Announcements
◼ Literature offer for January: Any 192-page book published in or prior to 1986 that the congregation may have in stock. Congregations that have on hand Mankind’s Search for God may also offer it. February: Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?, Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand!, or any older 192-page book that the congregation has in stock. March: Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life. A special effort will be made to start home Bible studies. April: The Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Where interest is found on return visits, subscriptions may be offered. Offer the Knowledge book or Require brochure, with a view to starting home Bible studies.
◼ Please note that the Memorial for the year 2002 will be on Thursday, March 28, after sundown and not on Friday, March 22, as indicated at the end of the 2001 Calendar. This advance notice is given so that brothers may make necessary reservations or contracts for available halls when there are several congregations using the Kingdom Hall and other facilities must be found. The elders should have an agreement with the management ensuring that there will be no disturbances from other activities in the building so that the Memorial observance can proceed in a peaceful and orderly manner. Because of the importance of the occasion, in assigning a Memorial speaker, the body of elders should select one of the more qualified elders instead of simply taking turns or using the same brother every year. An exception will be made if there is a capable elder of the anointed who can give the talk.
◼ All baptized publishers present at the Service Meeting the week of January 8 may obtain the Advance Medical Directive/Release card and the Identity Card for their children.
◼ Starting in February, and no later than March 4, the new public talk for circuit overseers will be “Judgment Day—A Time of Fear or Hope?”
◼ Congregations should make convenient arrangements to observe the Memorial this year on Sunday, April 8, after sundown. Although the talk may start earlier, the passing of the emblems should not begin until after sundown. Check with local sources to determine when sundown occurs in your area. Since no meetings other than those for field service are to be held on that day, appropriate adjustments should be made for the Watchtower Study to be conducted at another time. Circuit overseers will need to adjust their meeting schedule for the week according to local circumstances. Although it is desirable for each congregation to hold its own Memorial observance, this may not always be possible. Where a number of congregations normally use the same Kingdom Hall, perhaps one or more congregations can obtain the use of another facility for that evening. Where possible, we would suggest a minimum of 40 minutes between the programs so that all may benefit fully from the occasion, allowing time to meet visitors and encourage newly interested ones. Consideration should also be given to traffic conditions and parking, including the dropping off and picking up of passengers. The body of elders should decide what arrangements would be best locally.
◼ The special public talk for the 2001 Memorial season will be given on Sunday, April 1. The subject of the talk will be “Who Can Be Saved?” An outline will be provided. Those congregations having the visit of the circuit overseer, a circuit assembly, or a special assembly day that weekend will have the special talk the week of April 9. No congregation should have the special talk before April 1, 2001.
◼ Beginning with the January 1, 2001, issue, The Watchtower will be available in Kaonde and Seychelles Creole as monthly editions and in Silozi as a semimonthly edition.
◼ Beginning with the January 8, 2001, issue, Awake! will be available in Bulgarian and Urdu as monthly editions.
◼ New Publications Available:
Isaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind I—Polish
Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life—Chinese (Phonetic)
New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures—Albanian, Hungarian
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—Sesotho, Tswana
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References—Czech
You Can Be God’s Friend!—Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Ewe, Polish, Swahili
◼ New Audiocassettes Available:
Appreciating Our Spiritual Heritage (Drama, single cassette)—Japanese
Keep Your Eye Simple (Drama, single cassette)—Gujarati, Hindi
The Watchtower in Dutch will be available on audiocassette beginning with the January 1, 2001, issue.