A CHRONOLOGY of JW HISTORY (#154)        

1843-1845
William Miller (1781-1849) attracts about 100,000 followers by predicting Christ's second coming for 1843. After disconfirmation this is revised to 1844. The movement then disintegrates but in 1845 survivors start to re-organize and are called "Second Adventists". Over the next decades they organize into many sects.

1852
Birth of Charles Taze Russell who grows up in Allegheny near Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

1869
C.T. Russell's faith, after a brief period as a skeptic, is rejuvenated by Jonas Wendel a preacher of the Advent Christian Church. [The Advent Christian Church, founded in 1861, is one of the many groups that organized from the Second Adventists.]

1869-1873
Russell attends meetings led by George Storrs (1796-1879) and George Stetson (1814-1879).
[Storrs was a prominent figure in the Millerite movement and a founder of the Life and Advent Union (1863) which is another Second Adventist sect.  Stetson was a minister of the Advent Christian Church.]

c.1873
William Henry Conley (1840-1897) a wealthy businessman and his wife, and C.T. Russell and his father and sister, start a new study group. 

Russell is baptized in 1874, whether within the Advent Christian Church or within the new study group is unclear. 

1876
Russell is elected "pastor" of the Russell/Conley Bible class. His group unites with a group of Second Adventists led by Nelson H. Barbour and John H. Paton. 
[Barbour had experienced the disappointment of 1844 and lost his faith, but became a believer again in 1859.] 

An article by Russell titled "Gentile Times: When Do They End?" is published in The Bible Examiner (October 1876, pp 27-28) which is the magazine founded and edited by George Storrs. Russell predicts that A.D 1914 is: 

1877
Three Worlds, a book written by N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell, is published. These two men at this stage believe and predict that the "living saints" would ascend to heaven in 1878. 

The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return, a booklet by C.T. Russell, is published.

1879
Russell and Barbour split up over doctrinal disputes. The first edition of Zion's Watch Tower is published with a printing of 6000. Russell gets married to Maria F. Ackley (1850-1938).

1881
Russell and Paton split up. The latter had postponed the ascent of the "living saints" to 1914 (Russell had predicted 1881) and also preached universal salvation which Russell called heresy.

1881
Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society is founded as an unincorporated association with its three officers selected on the basis of $10 shares:

• W.H. Conley – President ($3,500)
• Joseph L. Russell – Vice-president ($1,000)
• Charles T. Russell – Secretary-Treasurer ($500)

Extensive distribution of free tracts starts. In Britain boys are hired to give out 300,000 copies of Food for Thinking Christians outside churches.

1884
Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society is legally incorporated in Pennsylvania with C.T. Russell its president.

1886
The first of Russell's six-volumes on theology and prophecy is published: Studies in the Scriptures Volume 1 The Divine Plan of the Ages. 
Russell's followers believe that Jesus returned invisibly in 1874, God's Kingdom began in heaven in 1878, the "time of the end" is 115 years from 1799-1914, and world peace under the rule of Old Testament heroes raised from the dead would start in 1914.

1889
The Russell cult holds its first convention, April 14-18. The venue is their "Meeting Room" or "Hall" at 101 Federal Street, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. The attendance is 225 from 12 US states and Canada with 22 baptized. 
"Bible House" in Allegheny becomes Russell's headquarters. It includes a printery, accommodation for staff, and a hall with seating for 200.

1891
Russell takes his first trip to Europe to meet with people who read and believe his publications and get them organized.

1893
A convention in Chicago is attended by 360 with 70 baptized.

1894
Russell establishes the "pilgrim" program under which travelling representatives of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society visit congregations to strengthen their allegiance to Russell. 

A split occurs in the cult because Russell's increasing control and demands are viewed as "Pope-like power". Rose Ball, Russell's "foster daughter", supports Russell in the conflict and is appointed as one of the seven directors of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society.


1896
The name of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society is changed to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (WBTS).

1897
Russell's wife leaves the cult over doctrinal disputes and Russell's intimacies with Rose Ball, resulting in negative publicity and court battles over the next dozen years. Their marriage according to Russell was "celibate for 18 years". Throughout the 20th century JW leaders claim Rose Ball was only 10 to 15 years old and Russell therefore innocent. But she was 28 in 1897!

