Welcome to the Centennial Meeting

of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract

Society of Pennsylvania

T ODAY, the Watch Tower

Society is known around
the world wherever the work of
In Bible times the locations of
important happenings were of-
ten marked as reminders of such
Jehovah's Witnesses is known. events and their significance.
In 205 countries people are tak- Many of the activities of Jeho-
ing in Bible instruction in some vah's Witnesses today had their
190 different languages. Their beginnings in the original class,
lives are greatly benefited from or congregation, of Bible Stu-
dissemination of Bible truths by dents here in Pittsburgh, Penn-
the Watch Tower Society. sylvania. It is thus appropriate
that the 100th anniversary of
Through the initiative and the
the Watch Tower Society be Watch Tower Building,
coordinating efforts of this So-
ciety, the work that began with held in this city, and that we use 4100 Bigelow Blvd., Pittsburgh
the opportunity to reflect on
one congregation in Allegheny,
Pennsylvania, in the 1870's has what has taken place during the
last 100 years with benefit to the
spread to 46,235 congregations
throughout the world. The So- work ahead.
ciety has worked closely with There is, indeed, much evidence
the Bible Students, now Jeho- that Jehovah has proved to be
vah's Witnesses, during times of with his people and that he has
trial and testing from within blessed and established the work
and persecution from without, of their hands-accomplished
through two world wars and by the instrumentality of the
countless local upheavals and Watch Tower Society. There-
times of trouble. It has provided fore, i n accord with the Jehovah's Witnesses Assembly Hall
continuity to the work of re- thoughts of Psalm 78:2-7, it is at Coraopolis, Pennsylvania
storing basic Bible truths in appropriate that we use this oc-
these last days. casion to relate to the newer
This annual meeting, which also generation the "praises of Jeho-
marks the 100th anniversary of vah . . . and his wonderful
the Watch Tower Society, pro- things that he has done."
vides an opportunity of review-
ing how well the Society has
fulfilled its purpose, and of
looking ahead to the work yet to
be done.

L
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984
 FWatch Tower Society
Takes Over a Work
Already Begun

T HE Watch Tower Society sociates published, in 1873, the

did not create the Bible bookiet The Objmt and Manner
Students, nor did it begin the of the Lord's Retum. Four years
work of disseminating Bible later a book was published enti-
truths and preparing men for tled Three WmlrkF or Plan of Re-
the return of Our Lord. The So- demption. In 1879 Russell, along
ciety was formed to expand the with fellow contributors, began
work already begun by Charles publishing the Wat&mer mag-
Taze Russell and his associates. azine under the tirle Zion's
As a young man Russell fol- Watch Tower and Herald of
'.'y:q--r.
lowed the command of Jesus to Christ 3 Presence. ' _ &
his followers to "keep on the This magazine was published to
watch." (Matthew 24:42) He keep to the fore the doctrine of
felt strongly that certain de- the ransom and also the bless-
nominational creeds, such as ings to come to mankind as a
predestination and eternal dam- result of it. The printing of the
nation, were contrary to G d ' s first issue was 6,000. Russell
love. pledged that, in connection
Through a search of the Scrip with the publishing of this mag-
tures, Russell and several like- azine, they would not beg for
minded friends came to un- money but depend entirely on
derstand that God purposed voluntary contributions. This
to redeem mankind from death principle was als:, applied to al1
through the ransom sacrifice of meetings, which were advertised
his only-begotten Son, Christ with the slogan "Seats Free-No
Jesus. He also came to see that Collections."
the object of the Lord's return Further nondenominational Bi-
was not to destroy but to bless ble research resulted in the pub-
al1 families of the earth by lishing of many tracts and pam-
means of God's Kingdom, and phlets, some being called Bible
that the manner of the Lord's Stzldent's Tracts, Old Theology
presence would be invisible as a Quarterb, Tabernacle Teachings,
spirit in heaven, not visible in and Food for Thinking Chris-
the flesh.-Genesis 12:3; 22: 18. tian~.More than a million cop-
To inform others of this timely ies of the last-mentioned pam-
information Russell and his as- phlet were distributed.

I WATCH TOWER Centennial

 In the beginning, messenger
boys were sometimes hired to
distribute literature, but quite
early the principle was applied
that the message be distributed
by the unpaid, voluntary efforts
of those who believed, servants
of the Lord. Already in 1881 a
cal1 was made in Zion 's Watch
Tower for volunteers, preachers.
In 1881 and 1882 it was empha-
sized in Zion's Watch Towcr that
ail believers should be preach-
ers. For example, the issue of
discussion and also have pencil
and paper for making notes.
This method of conducting
meetings continues down to the
present tirne.
It was in 1881, during the early
development of these activities,
that Zion's Watch Tower Tract
Society was formed as a non-
incorporated association, to
provide funds and direction for
expanding the preaching activi-
ty through distribution of Bible
literature. In 1884 it was decided

1,
April 1882 stated: "Al1 of Our to incorporate it under the laws
people are preachers . . . we were of the Commonwealth of Penn-
a11 given the same commission:
'Go ye into ail the world and
-
sylvania so that, as a legal
.- hstru-
ment not d-dent upon the
preach this glad tiding to every life of any individuals, it could
creature.'" In the October 1884 better carry on the work of ex-
issue the appeal was made to al1 panding distribution of Bible
believers as 'fellow preachers, literature. This was finalized by
ministers of the grace of God the Court of Common Pleas
.. ,let us make full proof of our No. 1 of Allegheny County,
ministry.' Pennsylvania, on Decembei:
So from the date of its incorpo- 13 1884.
b
ration in 1884, the Watch Tow- By that time the little congrega-
er Society was to work closely tion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva-
with the Bible Students, a true nia, had established these basic
society of ministers. principles: nondenominational
Meetings were held regularly by searching for Bible truths, dis-
these Bible Students. They were tributing such in printed form
not content to meet just once a by voluntary workers and sup-
week like many of Christen- porting this financially by vol-
dom's churchgoers. In addition untary contributions. During
.. to holding public talks on Sun- the four years the Society had
days, they met in smaller groups existed before its incorporation,

