Watchtower Decline Confirmed - Only 1.9% growth in 2006!

by Neo 91 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  moshe

  Thanks for clarifying what a Bible study is today.- really, nothing much substantial. I wonder how many Bible studies are nothing more than an email back and forth to somebody. Shoot, If I was a JW and used a few scriptures in my post, then I would count the entire time I was online with JWDF as study time to turn in. As everyone has noticed, the JW's do not cover their territory as in the past.

  Concerning the expected collapse of the WT- do not worry - it will happpen. It's like cops and robbers. The police can make a thousand mistakes, but the crook only needs to make one to get caught. I am certain that the arrogant Governing Body in Brooklyn will make a mistake someday and it will be big enough to topple the Tower.
• 

  jwfacts

  Here it is. Baptisms should increase by more than 1.2%, as they theoretically should increase by the population growth, plus more due to the 1 billion hours of preaching.

  The graph shows a dramatic year on year decrease over many of the last 10 years.

  
• 

  Dark Knight

  Interesting graph!
  
  What this is saying is that since 1996 The Watchtower's "relative growth" has been negative...
  
  So what was so special about 1996? Was that because of the change in the generation doctrine??? I didn't realise it had that much of an effect on the average JW's psyke.
• 

  jwfacts

  The end of 1995 (the 1996 service year) was when the generation announcment was made. Added to this that this was also the year the Internet went mainstream.

  Here is an even better graph. Baptisms used to be 8% of average publishers. They are now only 4%. In other words, in real percentage terms baptisms are only half what they use to be just 10 years ago.

  
• 

  TheListener

  JWFacts,

  Baptism to publisher ratio is what Brooklyn looks at. It has been steadily decreasing.

  That's why we get new study books for new ones, that's why we have doorstep bible studies and that's why so much focus on foreign languages.
• 

  vitty

  We were told by the CO, many times, that when you have a RV with someone 3 times then THAT is classed as a bible study.

  My country is down by -1% now that makes me happy.
• 

  BluesBrother

  Went to a Circuit Assembly earlier this year. The speaker proudly said that "The fact that they baptized nearly a quarter of a million last year was surely evidence that Jehovah is 'speeding things up in his due time'"

  LIAR
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  The fact that they baptized nearly a quarter of a million last year was surely evidence that Jehovah is 'speeding things up in his due time

  How many DF and DA were there, wouldn't that add to his comment? Perhaps 100,000 or more. How many deaths, figure 1 percent of 6.5 million, that's 65,000. Already (pure guess, based on averages) I have that quarter million down to adding only 85,000. That's less than 1.9 percent. Even my guesses show how truly small such growth is. After they run out of children, barely active seniors, door-step Bible students, these guys are in for some serious negative numbers.
• 

  aniron

  "The fact that they baptized nearly a quarter of a million last year was surely evidence that Jehovah is 'speeding things up in his due time'"

  Speeding it up -where? Are the countries that have -1% or 0% increase are their CO's saying "Jehovah is speeding it up"? How can something be "speeding up" when its 50% less than it was a few years ago?

  When I became a JW in 1971 there was approx 1.5 million, now it may be 6.5 million thats 5 million increase in 35 years or 142,857 increase each year average.

  If you saw the graph that NEO posted on page 1, and didn't know what it was for, you would say "that whatever it was, it was doing badly" if it was a sales graph the company would be on the way out. If the WT as a "company" and it said to shareholders they had only had a 1.9% growth, what would the reaction of the shareholders be?

  As we know facts and figures can be used to prove anything. Changes in the way things are done or counted can make a big difference. If those allowed the "15 minute" rule were considered "inactive" and no longer counted in congregation, what difference would it make?

  If I was talking to fellow JW's and said "We had 25 baptised in our congregation last year." They would all be saying "Thats great, Jehovah speeding it up etc". But I didn't tell them that 30 had left the congregation either DF'd or DA'd or inactive. So the congregation was actually 5 down on the previous year. What would they say then?

  The best way, I think, of seeing what really is going on is to find out from those at the sharp end, that is in the congregations.

  Congregations that at one time were considered strong, are now only half or quarter their size of 5 years ago. Elders resigning, over the UN or paedophile scandals. JW's just going through the motions, though they know the falseness of the WT, but because of other family members they stay in, and the fear of what being DF'd would bring in the way of shunning. I'm sure many of us know how things are going in our old congregations.

  15 years ago my congregation built a new KH, capable of seating nearly 300, ready for the "increase" because we had grown and divided into two congregations during the previous 20 years. Now 15 years on, one congregation is only a quarter of its size and the other about two thirds. Yet 15 years ago you would never had said such a thing would have happened with them, so strong, so "spiritual".
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  chirac

  who will be the first to scan the watchtower of February with all the statistics country by country??, i m imagine that many western countries will indicate a stagnation or a decrease