1900
The first foreign branch office of the WBTS is opened in London by Ernest C. Henninges and his wife Rose Ball Henninges.

1902
A WBTS office in Germany is opened.

1903
Ernest and Rose Henninges open a branch office in Australia.

1904
The sixth volume of Studies in the Scriptures is published. Publication of convention reports begin. Russell's sermons begin to appear in newspapers.

1909
Russell relocates his headquarters including the offices of the WBTS to Brooklyn, New York. The Peoples Pulpit Association is founded in New York to meet legal requirements and in 1956 becomes the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc. Zion's Watch Tower is renamed The Watch Tower.

1912
Russell and a committee of followers make a westward around-the-world voyage to report on missionary work and to fulfil the preaching foretold in Matthew 24:14.
 
1914
The International Bible Students Association (Britain) is founded.  The Photo Drama of Creation begins to be screened and over several years attracts millions of viewers.  Russell's sermons are published in 2000 newspapers.

1915
It becomes obvious that the "time of the end" is not ending in 1914/1915 in worldwide revolution followed by paradise on Earth as Russell had predicted. Many leave the cult and the number of newspapers printing Russell's sermons plummets.

1916
Russell dies in October.

1917
"Judge" Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869-1942) becomes  president of the WBTS.  The publication of The Finished Mystery causes strife and hundreds leave the cult and begin to establish separate Bible Students  groups.

1918
Rutherford's sermon Millions Now Living May Never Die. 
Rutherford and other leaders are sentenced in June to 20 years under the Espionage Act and imprisoned in Atlanta Penitentiary. 
The cult loses about 20% of its members due to disputes over the legitimacy of Rutherford's presidency and because predictions in The Finished Mystery are already proving false. However, almost 4000 members worldwide (in the US about 750) remain active. 

1919
Rutherford and the other leaders are released from prison in March.
A convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, in September stimulates renewed enthusiasm and emphasises going house to house which in the following years is made increasingly mandatory. 
The first edition of The Golden Age magazine is published. (Replaced by Consolation in 1937 and Awake! in 1946.)

1920
The WTS commences printing operations in Brooklyn, New York.

1919-1942
Rutherford blames the churches for his imprisonment and plans revenge, declaring while still in prison: "I'll take the dagger of truth, and I'll rip the innards out of old Babylon." (Yearbook of JWs 1975, p. 115) 

There is evidence that Rutherford has a secret agenda which is to win so many converts to the WTS that other religions and governments will lose popular support, leaving the WTS to take over the rule of the world. To facilitate this goal he reorganizes the Russellites from 1919 to 1938 into the most united group of people on Earth, politically and religiously unified, because unified minorities can often dominate disunited majorities. A minority group of unified voters motivated by an agenda can, for example, sometimes swing elections in their favour. Small armies with high morale, unity, and using superior tactics often defeat much bigger armies and win the war. Under Rutherford's agenda prophecies of a supernatural imminent Armageddon are a means to an end i.e. to attract and retain converts and stimulate them to preach. The evidence includes quotes like these: 

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1919
Rutherford and the other leaders are released from prison in March. 

2020
Rutherford's book Millions Now Living Will Never Die is published to fulfil Matthew 24:14. In the book Rutherford predicts that the resurrection of the "ancient worthies" will take place in 1925. The book and prophecy cements Rutherford's control over most of Russell's followers and helps to activate them to go door to door.

1920-1922
In 1920 Rutherford requires his followers to turn in weekly report slips of their door to door activity. Terms such as "witnesses", "witnessing", "service work" and "service worker" start to enter regular use. 

In 1922 another convention is held at Cedar Point, Ohio, where Rutherford declares: "Advertise the King and the Kingdom".  About 9000 followers report "service work" i.e. their door-to-door activity.

1922-1928
Annual conventions are held. At each convention Rutherford announces a "resolution" which is distributed in printed form (up to 50 million copies). In 1930 the seven resolutions are interpreted as the "seven last plagues" of Revelation 15-16. (Light, Volume II,  pp 20-38, 57-67) 

1924
In February the WBTS's radio station, WBBR on Staten Island, New York, begins broadcasting.

1925
The doctrine that God's Kingdom was set up in heaven in 1914 is made official truth. This makes defunct God's (i.e. Russell's) heavenly kingdom of 1878 which is no longer taught.

