Congrats! Ain't college great? You learn so much in a single quarter or semester, it makes a guy feel downright silly for ever having thought the Society had anything approaching knowledge. May many good classes light the way on your educational journey!
SNG
seattleniceguy
JoinedPosts by seattleniceguy
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12
Just finished my last final for my first semester of college!!!
by Cognitive_Dissident inso i just took my last final for this semester, which was in fact my very first semester of college ever.
and it feels great!
dear watchtower bible and tract society, .
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seattleniceguy
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2005 JWD Annual Report
by seattleniceguy inwell, 2005 is drawing to a close, and that means its time for another edition of sng's annual report.. i have quite arbitrarily decided that our jwd year ends on december 15, and using the member directory, i have extracted a few statistics.
this past year, 4973 new members signed up for a new total of 21081 members, or a 30.9% increase.
our increase of 4973 breaks down to about 414 new members per month, or (using the society's published average of 65 publishers per congregation) approximately 6.4 congregations a month!
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seattleniceguy
Hi Ozzie,
>> I'm sure you're right but I think Joker could point to record numbers of baptisms has showing the opposite?
I think there is a qualitative difference. For Witnesses, the big number is the number of active members. Record baptisms with no substantial increase in membership means they aren't keeping people in. Even if you make the argument that baptism numbers and publisher numbers are slightly decoupled, it still means they are losing folks somewhere along the pipeline. For an organization like the JWs, the number that turns their world is total membership.
Total membership at JWD doesn't really matter. We don't have the goal of "keeping people in." We don't need membership to fund publishing activities. A decrease in active members doesn't mean anything bad for us. Our goal is to facilitate physical and mental escape. When a person is finished with the board, that's great! More power to them, and many happy trails! The only significant number to us is new membership, since it correlates at least roughly with people leaving the organization and/or attaining mental freedom.
Of course, statistics can and will always be spun. But at some point it becomes unreasonable. Let's say current trends continue and next year there is actually worldwide negative net growth. You can talk about record baptisms all you want, but at that point it will be clear that people are leaving the organization in droves. In fact, at that point, record baptism numbers would, ironically, serve to emphasize just how many people are leaving to still end up with a net loss.
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2005 JWD Annual Report
by seattleniceguy inwell, 2005 is drawing to a close, and that means its time for another edition of sng's annual report.. i have quite arbitrarily decided that our jwd year ends on december 15, and using the member directory, i have extracted a few statistics.
this past year, 4973 new members signed up for a new total of 21081 members, or a 30.9% increase.
our increase of 4973 breaks down to about 414 new members per month, or (using the society's published average of 65 publishers per congregation) approximately 6.4 congregations a month!
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seattleniceguy
Joker,
You're right - the growth is the only important number, not the total members. The annual growth does represent the number of new people who showed up this year. That number is not only healthy but is increasing, pointing to an increased outflow from the organization.
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Do you like Winter?
by JH inwell, this is the first day of winter.
for all those who love winter snow, ice, slush, slipping and falling, colds and sore throats, frostbite and shoveling, enjoy it,.
so, to all winter lovers, enjoy it !!!!!!
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seattleniceguy
I like the winter, I do. I like the crisp air that greets you when you step outside. I like being bundled up warm, but feeling the cool air in my lungs. I like coming in to a warm and cozy house. I like having a warm, warm girlfiend to keep me company on long winter nights.
The winter is good from a utilitarian point of view, too. I don't like being too hot. When you're too hot, there's not much you can do except sweat it out. But during the winter, you can bundle up, and if you get too hot, unzip your jacket a notch and you're back to the comfort zone.
I guess when I think about it, I like all the seasons. But winter does have its own particular charms.
"As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."
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SERVICE REPORT 2005 : WATCHTOWER FEB 1ST 2006
by BluesBrother ini have had a quick look and found no references to this, so - here goes..as in the mag we picked up on sunday.. worldwide % increase over 2004 = 1.3%.
memorial partakers 8524 (compared to 8570 in 2004).
most european and nth american lands show pretty static figs - britain 1% increase, canada 0%, germany 0%, france 1%, usa 0%... but spare a thought for the inhabitants of zambia where 1 person in 90 is a reporting witness, must be hell going down to the local market!
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seattleniceguy
>> In 2003 the number of countries with negative or zero growth was 7. In 2004 the number of countries with negative or zero growth was 22. In 2005 the number of countries with negative or zero growth was 70!
Now that's what I call results! Go information technology!
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Why Awake! has changed!
by badboy ini understand from my jw neighbour(s) that they were told that printing capability wasn't there(if i remember correctly),the watching the world will reduce to one page and the new awake will be more bible-based,less interesting topic articles.
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seattleniceguy
>> less interesting topic articles
Damn! That's a tall order!
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seattleniceguy
Thank God that the judges in this country have the good sense to call a spade a spade.
Now let's get back to teaching science.
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Witness to an accident (laughter is contageous)
by HappyDad inclick here: http://www.chumfm.com/morningshow/bits/march24.swf
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seattleniceguy
LOL!
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2005 JWD Annual Report
by seattleniceguy inwell, 2005 is drawing to a close, and that means its time for another edition of sng's annual report.. i have quite arbitrarily decided that our jwd year ends on december 15, and using the member directory, i have extracted a few statistics.
this past year, 4973 new members signed up for a new total of 21081 members, or a 30.9% increase.
our increase of 4973 breaks down to about 414 new members per month, or (using the society's published average of 65 publishers per congregation) approximately 6.4 congregations a month!
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seattleniceguy
Well, 2005 is drawing to a close, and that means its time for another edition of SNG's annual report.
I have quite arbitrarily decided that our JWD year ends on December 15, and using the member directory, I have extracted a few statistics. This past year, 4973 new members signed up for a new total of 21081 members, or a 30.9% increase. Our increase of 4973 breaks down to about 414 new members per month, or (using the Society's published average of 65 publishers per congregation) approximately 6.4 congregations a month!
It is also interesting to look at our increase in context:
Year ending 12/15/2003: 3203 new members
Year ending 12/15/2004: 4896 new members
Year ending 12/15/2005: 4973 new membersAs we can see, not only are we gaining new members from year to year, but the actual rate of increase in absolute numbers is itself increasing.
It is true that this number does not directly reflect the actual number of people who leave the organization. It is only loosely bound to that unknowable number because it includes people who have been out for some time and only recently discovered this board; those who are still in physically but are making their escape mentally; Witness apologists or observers who have not yet (or will not ever) leave; and a small minority which signs up by accident, believing we are a different type of board.
However, the steady increase leads me to believe that we are helping to facilitate healing at a greater and greater pace. I believe that as the growth of the organization continues to cool off in the coming years, we will find only greater and greater increases on this and other boards. I'm glad to be able to contribute my thoughts to the community as many others move through the difficult but necessary step of leaving the organization.
As before, my cat sends his warm feline greetings.
SNG
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Profile of the New Awake!
by Severus injw's now have the january awake!
in hand.
notice that there is no specific date, for the awake!
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seattleniceguy
>> Off They Go! (geese)
Wow, oh wow. I'm so glad I graduated from kindergarden so I don't have to read these articles anymore!
SNG