How the "Preaching Work" Will End

by metatron 18 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  If contributions to the Watchtower keep falling and expenses rising, then:

  1) they will finally end the Awake magazine completely.( good riddance)

  2) they may announce that the Watchtower will become an internal publication, thereby reducing its printing down to 9-10 million

  per issue.

  3) they will announce that the Bible will be used primarily at the doors, along with cheap tracts.

  4) the Society will cite "workload simplification" as the reason for stopping the publication of country by country statistics

  5) if contributions fall even more, they will announce a new program for local brothers to act as circuit overseers, while downsizing

  the number involved in circuit work. This may be encouraged by liability concerns, too.

  Thereafter, the "preaching work" will continue to expand in some desperate countries, while fading into irrelevance in Europe,

  Australia, Canada and most of the US. Witnesses will keep on claiming the same number of hours but , at this point, even the

  Society will consider the claims dubious.
• 

  willyloman

  Interesting forecast, although it's hard to imagine they'd curtail or end their book publishing venture since that's the basis for cash flow. I mean, they could simply ask each JW to tithe a percentage to cover costs and stop selling books.... But then they'd be Mormons, right?
• 

  Rooster

  My brother, two brother-in-law's, & myself as complete families have stopped going and stopped contributing. About two years now.
• 

  joelbear

  they have very very deep pockets, i mean they are rolling in dough.

  don't count on "the preaching work" to end in our life times.
• 

  Scully

  The other thing is that the Preaching Work™ constitutes a kind of "busy work" that keeps the Flock™ trudging away on the Kingdom treadmill like a mouse on a hamster wheel.

  If the WTS doesn't make the R&F do "busy work" of some kind, they will get bored. They may even do research. They may think they have time to devote to a career and education.... or *gasp* hobbies of some kind that draw them away from the constant flow of congregational activity.

  The Preaching Work™ may not be the source of revenue that the WTS had once enjoyed, but it serves a very useful purpose in keeping the average JW too busy to think too deeply about the real problems in the organization.
• 

  garybuss

  
  I have to agree. Unless some radicle change is made the current model isn't for the long picture. The Society is providing door to door fundraising items for use by the Witness people but the funds are not forthcoming. Somewhere along the line it all inverted. The servant became the master.
• 

  kid-A

  The most logical thing would be for them to go exclusively "on-line"...but that will never happen for several reasons, first they want to keep the R+F off of the internet as much as possible and second, given that there only real growth is happening in very poor, third world countries, the only mode of information these people have access to is paper.

  I agree however, the Awake will fold completely and they will likely reduce Watchtower frequency. Shouldnt be problem considering they have essentially been re-writing the same articles for 100 years now.
• 

  TheListener

  If I read Metatron's post correctly the preaching work would still be occurring, thus the friends would still have their busy work to do.

  In fact, by using the Bible at doors with the tracts they can make an answer to their detractors.

  Keeping the WT as an internal publication also helps because they could eventually cut out the KM altogether and wrap it into the WT magazine.

  neat forecast.

  I would like to add that I expect an increase in assemblies or conventions. I believe those are the real money generators.
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  Along with Scully, I think they need that busy work. Before they could allow that to go down, they'd have to replace it with something. It could even be something good -- like a soup kitchen or some other charity work. But it would have to be something that would get nearly 100% buy in from the rank-and-file, like the preaching work. And it would probably need to be a money-maker as well. They could fund all the initiatives from Brooklyn, and constantly remind everyone of the costs involved in doing it. (Not specifics of course, just "high costs")

  Dave
• 

  metatron

  The critical point is that , it may not be that much longer before we see the final conflict between the Watchtower as religion

  and the Watchtower as business. Something's got to give...

  Heck, the lack of contributions has already cost them 14- 16 million issues of the Awake each month, plus a lot of other literature

  that isn't getting printed or distributed.

  When they get down to cheap tracts, they won't be much better than Mormons or the occasional born again. The whole "preaching work"

  will accelerate deeply into fiction and fantasy, even more so than it is at present. If I leave a tract at that not-at-home -- and then

  drive to another not-at-home on the other side of the county, that's my two hours, right Brother?

  metatron