1926
In 1926 Brooklyn headquarters celebrates Christmas for the last time — henceforth Christmas is considered a pagan celebration.

1927
The first yearbook is published, titled Yearbook of the International Bible Students Association (1926), reporting statistics for 1926.

1926-1930
The cult loses about 70% of its attendance due to failed prophecy and increasing pressure on everyone to go door to door and report their activity.
 In 1928 about 24,000 on average report their service work.

1929
Beth Sarim ("House of Princes") is built in California to advertise the imminent takeover of the world by Abraham, Samson, Daniel and other Old Testament heroes, which is expected in the 1930s. 

1930/1931
Christ's "second presence" is transferred from 1874 to 1914.

1931
The name "Jehovah's witnesses" is adopted. 
The Watch Tower is changed to The Watchtower. 
Door to door "witnesses" number near 50,000.

1931-1932
Prophecies of Israel's literal restoration which Rutherford had reaffirmed in his books Comfort for the Jews (1925) and Life (1929) are discarded and reinterpreted as fulfilled in JWs and their Organization.

1932
Rutherford abolishes Russell's arrangement of each congregation electing its elders.
In the book Preservation (1932) Rutherford divides JWs into pre and post 1919 members and asserts both groups must preach until Armageddon which some of them will see and survive.
This ends belief in a miraculous ascent of all of them together to heaven.

1934
JWs start to use portable record players to play short sermons by Rutherford at doors and in public places.

1935
Until 1935 all JWs are members of the 144,000 and believe they'll go to heaven when they die. In 1935 a new "harvest" is announced, that of a "great multitude" or "great crowd" who will get eternal life on Earth but have to first join JWs. 
The term "publisher" is introduced to refer to all who go door to door.

1933-1945
JWs are banned in Germany and (for differing periods) in about 40 countries.
 
1938
Rutherford has by now made JWs the most unified religion on Earth. The WBTS appoints all overseers, determines all doctrine, permits no dissent or alternative viewpoints, and has abolished political divisions and other sources of conflict, and is even opposing marriage and childbirth. This worldwide unity which critics later call "totalitarianism" JWs call "Theocracy" and "Theocratic organization".

1941
Number of "publishers" passes 100,000.

1942
Rutherford dies. Nathan Homer Knorr (1905-1977) becomes Watchtower Society president. 
The Watchtower clearly links the phrase "this generation" to 1914, stating: "Pointing to the events of our time since 1914 Jesus said … "Verily I say unto you, This generation [including the remnant] shall not pass away till all be fulfilled." (1942 7/1 204)

1943
Gilead Missionary School is established. The United States Supreme Court rules in favour of JWs in 20 of 24 cases.

1943-1944
Training in congregations is introduced to make JWs effective "ministers" and later supplemented with the books Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers (1945), Equipped for Every Good Work (1946) and Qualified to be Ministers (1955).

1944
The "Governing Body" is identified as the seven "directors" of the Pennsylvania Corporation of the WTS. All Governing Body members have to also be members of the "remnant" (i.e. the remnant of the 144,000 who go to heaven when they die). Hayden C. Covington resigns as vice president because he is not of this "heavenly class" and is replaced by Frederick W. Franz. (18931992)
In practice two men are in charge, Knorr and Franz.

1944
The WBTS Charter is amended so that share-holding voters who annually re-elect the directors of the WBTS and whose votes are proportional to their donations are from now on limited to one vote each. In 1971 Franz interprets this amendment as fulfilment of Daniel 8:14. 

1945
The interpretation that the days of creation were each 7000 years long is published in The Watchtower (February15). This doctrine implies that Armageddon and paradise on Earth will occur 6000 years after Adam & Eve sinned. With Adam's creation date calculated as 4028 BCE this suggests the 1970s.

1945-1951
The Watchtower again links "this generation" to 1914, stating:


The Governing Body now sets all congregations the "quota" of increasing by 10% yearly, sometimes suggesting 20%, and in the 1951 Yearbook (p. 28) even 34%.  

JWs become "the fastest growing religion" with publishers increasing as follows: 1945 15.8%; 1946 24%; 1947 14.5%; 1948 27.3%; 1949 21%; 1950 18.9%; 1951 17.1%. 

