2018 Service Year Report

[rocket]

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/2018-service-year-report/

 

2018 Service Year Report of Jehovah’s Witnesses Worldwide

See details of the global preaching work of Jehovah’s Witnesses from September 2017 to August 2018.

2018 Grand Totals

2018 Country and Territory Reports

 

 

[KingDavid]

Memorial partakers Diagram

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[KingDavid]

And for the first time fewer congregations than in the previous year

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[Thesauron]

Memorial partakers Diagram

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And it matters because?

[KingDavid]

And it matters because?

Don't you think it has any meaning if the number of anointed ones increases significantly towards the end of this system? I find it very interesting.

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[Thesauron]

Don't you think it has any meaning if the number of anointed ones increases significantly towards the end of this system? I find it very interesting.

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I don’t know what difference it would make. It could go up or down.

[jwhess]

17 minutes ago, KingDavid said:

Don't you think it has any meaning if the number of anointed ones increases significantly towards the end of this system? I find it very interesting.

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Br David, in the past (50 years ago) we held the idea that a "decreasing" number of partakers was significant in relation to the end times.  It wasn't.  I don't believe the opposite view is going to be any different.  It is just the eager desire of imperfect humans to attach some non-scriptural significance to any statistical aberration so we can feel closer to our desired goal.  Jehovah has already selected a day and hour for the end, he has communicated that information to our King Jesus and no event or lack of an event will alter that course.  We are along for the ride whatever the statistics show at any given moment.  Smile and wave and let us get on with the work.  The end is coming...😉

[KingDavid]

Br David, in the past (50 years ago) we held the idea that a "decreasing" number of partakers was significant in relation to the end times.  It wasn't.  I don't believe the opposite view is going to be any different.  It is just the eager desire of imperfect humans to attach some non-scriptural significance to any statistical aberration so we can feel closer to our desired goal.  Jehovah has already selected a day and hour for the end, he has communicated that information to our King Jesus and no event or lack of an event will alter that course.  We are along for the ride whatever the statistics show at any given moment.  Smile and wave and let us get on with the work.  The end is coming...

w16 January pp. 22-27:

"During the last days, Jehovah has continued to select those who will make up the 144,000. If he chooses to wait until late into that period to select some for that privilege, who are we to question his wisdom? (Isa. 45:9; Dan. 4:35; read Romans 9:11, 16.)"

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2016046#h=26

I'm just interested in what's going on. If it were completely meaningless, the brothers would not collect the number

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[Nirex]

Though I hope they would be sensible enough not to ever dare such a thing... Could apostates that still linger in the congregations partake and mess up the numbers? Is there a way they can stop that?  

[KingDavid]

When our children in the New World ask us: Didn't you notice then that the number of anointed ones increased so much just before Armageddon? Then I don't want to have to say: My feeling told me, but I didn't dare to think about it

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[jwhess]

Just now, KingDavid said:

w16 January pp. 22-27:

"During the last days, Jehovah has continued to select those who will make up the 144,000. If he chooses to wait until late into that period to select some for that privilege, who are we to question his wisdom? (Isa. 45:9; Dan. 4:35; read Romans 9:11, 16.)"

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2016046#h=26

I'm just interested in what's going on. If it were completely meaningless, the brothers would not collect the number

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Br. David,  so if the number were to go down next year by 2000, you would no longer have a hope for the nearness of the end?

 

We have been collection data in our modern organization for more than 100 years.  We used to be organized on a book publishing business model (hence the fiscal year and records).  I hope you enjoy the data.  But why is is this one line of data (line 5) more important than say...line 1 or total branches (which went down), or line 3 or total congregations (which went down) or line 13 total bible studies (which went up),. wouldn't more studies indicate more work ahead and therefore a longer time till the end?  Data is just data, it tells us what is and it is not necessarily predictive.  Less congregations and fewer branches do not predict the imminent collapse of our organization.

 

These pieces of information are encouraging and will change next year.  They will be encouraging then as well.  Keep the faith, Keep on the Watch...

[Thesauron]

w16 January pp. 22-27:

"During the last days, Jehovah has continued to select those who will make up the 144,000. If he chooses to wait until late into that period to select some for that privilege, who are we to question his wisdom? (Isa. 45:9; Dan. 4:35; read Romans 9:11, 16.)"

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2016046#h=26

I'm just interested in what's going on. If it were completely meaningless, the brothers would not collect the number

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The brothers collect a lot of statistics. One statistic they do not really keep is the number of anointed ones left in the congregations. They do keep some statistics regarding partakers as well as memorial attendees.

[Thesauron]

When our children in the New World ask us: Didn't you notice then that the number of anointed ones increased so much just before Armageddon? Then I don't want to have to say: My feeling told me, but I didn't dare to think about it

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We don’t really know the number of anointed ones, just the number of people who partook of the emblems this year.

