, and comment on a known Apostate site. Many members on this site are still active JW or at least attend meetings to avoid losing family.

konceptual congregations that need a new hall will get a new hall

You being a window washer has this privileged information?

I know hundreds of active witnesses but never heard one about wanting to know about the international accounts.

Really? I know hundreds of JWs who will not question the society on ANY thing. I do however know of one individual who is a hypocrite and is registered to an apostate site and posts here.... I wonder who that may be

insidetheKh, you remind me of Alejandro Cao de Benos for North Korea.

anyway, have a good day my fellow Apostate in denial

_Morpheus

Actually i envision tm3 saying "if you dont like what i do with the money, take it up jesus! He put me in charge"

rebel8

Good for them for showing they don't have the freedom to criticize the church w/o punishment.

Translation of the blog page here.

All online translations can have funny spots. This one has a lot:

Dear comrades victims of financial opacity of the anointed cheesy:

Jehovah's Witnesses requesting financial transparency in Spain

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