do they still count anyone whose died or do they knock those off the figures?
Watchtower Decline Confirmed - Only 1.9% growth in 2006!
by Neo 91 Replies latest jw friends
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AK - Jeff
do they still count anyone whose died or do they knock those off the figures?
If a witness reported time during the year, that time would of course be counted in the total hours. Same with placements. The WTS tracks each month in terms of total publishers, so any month that person reported activity would be counted. Of course, unless a dead person is still turning in time slips, all those reports would end when he did. Jeff
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slimboyfat
The figure I am interested in is the number of congregations. They were on target to reach 100 000 congregations worldwide for the first time this year. Will be interesting to see if they made it...
Slim
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lonelysheep
I am interested in that figure as well, Slim, especially considering how many congregations combine due to attendance (at least around here).
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Quandary
Slim-
Four congregations in the Chicago area were recently disovled and the publishers moved into other congregations. I too am interested in the total congregations figure.
Q
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TheListener
You're right R6 it is an increase. A pathetic one for all the activity they perform but it is an increase.
I know that many elders and COs long for the days of big increases so they can feel the energy of the organization return.
As it is the organization is shuffling along gaining and losing members every year.
The recent drive we've seen to show how close the end is has likely been planned to affect next year's numbers.
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Nosferatu
I was expecting to see a drop in the numbers..... until the JWs started getting Armageddon Fever. That's when I expected the numbers to shoot up a bit.
I wonder how many children who were doubting got a whiff of Armageddon Fever and decided to hurry up their baptism to make it through the Grate Tribulation? I know my niece was a victim of that.
The numbers will probably still be up a bit for the next year or two until Armageddon Fever dies off again.
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slimboyfat
The only hint of "Armageddon Fever" I got was here on the forum. I don't think they were harping on about The End any more than usual, and I don't think the special campaigns had any effect on boosting the numbers.
Slim
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dmouse
Many have speculated that JWs will reach zero growth around 2012. Extrapolating using the graph seems to indicate that that is still very much on track.
Unless they pull something spectacular out of the hat!
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R6Laser
You're right R6 it is an increase. A pathetic one for all the activity they perform but it is an increase.
Might be a pathetic one, but it still is an increase. A contradiction of this own threads title. Beleive me even if it was shown that there was a decrease on numbers the wts would find a way to spin the situation. Just as much as some here are trying to spin it the other way.
That Armageddon fear is nothing new. Surprised that this tract campaign for the wts is seen by most here as something new. It is not, the wts has always had these campaigns where they denounce every ofther religion and say they will be destroyed along with countless other who don't listen to them. These so called campaigns go back as far as I can remember, and go back as far as my own mother remembers it.
The problem lies with the way the wts goes about saying that the end is near. There's no way to reason around it. I've tried unsuscessfully before, that's why now I just mind my own business. If you mention to a zealous jw how long can the wts keep up with their prediction that the end is near, yet we see no signs of the end even after many years gone by. The zealous ones will say, 'we must wait on Jehovah, for its only him who knows the day.' Then they bring up all this crap about how what to us seems like a long time, to Jehovah is not.
There is absolutely almost no way to get around someone who has been in the cult for some time and actually beleives in it for so long. I just don't waste my time anymore with people like that. Unfortunately, my mother is one of those people, no matter what I say "we must always wait on Jehovah." But I know she has a good heart and really beleives what she tells me. And as far as she is happy I see no reason to try to force the issue any further.