G in homes at other times during nearly 200,000,000 pages of

the week. A basic procedure was tracts, pamphlets and books had
put into operation for meetings been printed and distributed.
h t , apart from public lectures, And this was only the begin-
IIin attendance share in the ning .
FOREIGN MISSION
 Watch Tower Society
Incorporated for Dissemination
of Bible Truths

RTICLE II of the charter ness to the name, word and su-

of the Watch Tower Soci-
ety States: "The purpose for
which the corporation is formed
is, the dissemination of Bible
truths in various languages by
means of the publication of
tracts, pamphlets, papers and
other religious documents, and
by the use of al1 other lawful
premacy of Almighty God JE-
HOVAH; to print and distrib-
ute Bibles and to disseminate
Bible truths in various languages
. . . explaining Bible truths and
prophecy concerning the estab-
lishment of Jehovah's kingdom
under Christ Jesus."

! Society
Bible House, Pittsburgh
1
The first office of the Watch
means which its Board of Direc-
tors, duly constituted, shall Tower Society was in a building
at the corner of Federal and
deem expedient for the further-
Robinson Streets, Pittsburgh,
ance of the purpose stated."
Pennsylvania, the location from
The Society was not to seek fi- which Russell had earlier direct-
nancial gain but only to finance ed his chain of clothing stores.
the spreading of Bible truths.
Membership was to consist of The Watch Tower Society con-
those who personally supporteci tinued the work of exposing
this activity by their contribu- false religious creeds and estab-
tions. The Watch Tower Soci- lishing Bible truth. During a
ety would continue t o be time of growing infidelity in the
involved in the preaching world, it presented arguments
activities of the Bible Students, against the evolution teaching,
later known as Jehovah's Wit- higher criticism and any other
nesses. trend designed to .undermine
faith in the Bible.
In agreement with this principle
the charter was amended in In addition to preparing tracts,
1944 to read as follows: "The pamphlets and magazines, Rus-
purposes of this Society are: To sell authored a series of books
act as the servant of and legal on Bible truths entitled The Mil- -
world-wide governing agency lennial Dawn, later called Studies
for that body of Christian per- in the Script~res.The Society en-
sons known as Jehovah's Wit- couraged al1 the Bible Students
nesses; to preach the gospel of to share in voluntary tract dis-
God's Kingdom under Christ tribution, either on streets in
Jesus unto al1 nations as a wit- front of churches or at people's

WATCH TOWER Centennial

 homes, putting them under
the door. Full-time ministers
known as colporteurs would
spend their time calling on peo-
ple from house to house and
presenting books t o them.
However, this was no book-
selling campaign but rather a
preaching of the good news.
In discussing the work of the
colporteurs, it was stated in
Zion's Watch Tower of Decem-
ber 15, 1898: "Nor do the Col-
porteurs merely circulate the
Dawns [bound books] . . . they
. . note the interested ones and
1
al1 in the evenings and help
'hem." So the object was not
merely to sel1 books but to
rouse interest and make return
isits where possible to help in-
:dge.
By the end of the 1880's there
was a need for increased space,
so in 1889 the Watch Tower
Society moved into their newly
built, four-story brick building
it 610-14 Arch Street in Pitts-
3urgh. This building was called
:he Bible House and served as an
nternational headquarters for
;he Watch Tower Society, since
its activities were expanding to
~ t h e rcountries.
In 1909 it was decided to move
the headquarters of the Watch
Tower Society to Brooklyn,
I
.New York, which would be a
more suitable center for the ex-
pansion of the preaching work
an an international scale.
J" 1
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984
A mission structure at 13-17
Hicks Street, Brooklyn, New
York, that had been used by
the Plymouth Congregational
Church was purchased and re-
modeled so that it provided
space for offices, a shipping de-
partment and a small printery,
as well as a large meeting hall lnzricnnrar uawn series
with 800 seats on the second
floor. At nearby 122-124 Co-
lumbia Heights the former four-
story brownstone parsonage of
Henry Ward Beecher, who had
been minister for that church,
was purchased for use as resi-
dence facilities for the head-
quarters staff of 30.
For the past 75 years the Watch
Tower Society has had its world
headquarters i n Brooklyn.
ber 1919 the headquarters were
temporarily located in Pitts-
burgh on the second floor of the
Martin Building at 119 Federal
Street.) In order to hold title to
Offices anu meeting nail,
property in New York State and Brooklyn
better to administer the needs of
the growing activities from
Brooklyn, New York, an asso-
ciate corporation was formed
under New York law by the
name of People's Pulpit Associ-
ation, now the Watchtower Bi-
ble and Tract Society of New
York, Inc. This corporation co-
operates closely with the Watch
Tower Bible and Tract Society
of Pennsylvania.
First Bethe1 Home,
Brooklyn 1

