• Norway
    1977 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • BETHEL HOME AND BRANCH OFFICE

      There has not been any need for a large Bethel home and branch office in Norway, as the number of publishers is not so great. The Bethel family today has just fifteen members. Down to 1956 the Norwegian Watchtower and Awake! were printed at a printery in Oslo. Since then they have been printed by the Society’s Swedish branch. However, we have a small printery here at Bethel, where Our Kingdom Service, forms and the like are printed.

      We are still using the building at Inkognitogaten 28 B. This seems to be Jehovah’s will, for several times through the years we have tried unsuccessfully to get another place. Due to the growth of the Kingdom work, more space was needed at Bethel. So, when Brother Knorr was here in 1965, it was decided that the Society should apply to the authorities for permission to build a new Bethel home and branch office on a beautifully situated piece of ground that was a gift from a brother. The plans for the building were prepared, but the authorities were not ready to lay out that area in the outskirts of Oslo. Since then we have tried to get other ground, but without results.

      In 1970 there was a turning point. A boardinghouse long had been in operation on the third floor of the building housing the branch office. But the owner found that there no longer was any economical basis for operating the business. The brothers in Oslo were encouraged to be on the lookout for a suitable apartment for the lady who had operated the boardinghouse. But as this brought no results at first, she herself answered a newspaper advertisement. She later learned that she had been picked out at random from among seven hundred applicants! Certain brothers renovated the woman’s new apartment and helped her with the moving.

      We have finished the renovating and decorating of the third floor in our enlarged Bethel home and have also made some other changes here. So we now have plenty of space. Moreover, this building has an ideal location for our use. It is situated just a few minutes’ ride from the harbor of Oslo and two railway stations in the city. Yet, it is in a nice and comparatively quiet section.