So, if the goal is to eliminate the door to door work, and only use cart witnessing, and the carts are only manned by pioneers, what happens to the "publisher" status? I think that status will disappear, to be replaced with "baptized member".
Again, my soap box....I think this is part of the restructuring going on to make the taxman happy.
The WTS has to increase "membership" numbers to show the taxman that the organization is supported by membership donations. The elders can't be "members". They are "clergy" now. The pioneers are the "volunteer force" or maybe part of "The Order" and the baptized ones are "members".
The WTS is restructuring to make itself operate like all the other religions.
So the publisher will disappear.They are not going to need them. They will just be "members". Which explains why the babies are getting baptized - they can't be counted in the unbaptized publisher count anymore as members - that category won't exist.
Besides, a large portion of their literature distribution is targeted to foreign languages. The literature will simply be used for in-house indoctrination and 'given' to the members. Who will donate money back to them.
Or the literature will be sold to foreign countries as part of literacy programming. That is a good use for the printing facilities and such - sell religious propaganda to foreign countries and call it 'language revitalization'.
The publisher status will no longer be useful. It will disappear. But the baptized status is the up and coming parameters of what defines "membership" rules in the JW religion.
It is all part of the same picture - the taxman is looking real hard at the WTS - they don't make changes unless they have to and they don't want to give up that tax free status - it's their golden ticket to heaven.
*to add - Oh yeah, I can't wait to hear the spin on this one. They will stop the door to door work and the JWs will shake in their boots - it will be that time "when the preaching work is stopped!!!!"...when? tada! Right Before The End!!!!!! The WTS has already been sowing the seeds for that one in recent Watchtowers.
In the meantime, the WTS is chuckling because over across the big pond somewhere, or in a warm sunny clime on the south half of this planet, they will be shaking the hand of some government official after signing another contract for a shipment of the latest 'literacy' aids to them.