I
First rotary press, "BattleshipY'
Factory complex, Adams Street
Watch Tower Society
Enters Publishing Field
F ROM 1884, the Watch
Tower Society had concen-
trated on adrninistering funds
So a small factory building on
Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn was
rented, and a used web-rotary
for expanding distribution of press was obtained (which was
Bible literature. The publishing soon named the "Battleship").
of such literature was cased for By the spring of 1920 the Soci-
by the Tower Publishing Corn- ety began to print The Watch
pany, a firm owned by Charles Towey, as well as a new magazine
Taze Russell, which also owned The Golden Age (now Awake!),
the "Bible House" on Arch that was designed to reach out to
Street, Pittsburgh. many more people with the
In April of 1898 the publishing KUigdorn message. In 1922 a
move was made to larger farili-
rights together with al1 publica-
ties at 18 Concord Street in
tions and printing materials o n
hand were donated to t h e Brooklyn. Additional equip-
ment was instalied and the Soci-
Watch Tower Society, along
ety now began to produce
with the property. In accepting
this, the Society obligated itself bound books.
to publish only materials in har- Fhe years later, in 1927, factory
mony with its stated purpose o p t i o n s were moved to even
and not to publish any other iarger facilities, a newly con-
publications involved with stmcted eight-story building, at
different religious views. 117 Adams Street in Brooklyn.
The Watch Tower Society con- * This building had b e n designed
tinued to have the printing of s p e d d y for our purposes. In
books, magazines and booklets order to provide housing for
done commercially. However, the additional workers needed,
in 1919 the Society decided to the okl buildings at 122 and
do the printing and producing 124 Columbia Heights, as well
of its literature in its own facil- as that on the newly acquired lot
ities using dedicated, voluntary, at 126 Columbia Heights, were
nonsalaried workers. Thus, it razed and a new residence build-
could continue to produce liter- ing constructed, rising seven
ature at low cost and make pos- stories above street level.
sible a greater distribution. The As the years passed, additional
New York Corporation would buildings were constructed or
care for this activity. purchased adjacent t o t h e
WATCH TOWER Centennial
I
 Adams Street factory. Later the saw the necessity of converting
building complex at 25-30 Co- to these latest processes, thus
lumbia Heights was obtained for endeavoring to solve the prob-
shipping facilities as well as ad- lems connected with producing
I ditional space for offices and magazines and other literature
storage. The most recent acqui- in many different languages. It
sitions are the factory building directed the necessary develop-
at 175 Pearl Street and the very ment and set up operations for
large building at 360 Furman computerized text entry and
1
Street. For the additional hous- page composition, phototype- World headquarters offices
ing, new buildings were con- setting- and offset printing.
-
stiucted at 107 and 119 Co-
The Society now has the capa-
lumbia Heights, and later the
bility of processing and produc-
Towers Hotel was purchased
ing literature in some 190
and converted into a suitable
I residence building. languages. At present, Society-
designed computer entry and
Up at Wallkill, New York, the composing equipment is being
Society obtained sizable farms, used in 20 different countries.
and eventually built large resi- There are now a total of 14
dence buildings there as well as high-speed web-rotary offset
factory and office facilities. presses printing publications in
Production of al1 forms of Bible Brooklyn and at Watchtower
literature continued to grow to Farms, and 25 in 18 other
meet increasing needs around branches. Al1 these presses, plus
the world. Eventually the Soci- a number of sheet-fed offset
ety had in use nearly 70 web- presses, are used in furthering
rotary presses: 40 in Brooklyn, the purpose of disseminatiq Bi-
13 a t - ~ a t c h t o w eFarms
r and 18 ble truths by means of the print-
others in nine countries around ed page.
the world. In addition, many Al1 of this, together with build-
flatbed presses were producing ing up qualified translating de-
publications in other countries. partments in many lands, has
By the late 1970's the entire provided the capability of pub-
publishing industry had gone lishing The Watchtower simul-
MEPS computer and
composing terminal I
over to the more modern com- taneously around the world.
puter processing of text, photo- With the January 1,1985, issue,
typesetting and offset printing. The Watchtower will publish the
In order to continue to produce same articles simultaneously in
Bible literature to meet the English and in 21 other lan-
growing needs in the preaching guages.
of the good news of the King-
,the Watch Tower Society ,
Web-rotary offset press

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984

Watch Tower Society
Pushes Bible Production
and Distribution
N addition to publishing ex- The most extensive project has
planations of Bible truths, been the result of very close
the Society has accomplished a cooperation between the Watch
significant work in producing Tower Society and the group of
and distributing Bibles. anointed Witnesses making up
the New World Bible Transla-
In 1896 it published in English
tion Cornmittee. Thus:
The New Testament, by Rother-
ham, 12th edition. In 1950, the Society released in
modern English the first volume
In 1901 it published the Ho1
3f the New World Translation,
man Linear Bible with the Soci-
the Christian Greek Scriptures.
ety's own marginal notes.
By 1960 five volumes of the
In 1902 it became the copyright Hebrew Scriptures were com-
owner of the Greek-English in- pleted thus making a series of six
terlinear edition of the C G - volumes altogether. In 1961 the
tian Greek Scriptures entitled New World Translation of the
The Emphatic Diaglott, by Ben- HoIy Srriptures was published in
jamin Wilson. one volume.
In 1907 it published and circu- In 1969 the Society published
lated extensively the Bible Stu- Tbe Kingdom Interlinear Trans-
dents Edition of the King James lation of the Greek Scripttlres,
Version, which contained 500 which presented under the
pages of appendix material pre Greek text by Westcott and
pared by the brothers. - HOI a literal word-for-word
By 1942 the Society was doing transiation into English.
its own printing and produced In 1971 a revised edition of the
on its own presses copies of the New World Translation was pro-
King James Version with margin- duced in larger print with foot-
al references and a concordance notes and an appendix.
prepared by brothers. In 1984 there was released the
In 1944 it printed the American New World Translation Refer-
Standard Version of 1901 featur- ence Bible, containing extensive
ing the divine name, Jehovah. marginal and footnote refer-
In 1972 it published Byington's ences, a word index and appen-
dix material.
The Bible in Living English also
featuring the name Jehovah. And the Society has just recent-

WATCH TOWER Centennial

 ly produced the regular-size edi- persona1 instruction in the Bible
tion of the New World Transla- for al1 who wish to have it and
tion of the Holy Scriptures with this without any payment what-
marginal references. soever. As stated in its charter:
The Society is continuing its in-"The purposes of this Society
terest in Bible publication and .
are . . to authorize and appoint
distribution. Already work is be-agents, servants, employees, CC-

ing done to produce a small teachers, instructors, evange-

pocket Bible, which bas k e n lists, missionaries and ministers
the desire of many of Jehovah's to go forth to al1 the world
Witnesses. In addition, for ail pUblicly and from house to
those with limited e ~ e s i g h t
house to preach and teach Bible
work is ~roceedingon a truly

