WATCHTOWER ANNOUNCES ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES

A major restructuring of the Jehovah’s Witness organization was announced at the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society’s meeting last October. The extent of the change, which included the resignation of President Milton Henschel and six other board members, is unprecedented in the Watchtower’s 116-year history.

The Society announced other changes, too, including the appointment of seven new directors and the establishing of three new nonprofit corporations in the United States. According to a news release from the Public Affairs Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the changes to the legal structure of the group “will allow them to keep pace with their growth.”

Before the restructuring, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were strictly ruled by the group’s Governing Body. In keeping with the changes, administrative responsibilities will be handled by one of the new corporations. Public affairs director James Pellechia said the changes will enable the Governing Body to “concentrate more on the ministry of the Word.” “The reason for the changes was both theological and practical,” he further said.

According to an Associated Press report, “Don Adams, a 50-year veteran of the organization, has been named president and seven lower-ranking members will make up the new board. Henschel will remain a member of the Governing Body, which will have a rotating chairman rather than a permanent leader.”

The newly formed corporations include the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which will direct the sect’s religious and education aspects; the Religious Order of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which will supervise full-time ministry workers; and the Kingdom Support Services, which will administer certain organizational assets, including the design and engineering of society buildings.

The changes do not come as a big surprise to many who monitor the organization. A more significant shift in Jehovah’s Witness policy is one shrouded within the announced changes. The Watchtower now says its principal offices, including president and vice president, no longer have to be held by “anointed” members of its faith.

According to Watchtower teaching, “anointed” Christians are a select body of 144,000 persons consisting of believers from the first century up until the present day. Jehovah’s Witnesses maintain the total number of this group, which is interpreted from Revelation 7:14, was fulfilled in the 1930s. According to the Society’s figures, fewer than 9,000 of the elite are presently alive on the earth. Most members of this remnant are aged and the shrinking number posed challenges in selecting Watchtower officers under its previous criterion.

—MKG

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