After 1950 "this generation since 1914" becomes standard doctrine and gets frequent mention. Projecting the 1940s publisher-numbers by 10% or 20% yearly for 60 years comes to billions and implies world-takeover by the Governing Body within the lifetime of people alive in 1914. However, the growth markedly slows down in the 1950s and more so in the 1960s.

[The previous WTS interpretation started the final generation in 1878! And previous to that the last generation began in 1799!]

1946
Awake! magazine replaces Consolation.  Let God Be True is published and becomes the textbook for "home bible studies" with the public until 1968.

1948
Beth Sarim the "House of Princes" is sold.

1950
Opposition to blood transfusion, hinted at in 1944, is now an established doctrine and deaths from blood loss occur in hospitals. 
The New World Translation of the New Testament is released in English.

1952
The doctrine of vaccinations being "against the law of Jehovah", taught since the 1920s, is discarded because it hinders the JW leaders and the missionaries when going overseas.

1953
The peak number of publishers for the year is over 500,000. Renewed emphasis on training for house to house ministry.

1946; 1950; 1953; 1958;  1963; 1969;  1978.
International Conventions with many attendance figures above 100,000. The largest is in New York in 1958 with an attendance of 253,900.

1959
The Kingdom Ministry School for training congregation overseers and travelling "circuit servants" commences in South Lansing, New York.

1961
The New World Translation, the entire Bible in one volume, is published in English. 
Awake! confirms that Armageddon will come in the 20th century: 


1963
Over 1,000,000 publishers. New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures released in six more languages.

1965
JWs acquire an "Assembly Hall" in New York, the first of many assembly halls around the world.
 
1966
Strong hints are published in the book Life Everlasting… (pp 28-30) that Armageddon would occur around 1975.  
The reasoning is that the days of creation including the seventh day i.e. God's "day of rest" are each 7000 years long. The final 1000 years of God's 7000-year rest would be the post-Armageddon millennium of peace and paradise on Earth. With creation completed in 4026 BCE this implies 1975, but the unknown length of time between Adam and Eve's creation has to be added to October 1975.  This unknown period is later defined as "months", not years, implying Armageddon would take place in 1975 or 1976.


1967-1980
JWs oppose organ transplants which are said to be "unscriptural" and equivalent to "cannibalism". In the 1970s a few JWs reportedly choose blindness over a cornea transplant.

1968
The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life is released along with the announcement that home "Bible studies" with the public should now be limited to six months unless they are "making progress". The pocket-size "Truth" book eventually reaches a printing of 108 million in 117 languages.

The Watchtower anticipates Armageddon in the 1970s. (p. 270)

1969
The booklet The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years is released at the Peace on Earth International Conventions.

1971
The book The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah—How? forecasts the "day of Jehovah" i.e. Armageddon "within our twentieth century". (p. 216) JWs still anticipate Armageddon around 1975 but 2000 is the most distant possible date.  

The Governing Body is increased from seven to eleven with chairmanship "rotated" i.e. to be changed annually. It is still only a theoretical Governing Body since Knorr and Franz still make important decisions.

1971-1972
JW publications refer to the JW work as:

The one-man overseer arrangement in JW congregations is changed to oversight by a "body of elders".

1973
A new WTS printery at Wallkill north-west of Brooklyn goes into operation and eventually replaces printing at Brooklyn as part of a program to decentralize. 
Opposition to smoking cigarettes is enforced and smoker-publishers are given six months to stop the habit.

1974
Over 2,000,000 publishers.
The annual Memorial (commemoration of Christ's death) attracts 4,550,000 worldwide.

1975/1976
The Governing Body forces Knorr and Franz to share power and organizes itself into six committees. Decisions on doctrine and policy are henceforth made by 2/3 majority vote. 

1976
Circulation of The Watchtower passes 10,000,000 but then declines due to the false predictions for the mid 1970s. It passes 10,000,000 again in 1983. 
Branch offices henceforth to be run by three-man committees instead of one branch overseer. 

1977
Nathan Knorr dies. Frederick Franz becomes WTS president. 
The "Pioneer Service School" is introduced for additional training of pioneers (i.e. fulltime door-to-door goers).