I--
truths to persons willing to lis-
large-~rintedition of the New ten by leaving with such persons
World Translation in four vol- said literature and by conduct-
ing Bible studies thereon; to im-
The Society has published t+e PrOve men, men and chil-
New World Translation of 'fhe dren mentall~and morally by
~~l~ Scriptures in ~ ~ t Christian~ h , ministry work and by
French, German, Italian, Japa- charitable and benevolent in-
nese, Portuguese and Spanish, struction of the people on the
and additional languages are on Bible and incidental subjects."
the way. It has published the
Christian Greek Scriptures in
Danish, Finnish and Swedish;
additional language translations

So during the past 34 years the

Watch Tower Society has pub-
lished the New World Transla-
tion, in part or in its entirety, in
ten additional languages, with
total printing and distribution
surpassing 40 million copies.
But with al1 its effort in the area
of Bible production and distri-
bution, the Watch Tower Soci-
ety still puts its greatest effort
'
into the publication and distri-
,bation of printed explanations
qf Bible truths. It also provides

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984

 F
Watch Tower Society
Expands Preaching
Internationally

F ROM its start the Watch

Tower Society purposed
the "dissemination of Bible
Watch Tower for July 1891, was
to consider "what can be done
to forward the spread of the
,

truths in various languages." Al- Tmth among the people of for-

ready when it was first formed eign countries."
(not yet incorporated) in 1881, This trip convinced Russell that
it began to set up funds to pro- he should push for completion
vide for the publishing and dis- of the French translation of the
tribution of Bible literature in fim volume of the Millennial
languages other than English. Dawz series, as well as transla-
In 1881 two associates o f tions of these books for the
Charles Taze Russell traveled to Swedes, Norwegians and Danes.
England to arrange for the dis- During the 1890's the message
tribution of the pamphlet F d had spread to many countries of
for Thinking Christians. The Europe, with publication of'lit-
year before this the work had erature in several languages.
already spread to Canada. A branch of the Watch Tower
In the early 1880's the Watch Society was established in Brit-
Tower magazine mentioned the ain in the year 1900. Other
need for publications to aid branches were established in
Swedish-speaking and German- Germany in 1903 and in Austra-
speaking people in the United lia in 1904. In The Watch Tower
States. Swedish literature be- of March 1, 1904, this notice
came available in 1883. By 1885 appeared on page two: "This
some German literature was j ~ u r n a l is published in the
available, and there was a re- French, German, Swedish, Dan-
quest for translations into Nor- ish and Italian languages."
Bethe1 home, Japan branch I wegian. In order to study how to expand
In 1891 Russell and some com- further the preaching of the
panions began a tour of Ireland, good news on a worldwide basis,
Britain, Denmark, Germany, Russell and six brothers made
Austria, Russia, Turkey, Greece, a tour around the world in
Palestine, Egypt, Italy, Switzer- 1911-12. Upon their return, ar-
land, France, Belgium and the rangements were made to pro-
Netherlands. One purpose of duce literature in the six princi-
this trip, as stated in Zion's pal languages of India as well as

WATCH TOWER Centennial

I
 in Chinese and Japanese. In con- In 1943 the Watchtower Bible
trast with the varied missionary School of Gilead was started for
activity of Christendom, these the purpose of training full-time
brothers concluded: "We know missionaries to expand the
nothing to suggest, except that preaching work into al1 the
the true Gospel of salvation be earth.-Matthew 28: 19,20.
preached-the Gospel of the
Kingdom of Messiah. "-Mat-
Today the work of the Watch
Tower Society is being adminis-
Branch in South Africa
I
thew 24: 14.
tered through 95 branch offices
In 1914 the second cooperating around the world, with the co-
corporation, the International operation of the 70 associated
Bible Students Association, was corporations or associations,
formed, this time to hold prop- and is conducted on a global
erty and carry forward the pub- scale in 205 lands.
lishing and distribution of Bible
literature throughout the Brit-
ish Commonwealth of Nations,
View of Spain branch -p

I
under the direction of the
Watch Tower Society.
At present, some 70 legally
formed corporations and associ-
atioi~sare carrying forward the
purposes of the Watch Tower
Society in many countries
around the world. Al1 are serv-
ing the same purpose, the ad-
Branch home, offices and factory, Australia
I
vancement of the preaching of
God's Kingdom to al1 peoples as
man's only hope.
Al1 these corporations are phil-
anthropic, being supported by
voluntary contributions and the
services of voluntary workers.
The principle on which the Administrative building, Germany branch
Watch Tower Society operates
is that nobody associated with it
receives a salary or has financial
gain but receives only room and
board and a small allowance to
cover basic needs. This principle
has been followed by those asso-
ciated with al1 these societies.
Bethe1 home, Canada branch 1

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984

L'
 Watch Tower Society
and Congregation
Meetings
A LREADY in the 1870's the
Bible Students saw the
need t0 'Orne and
strengthen One in the
spirit of Hebrews 10:25. In the
Watch Tower of May 1880 this
observation was made: "Our
readers are scattered3 'Orne
places and 3, and On P'
Many phces they are tOtaUyup
acquainted with each 'thers
thus lose the 'ympathy and
comfort which Our Father de-
signed should come to them by
'the assembling of themselves
together as the mannu of 'Orne
is.' It is His design that we
should 'edify one another,' and
build each other up in the most
h o l ~faith.'-Hebrews
24, 25.
Then Charles Taze Russell pro-
posed that he make a tour of
certain cities in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, New York and Mas-
sachusetts, to gather together
the readers in various towns so
that they could become ac-
quainted with one another and
arrange to meet regularly.
II
Jamestown, Kansas By this time there were about 30
classes, as congregations or
groups were called, located in
these states as well as Delaware,
Ohio and Michigan. Brother
Russell made regular visits to
these, and at each place many
Long Beach, California
hours were devoted to intensive
Bible discussion.
Further encouragement for
Watch Tower readers to rneet to-
ge*er vas given in the April
1881 issue: uWe desire to make
a for ofice of
A r e our readers hold regular
rn&ings and services of any
W, whether in churches, halls
orprivate homes . If you have
m gathering of this sort, let me
,
-mmend you to establish one
yoUI own home with your
gmfamily, or even a few that
interestedaRead, study,
wre
q and worship together,
two or three are met
the Lord will be in
,y teacher. Such
was die character of some of the
meetings of the church in the
days of the Apostles." Contin-
ued encouragement was given to
r& of the Watch Tower to
meet together regularly.
The Bibk Students in Pitts-
burgh iestablished the pattern of
meetiag rogether two and even-
t d y three times a week. Meet-
1
ings on Sunday were public lec-
tures heM in a rented hall, such
as the Curry Institute Hall on
the corner of Penn Avenue and
6th Street in Pittsburgh. Apart
from the lectures on Sundays,
meetings were held in private
WATCH TOWER Centennial
 Some Kingdom Halls

