The WTBTS has finally decided to join the rest of us in the 21st century and has begun rebranding. They've dropped the iconic Watchtower sign from their heaquarters, and it's only a matter of time till they drop the now embarrassing Watchtower name completely; a name synonymous with failure on the one hand and concentration camps on the other.
The organisation will soon be known solely as JW.org, bringing them right up-to-date with the Web 2.0 revolution of 15 years ago, and making them the only company still to use a full web address as their main identifier, very forward-thinking of them.
It's inevitable that they'll gradually rebrand everything. What methods do you think they'll go with? I have a few ideas that you may or may not agree with:
The Watchtower & Awake magazines will be phased out completely within 5-10 years, eventually replaced by online-only articles, with Watchtower & Awake-style articles consolidated onto that singular medium. The physical yearbook and daily text will also be gone within 10 years, moved online as a year-in-review article and a text for the day post, respectively. The Kingdom ministry will be moved online as a downloadable PDF for JW tablets, renamed JW newsletter. The song book will likely be online-only by 2030.
The only physical releases will be increasingly short & child-friendly illustrated books, released with decreasing frequency, and with gradually fewer doctrine-centric themes. Within 20 years the physical books will be gone as well, replaced with online-only publications.
They'll also continue to print bibles and 5-page tracts with pretty pictures & fluff, to use on the ministry, which will be entirely cart & call-based by 2030. Younger members, those born after 1970, will be encouraged to preach through social media.
Meetings will be consolidated further, with only one meeting per-week within the next 10-15 years. A 90 minute Sunday meeting with a 30 minute public talk, a 30 minute JW.org article review and a 30 minute JW newsletter review, bookended with a song & prayer.
The theocratic ministry school will be phased out entirely, it's already seen as archaic by many JWs, and it gives members the opportunity to speak their minds, which is against the principles of JW.org. Members will also be encouraged to watch JW Broadcast daily.
Assemblies will be consolidated to one annual special assembly in October, smaller in size and comprised of puff-pieces, experiences, baptism and screened dramas.
Attire for meetings & ministry etc will gradually become more casual over the next 20-30 years as the religion outwardly mainstreams, due to the influx of members from countries where the suit & tie look is unfashionable. It'll remain internally cult-like of course.
As the religion tries to become more cool in order to attract & retain younger members, those born after 1950, it'll change a lot of its labels as well:
Members will simply be called JWs.
Kingdom halls will just be called halls.
Kingdom melodies will just be called songs.
Ministry will be called work.
Assemblies will be called JW-cons.
The NWT will eventually be re-released as the JW Bible.
The memorial will remain as it is.
Bonus prediction: 2033-34 will be unofficially earmarked for Armageddon over the next few years, as it's 120 years since 1914 and 2000 years since Pentecost 33.
My last prediction is that all of my predictions are more likely to come true than any of the Watchtower's predictions, though that's a low bar I'll admit.