Building for the Future

In the months just prior to the second world war, the first Kingdom Halls were built in London, in the suburbs of Harrow and Ilford. Now, there are 140 congregations in London alone, including 4 Greek, 2 Italian, and one Spanish, along with Chinese, Gujarati, Japanese, Portuguese, and Punjabi groups. The challenge to acquire new Kingdom Halls, in the face of the wildly escalating cost of property, is greater than ever.

Speeding things up, however, is the new two-day Kingdom Hall building program. The first such hall in Europe was erected in 1983 in the Midlands town of Northampton. Witnesses experienced in this unique field of construction came from the United States and Canada to oversee the project. At a nearby school, the headmaster gave permission for the pupils to visit the building site at regular intervals to see firsthand what he called “a challenging view of a great community undertaking.” But it was more than that. It was an international project, with about 500 volunteers from as far afield as Japan, India, France, and Germany.

[Picture on page 29]

Quickly built Kingdom Hall at Northampton, England