1977-1980
JWs decline due to false prophecies for the mid-1970s but regain their previous numbers in 1980. 
From 1973 to 1981 about 500,000 publishers leave JWs.

1980
Organ transplants and organ donations are made a matter of conscience and are no longer "cannibalism" or "against the Scriptures". 

Raymond Franz, nephew of F.W. Franz, resigns from the Governing Body and in 1981 is disfellowshipped (i.e. excommunicated). He subsequently authors Crisis of Conscience (1983) and In Search of Christian Freedom (1991).

1970s1980s
Numerous building works including printeries, branch offices and assembly halls built largely by JW volunteers in dozens of countries distract publishers from failed hopes, renews their commitment, promotes pride in "God's organization", and prepares for renewed organizational growth.

1983
Governing Body member Lloyd Barry visits Australia and tells JWs: "All over the world…people are flocking to the truth. Jehovah's Witnesses are now labelled the second largest religion in Italy. And that's the way it will keep going. Some day they will be the largest whether the Roman Catholic Church likes it or not."

1984
The Watchtower describes the JW preaching activity as:

1985
The Watchtower says of JWs in Turkey: 


1985
The 1985 JW Yearbook predicts:


Over 3,000,000 publishers.  Memorial attendance — 7,792,000.

1987
Beginning of the "Ministerial Training School" for additional training of congregation "ministerial servants". The first trainingclass is held in Pennsylvania.

1989
The break-up of the "Communist King of the North" means the failure of another set of prophecies (in the book Your Will 1958). Nevertheless JWs hold large conventions in Poland and expand over Eastern Europe.

1990
Over 4,000,000 publishers.  Memorial attendance is 9,950,000. 

1991
The Watchtower circulation passes 15,000,000.

1992
Death of F.W. Franz.   The fifth WTS president is Milton Henschel (1920-2003). 

The first International Congress of "True Faith Jehovah's Witnesses" takes place in Romania, possibly the biggest organized split from WTS control since the 1930s.

1993
Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom replaces Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose as the official history of the movement.

1995
Publishers number 5,200,000. Memorial attendance is 13,147,000. 

The doctrine that "this generation" which saw 1914 would live to see Armageddon, and taught as "the Creator's promise" and "Jehovah's prophetic word", is changed by redefining the word "generation".

1997
The Watchtower circulation passes 20,000,000. 
The official website of the WBTS goes online.

2000
Publishers number over 6,000,000.  Memorial attendance is 14,872,000. 

Governing Body members who are also members of the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society resign from the latter position. For the first time the Governing Body and board of directors are distinct groups. Some commentators speculate that the reason for this change is to avoid WBTS legal liability for Governing Body decisions. With Henschel's resignation Don Adams (b.1925) becomes the 6th president of the Pennsylvania Corporation. 

2000
The prophecy of Armageddon "within our twentieth century" fails.

1999-2002
Despite over 1000 million hours of preaching per year the JW increase-rates are the lowest since 1979.

2001-2002
Child sexual abuse among JWs and a secret WTS data base of 20,000 possible child molesters receive media attention. New Governing Body policy introduced in 2002 prevents JW child molesters going door to door alone and permits victims of sexual abuse to contact the police without JW elders hindering them.
 
2004
The WTS sells its 14-story building at 360 Furman Street, Brooklyn, for $205 million. This begins a program to sell more than 30 properties in Brooklyn and build a new JW world headquarters NW of New York City with JW volunteers doing much of the work.
WTS printing operations in Brooklyn cease. The center for JW literature production is now at Wallkill 79 miles by road (or 61 miles "as the crow flies") NW of Brooklyn. 

2005ff
Critics point out that the time required to build the new World Headquarters and transfer thereto from Brooklyn disagrees with the prophecy that Armageddon would occur within the lifetime of people who witnessed 1914. In 1969 The Watchtower said:


In 1995 the Governing Body changed the meaning of "generation" so that a "generation" could go on indefinitely, but add: "Does our more precise viewpoint on "this generation" mean that Armageddon is further away than we had thought? Not at all!" (The Watchtower 1995 11/1 20) In 2005 the people "only just old enough to understand what was happening to the world in 1914" are therefore approaching 70+36=106 years of age!

