Clue re approach to Annual Report in Jan 2018 MWB

by Nicholaus Kopernicus 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Nicholaus Kopernicus

  
  At the AGM on Oct 7th, his eminence Miserable Morris III stated the JW yearbook would cease publication and that the annual report would instead be released via the "about us" menu in the JW website. Related to this, the "Life and Ministry Meeting Workbook - January 2018 (LIVING AS CHRISTIANS)" outlines the following item to be considered Jan 1-7 2018....
  
  "Annual Service Report: (15 min.) Talk by an elder. After reading the letter from the branch office regarding the annual service report, interview publishers, selected in advance, who had outstanding experiences in the ministry during the past year."
  
  It struck me that this is very advanced notice of a WT letter being issued. I can't remember such notice before.
  
  These points arise in my mind immediately...
  1. The wording of the above item suggests the annual report will have been published online prior to Jan 2017.
  2. Will the annual report be lesser in detail compared with the workbook? Will the letter from WT excuse such as a further example of "keeping a simple eye" and/or augment the absence of a 2018 yearbook similarly?
  3. I suspect that the interviewing of publishers who "had outstanding experiences" is designed to distract from the negative growth in the organisation. So it's local experiences which hold primacy! Never mind the negative growth. I suspect the GB will be trying to emasculate the negative growth.
  4. The interviewees are to be "selected in advance" rather than broad impromptu participation via raising of hands. So the item is to be carefully managed. Hard to do a worse job than that done by Miserable Morris at the AGM however.

  I do hope this latest mess by the GB will cause more JWs to reflect and begin the process of disengagement.
  
  
  
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  smiddy3

  interview publishers, selected in advance, who had outstanding experiences in the ministry during the past year."

  I`ll look forward to that ,I wonder what part of the world they will get that from ?

  The yearbook used to be a real incentive to press on in the ministry and see the overall increase that was happening world wide and take it as Gods blessing his chosen organization to give a witness to the world.

  I dont think this new arrangement will have the same desired effect as a bound book thats in your home library.
  
  
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  George One Time

  Isn't the annual service report about the local congregation, instead of being about the global situation. I remember once a year the local service report being discussed.
  
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  Nicholaus Kopernicus

  Hello George One Time:

  You might well be right and the item could be intended for the local congregation. However, in that the script in the Jan 2018 MWB specifically mentions... "after reading the letter from the branch office regarding the annual service report"... I was rather assuming the reference was strongly alluding to the world wide annual report.

  If we look at this year's January MWB it states.....

  "Local Needs: (15 min.) As an option, discuss the lessons learned from the Yearbook. (yb16 140-142)"

  So they did give the choice of local needs or use of the year book. I note too, that on many occasions the GB hijacks the "Local Needs" for their own message so that it is in reality not a local need. Thus, I strongly suspect that the emphasis in Jan 2018 will be on the world wide (emasculated) annual report.
  
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  berrygerry

  had outstanding experiences in the ministry during the past year.

  Right.
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  Muddy Waters

  Hahaha, I can just imagine a pioneer saying, "Hmmm... You know, I can't recall having an outstanding experience in the field ministry this past year..."

  Eager Elder: "Well, how about in previous years? Surely there's something..."

  Pioneer: "Not really... 'Outstanding experiences are so far and few between, and if I did have one, have probably used it already ...."

  Elder: "Well, how about somebody ELSE'S experience..? Surely you've heard something said by someone..."

  Pioneer: "Hmm, not really... It really has dried up out there and nobody's ever home... "

  Desperate Elder: "Hmmm... Perhaps we can find something from the YEARBOOK!"

  Bwhahahaha!!
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  konceptual99

  In the past there was a yearly item in the KM (can't be bothered to look up a reference right now TBH) that reviewed highlights of the yearly report in the YB. I think this item replaces this previous ones based on the YB.

  TBH most of these things are the same shite different toilet. The CLAM is essentially the same as the old school and service meeting, just packaged with videos. There's still student talks, demos, discussion of the group book.

  The WTS still intends publishing figures. Whilst it remains to be seen if there is a change in the format I suspect that there won't be anything of significance. Most people ignore the detail and look at the big numbers. There has been evidence of a downward trend in the efficacy of ministry for YEARS yet few even realise it let alone care. The WTS banks on the wilful ignorance of the masses and I see no reason for that to change.

  At the end of the day, the WTS NEEDS the figures to be published. It likes the headline numbers. It's a reason for reporting. Their usefulness for propaganda outweighs the risks posed by analysis by those critical of the WTS.

  I also think that some opposed to the WTS are a little overconfident about how much the WTS really cares about what is said here, on Reddit and the internet in general. Whilst they do take action about certain things they tend to ignore or, at worst, demonise opposition. Rather like the Germans in WWII who were so confident that their Enigma cipher machine was unbreakable they made the rookie mistake of using the equivalent of an "admin/admin" password combination as an encryption marker, the WTS assumes that very few people will actually look at what apostates have to say. I think they ignore the risks posed by cash grabs, annual report analysis, logical assessment of doctrines and policies and so on. The cost to the org is simply not sufficient for them to completely change habits of a lifetime.
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  FedUpJW

  interview publishers, selected in advance, who had outstanding experiences

  Typically here it is an "experience" along these lines: "I noticed a young mother with thirteen children having a hard time changing the youngest ones diaper in a 60 MPH wind while keeping an eye on the other twelve, and holding the leash for seven family dogs who were all trying to run in different directions. So I kindly engaged her in a long winded discussion about the Awake magazine's newest article on the mating habits of of the Tse Tse fly, and how in the Paradise her kids could pet pandas and cobras. She said she was too busy to talk so I gave her Jay Double U dot Org calling card and told her how to use her phone to look up more things for her kids. I don't know if she did or not, but I look forward to sometime seeing her at home and finding out."

  clap...clap...clap...clap....

  Thank you sister busybody for your encouraging experience! You never know where you will find a interested person victim to talk to.
  
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  NewYork44M

  I suspect, that they will not publish comprehensive numbers. We will probably only ever see the numbers that are "cherry-picked" for effect.
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  konceptual99

  I think there are only two likely situations. Either it's most (if not all) of the same data per country as it always has been or it's headline figures for the globe or large regions at most. Why?

  I personally don't think they can reduce most of the data if following the original country by country report. For example, number of hours, placements, baptisms etc. The only column that might disappear is the number of partakers. They will not lose the number of baptised. They will not lose total hours. They are very unlikely to lose placements. They will not lose number of pioneers etc.

  The only way to hide the underlying trends is to move away from a country by country report and to a global headline but I don't think they really will do that. I think it will be close to what we have now, just on the website like this https://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/2017-yearbook/jehovahs-witnesses-service-report-2016/