I always used to laugh when they would read out the convention attendance and the figure would end in a 1 (eg, 8,501). Cue: applause and gentle ripple of laughter over the 1 and then the chairman makes a joke thanking that 1 for attending).
Having worked in the attendant department and being anal about carrying out the privilege to do the “count”, I was shocked when the brother overseeing the dept would make a lot of “guestimates” for different areas of the count. It was an in-joke between him and his sidekick that they would always come up with an odd number to finish off the attendance figure, either the 1 or 99 or 69!
I was in a cong where the secretary would always “fill out” the report cards of those who never reported on time, just making a guesstimate based on previous reports (that he had filled in for them).
What I don’t understand is, why would Jehovah punish the Israelites for undertaking a census yet approve the wtb$ for doing exactly the same thing?
Also, when there is an increase, its put down to being a blessing from Jehovah. Yet when there is no increase or a decrease, it’s not considered being a sign of Jehovah’s disapproval of the org, but blame is put on the local bro & sis for not being zealous enough!
Mattieu...