I homes-in the beginning at the

home of the father of Charles
Russell, J. L. Russell, 80 Cedar
Avenue, Allegheny City. These
came to be called cottage meet-
ciety introduced a unifying fea-
ture with regard to meeting halls
of Jehovah's people. In 1935
arrangements were made to con-
stmct a meeting hall in connec-
ings. tion with the new branch build-
Group meetings i n private ing being erected in Honolulu,
homes on Wednesdays consist- Hawaii. The president of
ed of Prayer, Praise and Testi- the Watch Tower Society,
mony Meetings, which have J. F. Rutherford, was visiting
developed into Our Service there, and it had been decided to
Meetings of today. Later they cal1 the meeting hall "Kingdom
also arranged "Dawn Circles" Hall" so as to keep God's King-
on Friday evenings where they dom to the fore. From that time
studied from the early books of on Jehovah's Witnesses the
the Society called MiIlennial world over have called their
congregational meeting centers Japa:
Dawn series. At these home i
meetings al1 in attendance were Kingdom Halls.
encouraged to share in the dis- Today, there are thousands of
cussion by giving comments. these Kingdom Halls around the
Meetings also included prayers world, built by voluntary work-
and the singing of hymns. ers of Jehovah's Witnesses and
As groups increased in size var- financed by voluntary contribu-
ious meeting halls were rent- tions. These halls are not ornate,
ed, sometimes even available churchlike buildings, but rather
church buildings being used. modest meeting halls with com-
However, whatever halls were fortable seating, good lighting Dominican RepubIic - -7
used were n o t considered and ventilation, suitable for
churches but meeting halls for gatherings of people to receive
presenting talks and other forms Bible instruction. In recent
of Bible instruction. Sometimes years, by means of good organi-
suitable buildings were pur- zation and cooperation, Jeho-
chased by the Bible Students lo- vah's Witnesses have in some
cally, but generally the halls instances built such a meeting
were rented, some on a perma- hall on a two-day weekend.
nent basis. Various names were Though property and building
given to these, such as a local costs have skyrocketed, the
designation followed by the building of needed meeting halls
word "Tabernacle," for example in the United States and Canada
"Brooklyn Tabernacle," "Lon- is now being aided by a special
don Tabernacle. " building fund administered by
However, the Watch Tower So- the Watch Tower Society.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984

Watch Tower Societ

Conventions

OR years the first conven-

tions were held when Bible
Students in Pittsburgh invited
other Watch Tower readers to
have fellowship wi&, them in
the spring in conneaion with
observing the Mernorial of
Christ's death. Special train
fares were arranged, and local
Bible Students themselva pro-
vided lodging and me& for the
visitors. As the number grew,
needed rooming accommoda-
tions and meals were arranged at
very reasonable rates.
These conventions were encour-
aging periods of spiritual re-
freshment, intensive Bible in-
eruction being provided for
several days. They contimied to
grow in size until in 1892 a total
of about 400 met together from
20 different staies and a prov-
ince of Canada. In 1893 it was
decided to hold a national con-
vention on August 20-24, in '

Chicago, Illinois, at the same

time that the Columbian Expo-
sition, or world's fair, was
scheduled. Reduced rail fares
were available then.
The Chicago program pattern
of morning and afternoon meet-
ings, with discourses and an-
swering of Bible questions, is
still basically being followed. A
total of 360 attended and 70
were baptized. Baptism by total
immersion had become a regular
feature at conventions.
After the turn of the century
the Society began to arrange for
several conventions around the
country to serve the needs of
the growing number of Bible
Students. These were served by
Russell, who traveled from city
to city in a special railroad car.
Later it was arranged for a larger
number of brothers to accompa-
ny Brother Russell to these con-
ventions on a special train and
these participated in convention
publicity. A great public witness New J*i
New Y*,
was given by these conventions fQSt
through the years, and al1 the
brothers were built up and
greatly strengthened.
Charles Taze Russell died on
October 31, 1916, and was suc-
ceeded as president o f the
Watch Tower Society by Joseph
Franklin Rutherford of Mis-
souri. During the following
years the Bible Students were
severely tested by persecution,
including the wrongful impris-
onment of eight responsible
brothers associated with the So-
ciety.
By 1919 these brothers had been
-
released and a convention was I Polo Grounds
scheduled for Cedar Point,
Ohio, September 1-7, 1919.
Over 6,000 brothers assembled,
and the convention proved to
be a great occasion for strength-
ening and encouragement.
Those in attendance were re-
 Y

