• Jehovah’s Witnesses—1997 Yearbook Report
    1997 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • School for Branch Committee Members Inaugurated

      When the Watchtower Educational Center at Patterson, New York, was being designed, plans included facilities in which to train Branch Committee members. A special school curriculum was designed for these brothers. The first class of 24 students was enrolled on Friday, November 24, 1995. On the following Monday, classroom sessions began.

      During the past service year, this school had three classes, each one lasting for eight weeks. Training was given to brothers from 60 of the Society’s branches. These branches supervise the ministry of more than 2,825,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses and have in their assigned territory over 45 percent of the world’s population. So the effects of the school quickly reached many parts of the earth.

      Heavy responsibilities rest upon the shoulders of Branch Committee members. According to the principle stated by Jesus and recorded at Luke 12:48b, more than usual is demanded of spirit-appointed men who have been put in charge of much. For this reason periodic training sessions for them are very beneficial.

      What are some of the responsibilities that come under the supervision of these brothers? Caring for Bethel family members and Bethel homes. Oversight of office work, which includes handling correspondence, literature orders, service matters, and translation of the Society’s publications. Printing operations—some small and some on a large scale. Shipping literature, magazines, and other supplies to congregations. The Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work done by congregation publishers, pioneers, and missionaries. Making arrangements for traveling overseers to visit congregations as well as isolated groups on a regular basis. Planning for circuit assemblies and district conventions.

      During the school course, all of this and much more, involving both branch procedure and field organization, are thoroughly discussed. Bible teachings constitute a substantial part of the course. God’s law and Scriptural principles governing all aspects of a Christian’s life are reviewed. Each Saturday morning, help is given to the brothers with a view to their improving their ability as public speakers. Experienced brothers from the headquarters organization and the field as well as members of the Governing Body make up the teaching staff. Evenings are devoted to homework and preparation of assignments for class presentation.

      The wives who accompany their husbands to Patterson benefit from the association and the assigned work they do in the Bethel Home and other departments. They get to see how things are handled at the headquarters of the Society. Once each week, in the late afternoon on Friday, they join their husbands in the school’s lecture hall to hear a discourse, which is usually given by a member of the Governing Body. These spiritually oriented presentations have proved to be most encouraging and practical and have been really appreciated.

      Branch Committee members have found the school course to be refreshing, stimulating, and wholesome. Expressing appreciation for what they have been taught, one class said: “Having this school at the Watchtower Educational Center impressed upon us the wonderful advancement of Jehovah’s organization and enlarged our vision of the worldwide preaching and teaching work under way.” Regarding highlights of the course, a number of students observed that ‘an outstanding feature has been the special effort on the part of the Governing Body members to come up from Brooklyn and teach us both in class sessions and by giving special lectures. This attention is heartwarming. It gives proof of their deep interest in the welfare of God’s people all over the world.’

      The second class of the school expressed their resolve as follows: “We are determined to apply what we have learned by word and by example in order to maintain a smoothly functioning international theocratic organization, all to the praise of Jehovah God and to the spiritual advancement of his people.” When the third class concluded their studies, they reviewed the benefits of the two-month course and said: “The school has enriched us very much spiritually and at the same time motivated us always to prove worthy of the responsibility entrusted to us.”

      Branch Committee members from each class gave the headquarters Bethel family brief reports on the progress of the Kingdom work in their respective territories. The Bethel complexes at Brooklyn, Patterson, and Wallkill (also Georgetown, Ont., Canada) were tied in for these programs. The information and experiences from various parts of the world provided striking evidence of Jehovah’s blessing upon the faithful and zealous efforts of his people. The reports also illustrated the self-sacrificing love as well as the unity of thought and action on the part of the whole association of our brothers.—1 Pet. 2:17; 5:9.

      As the service year ended, another class was in session. This one included representatives from 47 of the Society’s branches.