[The relocation of headquarters, with thousands of JW volunteers helping, continues the strategy begun already in 1879, of distracting the followers from failed prophecy by means of new buildings, new publications, new types of ministry and new doctrines. People who have sacrificed their time, sweat, careers and money for a sect are less likely to drop out, and others are carried along by the enthusiasm and "progress". The failed prophecy meanwhile recedes into the past and eventually new prophetic dates are set. Adherents who criticize are stigmatized as being "disloyal" and "like Satan" and are soon replaced with new converts.]  

2005-2010
Publishers increase slowly since each baptism now requires on average over 5000 hours of preaching. 
Regular news reports appear of the WBTS making huge payments to victims of JW child sexual abuse. 

2006
Awake! magazine becomes a 16-page monthly publication.

2005-2012
The WTS sells more of its Brooklyn real-estate: 

2008 The Watchtower is published in two separate editions, one for the public and the other for JWs.   
Publishers pass 7 million and reach a peak of 7,124,000.  Memorial attendance is 17,791,000.

2010
"Generation" is redefined yet again and now means two overlapping generations:    


In preparation for this new interpretation the Governing Body allowed the number of "anointed" to increase. For about 70 years it was emphasized that the "anointed" had all been chosen and the 144,000 vacancies for heaven filled by 1935, except for a few who might "apostatize" and had to be replaced.    

It was also predicted that Armageddon would take place before the steadily-decreasing "anointed remnant" died out. The following table shows the decrease:   

1935	52,465	1980	9,564
1940	27,620	1990	8,869
1950	22,723	2000	8,661
1960	13,911	2010	11,202
1970	10,526	-------	---------

Every year JWs would consult their latest Yearbook to see how many "anointed" were left to estimate how near Armageddon is. When after 2000 CE the "anointed" began to increase, another prophecy charade of the JW leaders was busted!  

2013
Leopold Engleitner, an Austrian JW and the oldest known survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, dies aged 107 and was probably the last surviving JW of the 1914 generation, i.e. "the generation that will not pass away".   

The WTS receives planning board approval to build the new World Headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses on a 253-acre site at Warwick, a town about two hours drive NW of Brooklyn.   
Five WTS buildings in Brooklyn sell for $375 million to Jared Kushner a real-estate developer.  With this sale the WTS's Brooklyn sell-off passes $1000 million.   

2014
Making converts is getting harder and requires an average of over 7000 hours of "witnessing" to achieve each baptism.   

The WTS purchases the former Federal Aviation Administration facility at Palm Coast, Florida, to serve as a "Watchtower Educational Center" and "School for Kingdom Evangelizers".   
[The word "evangelizer" is not in English dictionaries. JWs use it instead  of  "evangelist"  because  they  regard  all  JWs  as  "evangelizers" whereas in Christianity and in the Bible only "some" are evangelists — Ephesians 4:11; Acts 21:8; II Timothy 4:5] 

2015
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Australia finds that the Australian JW headquarters received the names of 1006 alleged child sexual abuse perpetrators among JWs since 1950 but reported none to the police.    
Their victims numbered at least 1800. Some 579 perpetrators had confessed of whom 401 were disfellowshipped and of these 230 were later reinstated.    
The Royal Commission reported 514 perpetrators to the police. 

2016
The WTS sells 85 Jay Street, Brooklyn, a 3-acre parking lot, the "largest plot of undeveloped land in the city", for $345 million. [https://thebridgebk.com/huge-new-buildings-will-changefacedumbo/]   
Publishers worldwide pass 8 million and reach a peak of 8,132,000. 
Memorial attendance passes 20 million — 20,085,000


2017
A panel of representatives from the WBTS of Australia appears before the Royal Commission and Stuart McMillan states: "I am deeply sorry that we didn't protect and care in accordance with our Christian values…"    

However, sexual abuse among JWs increasingly looks like a worldwide problem due to their worldwide unity under which the Governing Body enforces identical policies in all congregations in all countries. For example: 
 


Sales in Brooklyn continue — a 29 story hotel at 90 Sands Street purchased by the WTS in 1992 sells for $117 million.    

The new "World Headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses" opens in Warwick, New York State.    