minded of their obligation to Washington, D.C., in 1935, the In 1950, 1953 and 1958 the So-
announce the incoming glori- witnesses cried for joy to learn ciety arranged for large interna-
ous Kingdom of Messiah. that the "great crowd" men- tiond conventions, al1 held at
Another convention was held at tioned at Revelation chapter 7 New York's Yankee Stadium.
Cedar Point, Ohio, September was a class to be gathered out The Polo Gsounds stadium was
5-13, 19L2. At this from the old world now, to sur- alm i n c 1 u ~ i 1958.
o The num-
Rutherford, president of vive the great tribulation and to ber in attemhpce grew from
the society, boldly exposed the gain everlasting life on earth. 123,707 in-lWto 253,922 in
recently established League of In 1942, 51 convention cities
Nations as a human scheme were tied in with the key city of
doomed to failure and urged al1 Cleveland, Ohio, at a time when
to put their trust in G o ~ ' sKing- it rnight seem that World War II cOuntrier
dom in the hands of the invisi- would climax in ~ ~ ~ a ~ ~wasd67 in
dance ~O, ~but .123
d &@
ble reigning King from heaven, However the thrilling talk, in 1958.
Christ Jesus. He urged al1 to "Peace-Can It Last?" given by The purpose of af8i & s e con-
"advertise, advertise, advertise, the Watch Tower Society's ventions has been tw-gthen
the King and his kingdom." third president, Nathan Jehovah's people, trâWtPlem in
The of annual conven- H.Knorr, pointed forward to a organization and expasid the
tiens held from 1922 throu& postwar period of comparative public preaching. The pttern
19-28 gave great impetus to the peace and increased activity for of the program and organiza-
preaching work, and resulted in Jehovah's Witnesses. tion of these conventions was
seven striking resolutions ex- l-he international at followed in other countries.
pressing Gad's judgment Cleveland, Ohio, in 1946, em- Arranging afinternationaf series
against Christen- phasized the evidence of expan- of conven.tions, where delegates
and this world. of sion of Bible education on al1 from m a ~ yrountries travel
these were continents. At this time the from one -vention to anoth-
throughout Christendom. Consoiation magazine, which er, has dso <&en featured. Be-
At Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, had previously succeeded The gin& h fiiY51, &se interna-
the long-remembered feature of Golden Age, was replaced by t i o d convention series have
the convention was the enthu- Awake! to awaken people fur- been W every few years and
siastic adopting of the new ther to the significance of the havpserved greatly to strength-
name "Jehovah's Witnesses." At times in which we are living. en the understanding and the
unity of God's people al1 around
the earth.
Al1 these conventions have been
arranged under the supervision
of the Pennsylvania Watch
Tower Society, and the work of

-
operating these conventions is
done by voluntary, non-salaried
workers and supported by vol-
untary contributions.
--_-_--- - istrictConv~---_--,
Diego, California, 1984

WATCH TOWER Centennial

Watch Tower Society Scriptures, completed in 1960,
the name ~ehovahappears 6,973
Makes Jehovah's Name Known times, in every place where the
Hebrew tetragrammaton (;rl;r7)
occurs in the original text.

w HAT really motivated ing with the prophecy of Eze-

the organizer of the kiel, which prophecy gave
Watch Tower Society, Charles prominence to Jehovah's name.
Then in 1961 the Society pub-
lished the book "Let Your Name
Be Sanctzjied, "containing exten-
Taze Russell? It was his realiza- Further attention to this was sive information about Jeho-
tion that church dogmas of pre- given in a book published in vah's name as used in the Bible
destination and eternal damna- 1934 with the title Jehovah. Ar- and the importance of making
tion were contrary to the Bible's ticles in The Watchtower contin-
known that name. Again, in
teaching of God's love. When ued to magnify Jehovah's name
1971, the Society published the
he saw this, he determined to and the need for it to be sancti-
book entitled "TheNations Shall
preach the truths about God's fied before ail nations.
Know That Z A m Jehovah"
loving purposes toward man- In harrnony with this the Penn-
kind far and wide. -How?, which presented fur-
sylvania Watch Tower Society ther information on Jehovah's
From their continuing study of decided in 1944 to amend its name and purpose from the
the Scriptures, he and bis asso- charter, Article II, to include as
prophecy of Ezekiel.
ciates came to have greater ap- its ppurpose the following: "to
preciation for God, his name preach the gospel of God's king- This year (1984), at the "King-
and his four attributes of power, dom under Christ Jesus unto al1 dom Increase" District Conven-
wisdom, justice and love. Ap- nations as a witness to the name, tions, the Society released a
propriately, Jehovah's name was word and supremacy of Al- 32-page brochure entitled The
used in the Three Worlds (pub- mighty God JEHOVAH."
.A
Divine Name That Will Endure
lished in 1876), as well as in the The name JehoVA was restored Forever, dealing specificallywith
second issue of The Watch Tow- to its proper place in the Bible Jehovah's name. The Watch
er, and it was further explained text 237 times the New World Tower Society, with al1 its inter-
in the July and August issues of Translation of the Christian national publishing resources,
1882. Greek Scriptures, published in will continue to make known
Through the years Jehovahjs 1950. Throughout the New Jehovah's name and purpose to
name has been kept to the fore World Translation of the Hebrew the nations.-Psalm 83:18.
in the publications of the Soci-
ety, and its use has intensified,
especially after the Bible Stu-
dents around the world adopted
the name "Jehovah's Witnesses"
in 1931.
In 1931 and 1932 a series of .
three books entitled Vindication
1, II and III, was published, deal-

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984

 Watch Tower Society
Expands Education

NE of the expressed pur- al1 mdes associated with the

poses of the Watch Tow- congregatim as an encourage-
er Society is "to improve men, ment and assisamce to them to
women and children mentally study and trab h e l v e s to be
and morally by Christian mis-
sionary work and by charitable
and benevolent instruction of
the people on the Bible and in-
cidental, scientific, historical Prophets," wi& a m l 1 text-
and literary subjects; to estab- book by that &*,an effort
lish and maintain private Bible to provide specdisq&,pining
., Princi al textbooks used in Theocratic
hinistry School, 1943-1984 schools and classes for gratui- in speaking. .-
tous instruction of men and
women in the Bible, Bible liter-
ature and Bible history."
Even before the Society was
founded, the Bible Students in
Pittsburgh had set a pattern for
such instruction at Christian
meetings. The first national
convention outside of Pitts- speaker5Fp& on the platform
burgh, namely the one in Chi- and se-f to house. There
cago, Illinois, in 1893, included was &qy+ction in the use of
a special school for full-time vario+pJe translations, Bible
colporteur ministers. Many c o n ~ c e ands dictionaries,
times readers of The Watchtower and a study of Bible history.
were encouraged to qualify This Theocratic Ministry
themselves for giving public S & d was put into operation
talks and Bible instruction to in dl congregations in June
larger groups. 1943and continues to this time,
training ministers worldwide.
One effort was made through
what was called the V. D. M. ar- Then, on February 1, 1943,
rangement. These initials repre- Brother Knorr, as president of
sented Verbi Dei Minister, or t,he Society, inaugurated the
Minister of the Word of God. first class of the Watchtower
The program consisted of a Bible School of Gilead in a
questionnaire made available to building located on Kingdom
,., ,.,,,.,am, Brooklyn,
New York, 1984
f

