That’s impressive as a summary of discussion around what’s going on but whether it reflects what’s actually going on is another matter.
slimboyfat
JoinedPosts by slimboyfat
-
5
CHATGPT and the Withdrawing of the Aug 2024 watchtower
by wannaexit inthese days i seem to talk more to chatgpt than my husband .
for fun, today i asked: why was the aug. 2024 watchtower deleted?
the august 2024 issue of the "watchtower" magazine was withdrawn due to internal controversies and significant content concerns.
-
-
-
33
Are the halls of the Kingdom filling up, are they the same as before the pandemic or are they emptying?
by LaFrancia ini open a new topic, to find out how it's going in your area.
from what i see as a southern european in my constituency the situation is patchy.. the congregation where i am now has 30% old people on zoom but also young couples with almost all their cameras off.
no increase but a slight decrease in the total number of publishers.. circuit assemblies: before covid you couldn't find a free seat if you arrived 10 minutes before the start.
-
-
slimboyfat
In our local congregation there are around 50 in the hall and 15 or so online. This compares with usual attendances of around 50 to 60 before the pandemic. Is that down or up? It’s pretty much the same.
Last year’s summer convention in Glasgow had between 7000 and 8000 in attendance. This is similar to figures stretching back as far as I can remember. On that measure attendance has been pretty flat for around 30 years. I don’t see any major moves, up or down.
One thing that has changed is there are more foreign language congregations however, especially Polish in Scotland. So overall the number of active JWs is probably slightly up when you take that into consideration.
By contrast most other churches are declining rapidly, including the Catholic Church which also benefitted from an influx of polish Catholics in the early 2000s.
-
32
Yesterday's Public Talk: '' Reject Worldly Fantasies, Pursue Kingdom Realities''
by RULES & REGULATIONS inmy brother ( an elder ) calls me every time he's assigned a public talk.
he believes listening to zoom meetings is a great start, to eventually attending in-person meetings.
the talk is titled : '' reject worldly fantasies, pursue kingdom realities.
-
-
slimboyfat
Hold on to the real life!
-
100
The August 2024 Watchtower controversy and potential further changes
by ukpimo inas an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
-
-
slimboyfat
It seems a bit pointless arguing about whether the number of congregations is shrinking when we actually have those numbers available. From what I can remember there has been a small drop in the number of congregations over the past few years but it is a very small drop of around 1 or 2%, and in the latest report the figure is rising again. Some countries had a higher drop than all others, including Germany and the US. Britain is pretty flat.
Whatever way you look at it, the small drop, or stagnation in the number of JW congregations is nothing compared with mass closure of churches in western countries. Other denominations are talking about the need to close hundreds more congregations (around a third) in the next decade, on top of hundreds of closures that have already taken place.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65645891
This article says churches are closing so quickly they are struggling to cope with the process while not to lose all the historical items and history inside these buildings as they are converted or demolished.
https://www.scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/blog/recording-scotlands-closing-churches/
-
100
The August 2024 Watchtower controversy and potential further changes
by ukpimo inas an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
-
-
slimboyfat
In Scotland some Kingdom Halls have closed (Anniesland and Craigton in Glasgow) but the number of congregations is the same, or is in fact increasing. (Anniesland now meet in Kelvin, not sure about Craigton) For example there have been two congregations in Aberdeen for decades (Deevale and Bucksburn) but recently increased to three (now named North, South, and Central), not to mention the extra Polish congregation, all in the same Kingdom Hall.
So when you notice Kingdom Halls being sold, are you sure the number of congregations isn’t actually staying the same, or even increasing?
-
100
The August 2024 Watchtower controversy and potential further changes
by ukpimo inas an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
-
-
slimboyfat
I didn’t say there aren’t reasons, or it is a good thing. I just said KHs aren’t emptying the way that churches are emptying, that’s all.
-
100
The August 2024 Watchtower controversy and potential further changes
by ukpimo inas an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
-
-
slimboyfat
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/27/scotland-losing-churches-morham#:~:text=The%20data%20suggests%20Scotland's%20two,only%2060%2C000%20worship%20in%20person.
Congregations are in steep decline, its clergy are ageing and its finances are in disarray. Like hundreds of other churches earmarked for sale, Morham church should be on the market but that has been halted by an unprecedented row over the fate of the nine people interred there more than 300 years ago.
The data suggests Scotland’s two largest Christian faiths, Presbyterianism and Catholicism, may be in terminal decline.
In 1982 the Church of Scotland had nearly 920,000 members; last year, that stood at 270,300, a decline of 70%. The average age of its congregants is now 62, and only 60,000 worship in person. -
100
The August 2024 Watchtower controversy and potential further changes
by ukpimo inas an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
-
-
slimboyfat
I am just saying what I see. I’ve known the same congregation since the early 1990s. The attendance is down from the peak of the 1990s, for sure, but up a little since before the pandemic. Other congregations nearby seem to be doing fine, plus a few congregations abroad that I know slightly. The Scottish convention had around 8000 in attendance, similar to attendances for the past 30 years or so, not up, but not down either.
I don’t see any evidence of Kingdom Halls “emptying”. But the main reason I find the statement ironic is because churches truly are “emptying” at an astonishing rate. In Scotland alone there are hundreds more churches set for closure in the coming years and many church congregations are down to a handful of old people. One Methodist church I visited had 8 people in attendance, all over 70. A Unitarian church I attended had 13 people, all over 70 except 2 in their 40s. The Christian Science church was down to a handful of old people and closed a few months ago. A Baptist church that once had around 100 on a Sunday was down to 25 when I visited last year. Churches of Scotland are closing all over the country. I attended the Church of Scotland that has the second highest membership remaining in the whole country. They had 80 people in attendance, 90% over 60 years old, and only one child. This is hugely down on attendance before the pandemic when they had around 150 on a Sunday, including some families.
My own firsthand experience is that, in the Kingdom Halls and assemblies/conventions I have seen, the attendances are holding up well, whereas the churches are emptying rapidly.
-
100
The August 2024 Watchtower controversy and potential further changes
by ukpimo inas an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
-
-
slimboyfat
How many Kingdom Halls are you visiting Slim'?
In the past year I’ve been in four different Kingdom Halls.
-
100
The August 2024 Watchtower controversy and potential further changes
by ukpimo inas an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
-
-
slimboyfat
as the halls of the kingdom are emptying, the brothers vanish.
People always makes there assertions on the forum, but I see no evidence for it. Kingdom Halls are pretty full. There are a few more JWs who stay home and watch on Zoom after the pandemic, mainly older ones, but overall attendance is, if anything, slightly up.
The churches, on the other hand, are emptying fast; of this I also have firsthand knowledge across a broad spectrum, including Catholic, Church of Scotland, Free Church, Methodist, Unitarian, Christadelphian, Brethren, and Christian Scientist churches.