[Thesauron]

Though I hope they would be sensible enough not to ever dare such a thing... Could apostates that still linger in the congregations partake and mess up the numbers? Is there a way they can stop that?  

No. Well. Apostates tend to weed out themselves in time. They have either the strength nor the spirit,

[KingDavid]

Br. David,  so if the number were to go down next year by 2000, you would no longer have a hope for the nearness of the end?
 
We have been collection data in our modern organization for more than 100 years.  We used to be organized on a book publishing business model (hence the fiscal year and records).  I hope you enjoy the data.  But why is is this one line of data (line 5) more important than say...line 1 or total branches (which went down), or line 3 or total congregations (which went down) or line 13 total bible studies (which went up),. wouldn't more studies indicate more work ahead and therefore a longer time till the end?  Data is just data, it tells us what is and it is not necessarily predictive.  Less congregations and fewer branches do not predict the imminent collapse of our organization.
 
These pieces of information are encouraging and will change next year.  They will be encouraging then as well.  Keep the faith, Keep on the Watch...

I did not mention the decreased number of congregations because I think the organisation is collapsing. But because we ourselves belong to one of the many congregations that have been merged with other smaller congregations in recent years. Please think positive first

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[KingDavid]

The brothers collect a lot of statistics. One statistic they do not really keep is the number of anointed ones left in the congregations. They do keep some statistics regarding partakers as well as memorial attendees.

Why do you think they won't? Do you think that if the true anointed had tongues of fire over their heads, they would not collect the numbers? Every number we find in the report has a meaning and may be discussed.

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[KingDavid]

What I find much less interesting is the number of hours. But I don't want to argue

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[JPWRana]

And it matters because?

It's easier to see data visually sometimes.

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[pholmes38]

What is interesting and encouraging to me is the big increases across many of the African lands.

 

Wonder whether spreading more languages (with technology?) has played a part?

[Bob]

1 hour ago, KingDavid said:

Why do you think they won't? Do you think that if the true anointed had tongues of fire over their heads, they would not collect the numbers? Every number we find in the report has a meaning and may be discussed.

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I think they call it "partakers" because they cannot say for certain who is going to Heaven or not. All they "know" is who partook. That's all the can know as they don't select the anointed -- God does.

 

So I believe it has meaning as a means of keep accurate numbers of those who partook, but they aren't meaningful as those who are truly anointed. We simply do not know.

[Thesauron]

Why do you think they won't? Do you think that if the true anointed had tongues of fire over their heads, they would not collect the numbers? Every number we find in the report has a meaning and may be discussed.

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Feel free to discuss it, but I’m think it’s equally meaningful to discuss whether the number of attendants at the memorial might have some scriptural significance. It might, but unless the scriptures add some grander meaning to it, neither should we.

[KingDavid]

Feel free to discuss it, but I’m think it’s equally meaningful to discuss whether the number of attendants at the memorial might have some scriptural significance. It might, but unless the scriptures add some grander meaning to it, neither should we.

Many things we have and will only understand in retrospect. I am thinking of Isaiah 60:22, for example:
"The little one will become a thousand And the small one a mighty nation. I myself, Jehovah, will speed it up in its own time"

I do not mean to say that this text explains the increase. But if even the faithful slave thinks it possible that the increase is in God's plan (see above), I assume it has a biblical basis. Even if we have not yet fully understood it. We must keep this thought open.

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[Sepie93]

I love to see the increase in Turkey. In 2017 they had a highest number of publishers of around 3000. Now, with 13% increase they are with around 3500!

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[Thomas Walker]

4 hours ago, Nirex said:

Though I hope they would be sensible enough not to ever dare such a thing... Could apostates that still linger in the congregations partake and mess up the numbers? Is there a way they can stop that?  

 

Or, for that matter; visitors who see it as Communion, and take it on instinct. I'm not sure how they get counted.

 

In any event, it makes no practical difference.

 

For me, the important number is this:

 

Total Number Baptized: 281,744

 

Divided by 365 days a year = 771.9

Divided by 24 hours a day = 32.16

Divided by 60 minutes an hour = 0.53

 

I run this equation every service year. A new brother/sister every two minutes.

Edited December 25, 2018 by Thomas Walker

[jwhess]

42 minutes ago, Thomas Walker said:

and for the first time, we broke point five a minute. A new brother/sister every thirty seconds. (Check my math)

Br. Matt,  We are always excited to see new ones come into God’s organization and this year certainly showed a large group of baptized ones.

There were larger numbers in the past, however.

 

In 2010 we saw 294,368 (see attached).

 

I checked a few other random years.

 

1974 = 297,872

1975 = 295,073

1993 = 296.004

1994 = 314,818

and others

 

So there were many years that the truth reach more hearts and it was done by half the number of workers we have today.  As our song says, “We give our all to save just one”.

 

EDIT:  I was thinking about the numbers.  Would i believe the end was closer when the number baptized went to 500,000 for the year or when the number went to zero?

 

 

Edited December 25, 2018 by jwhess