WATCH TOWER Centennial

Farm, near South Lansing, New
York. This was a school for the
special training of full-time
ministers t0 qualify them t0
travel to foreign cOuntries as
miüionaries and expand Bible
education in those countries.
Two classes of about a hundred
students completed the course
each year. In 1960 the school
was moved to facilities at the
Society's Brooklyn world head-
During the past 41 years the
Watchtower Bible School of
Gilead has conducted 77 classes
and sent out more than 6,000
rnissionaries trained to teach
people the Bible. Under the su-
pervision of the Watch Tower
Society, these missionaries have
spearheaded the expansion of
~ i b education
l ~ throughout
Central and South America, the
Orient, the South Pacific and
Africa, and have accomplished
n ~ u c hin Europe. Some exam-
pies of the results of their work
can be seen below:
When Gilead School started in
1943 there were 126,329 pub-
lishers in 54 lands. Today there
are over 2,600,000 publishers in
When Gilead graduates were
first sent to Mexico in 1944
there were 2,545 publishers. To-
day there are over 150,000.
Gilead missionaries were sent to
Brazil in 1945, when there were
394 publishers reporting in that
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984
land. Today there are more than
159,000.
In Argentins there were 790
publiShers back in 1947
Gilead missionaries first arrivedo
Kingdom Ministry School
Today there are over 49,000.
SO as to equip over~.eersto Pro-
vide better spirituai supervision
in congregations, the Watch
Tower Society in 1959 prepared
and ~ u ~ e m i s ethe
d conducting
of Kingdom Ministry Schools
in al1 countries. Updated re-
fresher courses are provided
from tirne to tirne.
FolIowing the Pattern of the in-
struction for colporteurs that
WaS arraflgd back in l8939 the
Watch Tower Society operates
arOund the world Pioneer Ser-
vice S c h ~ l Sfor the training of
full-time pioneer ministers.
In order to help many illiterate
people to take in Bible knowl-
edge effectively, the Society has
set up reading classes in a num-
ber of countries and taught
thousands upon thousands to
read and write-
In harmony with the charter of
the Watch Tower Society,
this instruction has been given
without charge.

1 in the Courts
1 THE
"Through almost constant lit-
igation [Jehovah's Witnesses
have] made possible an ever-
increasing list of precedents
concerning the application of
the Fourteenth Amendment
to freedom of speech and re-
ligion . . . And so, a body of
precedent crystallizing rules
regarding the limits of en-
croachments by the States has
been developing. To this de-
velopment Jehovah's Witness-
es have contributed the most,
both in quantity and in sig-
ni ficance. "-Bill of Rigbts Re-
oiew, The American Bar Asso-
ciation, 1942
"It is plain that present con-
stitutional guarantees of per-
sonal liberty, as authoritative-
ly interpreted by the United
States Supreme Court, are far
broader than they were before
the spring of 1938; and that
most of this enlargement is to
be found in the thirty-one
Jehovah's Witnesses cases
(sixteen deciding opinions)
of which Love11 v . C i 9 of
GrzJEn was the first."-Judge
E. F. Waite, Minnesota Law
Review, 1944
Watch Tower Society
Defends the Good News
1
preaching of the good Bible literature on the streets
news has resulted in oppo-
sition today as in the days of the
and from house to house. In
1933 throughout the United
~1
apostles. As far back as 1889, States there were 268 arrests, but
and again in 1910, the Society by 1936 the annual number of
found it necessary to advise the arrests had grown to 1,149.
Bible Students of their legal
right to distribute Bible litera-
In addition, from 1940 to 1944
ture, while at the same time it there were 2,500 incidents of
encouraged them to be consid- mob action in 44 States, requir-
erate of others. ing legal efforts to have offend-
ers punished and thereby re-
During World War 1, opposi- strained from their lawlessness.
l
tion to the activities of the Bible
Students led to the banning of If Jehovab's Witnesses had been
the Watch Tower Society's affil- required to fight for their rights
iate society in Canada, and in on an individual local basis
the United States to the impris- alone, they would have found it
oning on false charges of eight difficult or impossible to get
prominent CO-workers of the qualified legal assistance. Even
Pennsylvania Watch Tower So- when available it was often pro-
ciety, including its president, hibitively expensive. The presi-
Joseph F. Rutherford. Persistent dent o f the Society, Joseph
legal action on the part of asso- F. Rutherford, a lawyer himself,
ciates outside of prison eventu- had the Society set up a legal
ally led to their release and to office to provide assistance and
their complete exoneration fünds, and to coordinate the
from al1 charges. efforts of Jehovah's Witnesses
in the fight for their constitu-
During the 1930's persecution
tional rights through the courts.
of Jehovah's Witnesses mush-
roomed again in the United An effort was made to get the
States, especially arising from cases out of the lower courts and
laws requiring the compulsory into higher courts so that a bul-
flag salute by children i n wark of favorable decisions
schools, and also laws that could be established that would
would tax, restrict or prohibit stem this interference with Our
outright the preaching of the work. So it was decided that
Bible and the distributing of these laws would be challenged,
 either because they were being
applied contrary to the constitu-
tion or because they were in
themselves unconstitutional. If
the lower courts ruled against
them, the Witnesses would pay
no fines but would go to jail
instead. They would keep ap-
~ealingthe cases as high up in
the court system as possible in
order to get precedent decisions.
The Society's legal office, in co-
operation with lawyers around
the country, took up the fight
for freedom of speech and free-
dom of worship. Al1 congrega-
tions were supplied with avail-
able court decisions as well as
legal advice on how to deal with
police officers, how to plead and
how to conduct themselves in
court. These matters were re-
hearsed over and over again at
Service Meetings. Some local
officials would even cornplain
that the Witnesses knew more
about the law than they them-
selves did.
From 1935 to 1950 there were
some 10,000 arrests and 190 cas-
es taken up on appeal. There
were 28 different kinds of laws
in hundreds of towns that were
rendered invalid, and a total of
150 state supreme court cases
were won. By 1955 the United
States Supreme Court had de-
cided 50 cases involving Jeho-
vah's Witnesses, resulting in 23
favorable decisions involving 37
cases and 10 unfavorable deci-
sions involving 13 cases. O n
I Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984
two occasions the Supreme
Court reversed itself in favor of "A state may not impose a
Jehovah's Witnesses. charge for the enjoyment of
While attention has been given a right granted by the feder-
to the significance of the battle al constitution. ... The pow-
in the courts, acknowledgment er to impose a license tax on
must be given to the front-line the exercise of these freedoms
fighters, al1 those of Jehovah's is indeed as potent as the
Witnesses who continued to ex- power of censorship which
ercise their rights of freedom of this Court has repeatedly
religion and freedom of the s t r u c k down."-U.S. Su-
press, who put up with being preme Court, Murdock v.
arrested and spending time in Pennsylvania
the courts and in jails so that
these issues could be tested in
the higher courts.
"Freedom to distribute infor-
The Society's legai office contin- mation to every citizen wher-
ues to coordinate activities
ever he desires to receive it is
around the country in defense so clearly vital to the preser-
of the constitutional right to
vation of a free Society that,
preach the good news from putting aside reasonable po-
house to house. In addition,
lice and health regulations
there have been many cases in- of time and manner of distri-
volving rights to build King-
b u t i o n , it m u s t be fully
dom Halls and Assembly Halls. preserved."-U.S. Supreme
Through the years the Society's Court, Martin v. City of
legal office has also rendered as- Strictbers
sistance to many other branches
around the world, resulting in
the lifting of bans and also legal-
ly establishing the work of
preaching. At present there are
about 40 countries where the
Watch Tower Society's activi-
ties are restricted and the work
of Jehovah's Witnesses has been
driven underground, but the
preaching of the good news con-
-
tinues.
Some legal advice provided for
Jehovah's Witnesses
 Society Uses Many
to Expand Preachi