• Warwick (population 32,000 in 2010) is 47 miles "as the crow flies" NW of the previous JW headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. The new World Headquarters is a 253-acre site next to a lake and forests, and with eight large buildings including four residential buildings for 800 staff, and a Bible museum.   
• Wallkill (population 27,000) is 61 miles NW of Brooklyn (and 16 miles north of Warwick). Wallkill is the location of "Watchtower Farms" and the center for the production of JW literature.    
• Ramapo (population 127,000) is 34 miles NW of Brooklyn (and 14 miles SE of Warwick). Here, on a 248-acre site, purchased in 2009, is the "Watchtower Administrative Complex".   
• Patterson (population 12,000) is 60 miles NE of Brooklyn (and 44 miles from Warwick). Patterson is the location of "Watchtower Education Center" including "Missionary Training School". The Center has 27 buildings including six apartment buildings and a 144-room hotel.    

2018
Publication of the Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses ceases but a chart of statistics goes on the https://jw.org/ website.

The following table shows how many hours of "field ministry" or "witnessing" it takes JWs on average to achieve each baptism:  

Some observers interpret results like these as indicating that JWs will stop increasing by mid 21st century. 

2019 
The sell-off of the WTS's properties in Brooklyn, New York, is completed.  Since 2004 37 properties including 30 buildings have been sold. A report dated December, 2018, says: 
 
  
Another property, apparently the final one in Brooklyn (1128 Saint Johns Place), sells in May 2019 for $2.45 million.
[https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2019/05/16/jehova hs-witnesses-jettisons-brooklyn-development]   

Here are some recent worldwide results of the JW ministry:  

Year	Average Publishers	% Increase	Bible Studies	Memorial Attendance
2015	7,987,000	1.5	9,709,000	19,863,000
2016	8,132,000	1.8	10,115,000	20,085,000
2017	8,249,000	1.4	10,072,000	20,175,000
2018	8,361,000	1.4	10.080,000	20,329,000
2019	8,471,000	1.3	9,618,000	20,919,000

The recent publisher increases were mainly achieved in Africa and South/Central America. JWs have lately had little increase in countries where their history is better known. Typical is Australia where the JWs' percentage-increases are lower than the population and the proportion of JWs in the population is therefore decreasing:   

	Peak	Ratio 1 to	Memorial	Ratio 1 to
1995	61,100	294	110,900	162
2000	60,900	313	112,000	170
2005	61,400	327	111,300	181
2010	65,200	345	116,000	194
2015	67,600	353	116,000	206
2019	68,600	372	118,300	216

2019
Whether the increase of JWs worldwide will continue to slow down until decline sets in remains to be seen. 

JWs used to predict that Armageddon followed by paradise on Earth would occur in the generation of 1914. They called this the "Creator's promise" but the Creator's promise turned out false. Another prediction, that Armageddon would occur "within our twentieth century", also turned out false. People who know such facts wonder "In what else are they wrong?" and hesitate to join.  Perhaps future political and environmental crises will convince people that Armageddon is real and produce a human landslide toward JWs. Some commentators, however, believe the Internet will eventually stop the JWs' increase by educating the public about the sect.   

Another influence on JW growth will be the extent to which the sect is prohibited. The official JW statistical chart of their proselytising in 2019 mentions "33 Other Lands" where their work is restricted. One of these lands is Russia where JWs were increasing steadily until 2015:  

	Peak	Ratio 1 to	Memorial	Ratio 1 to
2000	114,300	1,289	267,600	550
2005	142,400	1,019	267,400	543
2010	162,200	875	278,800	509
2015	175,600	832	294,200	491
2016	171,800	850	293,900	487

 In 1951 JWs were rounded up in the Soviet Union and 9,000 deported to Siberia under a plan called Operation North. The break-up of the Soviet Union in the 1990s resulted in relative freedom but in the 21st century restrictions returned.   

JWs were banned in the Russian city of Taganrog in 2009 after a local court ruled the organization guilty of inciting religious hatred by "propagating the exclusivity and supremacy" of their religious beliefs. In 2015 the Ministry of Justice added the official JWs Russian website to the Federal List of Extremist Materials thereby making it a criminal offense to promote the website in Russia. In 2017 Russia's Supreme Court upheld the Justice Ministry's claim that JWs violated laws on "extremism" and liquidated the JW headquarters in St. Petersburg. [https://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/00currentchoices .shtml]

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