The Watchtower carries a study article entitled: Will You Continue to Be Readjusted? The article is based upon what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, exhorting them to continue to be readjusted. And everyone, including the Governing Body, needs to be “readjusted.” Then we get to paragraph 15…
But how do we react when God’s organization makes a change that affects other aspects of our life? For example, in recent years the cost of building and maintaining places of worship has increased dramatically. So the Governing Body has directed that Kingdom Halls be used to capacity. As a result of this adjustment, congregations have been merged and some Kingdom Halls have been sold.
Did you notice the blatant deception? Even if the cost of building and maintaining kingdom halls has risen that is none of the Watchtower’s business. The Watchtower does not pay one penny towards the construction or upkeep of kingdom halls. All of the burdens of maintaining the local kingdom hall is shouldered by the brothers and sisters who attend. Besides, why would you sell a facility that has already been built and paid for? The cost of building a structure that has already been built is zero! And from what I have seen, many of the nearly 1,000 kingdom halls that have been sold or are for sale are in nice neighborhoods. There is no doubt that the brothers and sisters would meet whatever expenses for maintenance arise.
The paragraph continues…
The funds are being used to help build halls in areas that need them the most. If you live in an area where halls are being sold and congregations are being merged, you may find it a challenge to adapt to the new circumstances. Some publishers now have to travel farther to attend meetings. Others who worked hard to build or maintain a Kingdom Hall may wonder why that hall is now being sold. They may feel that their time and effort were wasted. Still, they are cooperating with this new arrangement and should be commended.
What the Watchtower is saying is that facilities that have been built and paid for and that can fetch a good price in the hot real estate market are being sold in order to loan money to other congregations, so they can build a kingdom hall. It matters not what sort of hardship is imposed upon the brothers and sisters who have had their local place of worship sold out from under them. It matters not if some attendees have to travel a great distance. Besides, no one goes to kingdom hall any more anyway. Every kingdom hall in the world is padlocked. Why not sell them all and build more kingdom halls that will sit empty?
And of course, the brothers are happily complying with this “new arrangement.” What choice do they have? That’s why the Watchtower has written this article, because the brothers are joyfully cooperating with their being evicted from the kingdom halls they built and maintain. After all, it is Jehovah’s organization. Surely, Jehovah is behind the scheme to redistribute the wealth. It says so in paragraph 16: “We will maintain our joy if we remember that we are working for Jehovah and that he is directing his organization.”
And this new plan of using kingdom halls to capacity, assuming the Governing Body eventually allows Jehovah’s Witnesses to resume meeting together, due to the pandemic that has apparently terrorized them, isn’t it wrongheaded to cram more people into an enclosed space? Shouldn’t congregations be meeting in smaller groups given the Covid contagion guidelines? Of course, it is all moot at this point.
As regards constructing new kingdom halls, if Jehovah’s Witnesses have been strictly ordered by the Governing Body not to venture out on the street or even to congregate in small groups, why would building committees be organizing work crews to construct new kingdom halls? Are JW’s actually working on construction projects? Since the masters at Warwick have declared it to be too risky and foolhardy to go out in the ministry or meet together, surely none of Jehovah’s Witnesses would dare work on a construction project.
So, this “new arrangement” isn’t really about constructing new facilities at all. It is about extracting money from the hard work of thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses who built and paid for and dedicated their finished projects to Jehovah. In other words, it is outright thievery. And ought the brothers be commended for allowing Jehovah to be robbed?
Here is a friendly reminder for the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hopefully, they will allow themselves to be readjusted:
“Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people. ‘You have burned down the vineyard, and what you have stolen from the poor is in your houses. How dare you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor in the dirt?’ declares the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies.” —Isaiah 3:14-15