Photo-Drama projection system

T HE Watch Tower Society The Photo-Drama presented the
was chartered primarily to explanation of Bible truth from
make extensive use of the priùt- the tirne of creation, the fa11
ed page, but it was also to make into sin, the promises of God to
P use of "al1 other lawful means" redeem man and His dealings
that the directors would deem through history until the mil-
expedient. lennial restitution. It is believed
In addition to using its own to have been viewed by more
publications, the Society ar- than 9,000,000 people through-
ranged to have sermons of oat North Arnerica and Europe,
Charles Taze Russell published as wgïl ;ls many others in places
in newspapers. In cooperation aiagnqd. the world. It took two
with the Society a syndicate of @e& d 5300,000 to complete
brothers was formed that reg* -y of the scenes
larly supplied Brother Russell's &ed. Yet admis-
sermons to many newspapers ~ - ~ a a
s dr no. collections
~ ~
throughout the United States, were takeh.
Canada and Europe. Accordmg By 1922 radio stations were be-
to The Watch Tower of Decem- ginning to broadcast daily. That
ber 1, 1916, "More than 2,000 year the president of the Watch
newspapers, with a combined Tower Society, Joseph F. Ruth-
circulation of fifteen million erford, began to make use of the
readers, at one time published radio to spread the truth, the
his discourses. " first broadcast lecture being
Other means of reaching the "Millions Now Living Will
people were used. In 1912 work Never Die." In February of
was begun on what has been 1924 the Watch Tower Society
called "the first epic motion pic- began operating its own radio
ture." This was the "Photo- station, WBBR, on Staten Is-
Drama of Creation." It ap- land, New York. Its broadcasts
peared 13 years before other were devoted exclusively to Bi-
sound pictures were produced, ble, and Bible-related, subjects.
and offered a combination of Soon other stations were used to
motion and still pictures syn- spread Bible truths. By 1933 the
chronized with a recorded lec- Society's president was Iikelv -----

J. F. Rutherford broadcasting
I ture. It was presented in a series the beit known speaker on ri-
of four two-hour sessions. dio. Now 408 stations werp ka-
from WBBR

WATCH TOWER Centennial

 ing used to carry the truth to use on 19,600 sound machines,
six continents-including the reaching out to 13,070,426 lis-
countries of Argentina, Austra- teners.
lia, Canada, China, Cuba, However, for the last 40 years
France, South Africa, Estonia, the greatest emphasis has been
Uruguay, Alaska, Hawaii, Phil- placed on the personal ministry,
ippines as well as the United with each one of Jehovah's Wit-
States. In that year, 23,783 Bible nesses being qualified to witness
talks were transmitted. Phonographs used in
directly to people at their homes house-to-house ministry
However, religious opposition and on the streets. A limited use
increased, and this had great in- has been made of movie and
fluence on broadcasting sta- slide presentations in recent
tions, making continued effec- years, but the persona1 ministry
'
tive use of radio broadcasting is what has been emphasized.
nearly impossible. Finally, the In order to bring Bible truths to
Society voluntarily withdrew its those who are b h d or who have
general use of the radio, though very poor eyesight, the Watch
WBBR continued its broadcast- Tower Society has set up a
ing of the truth in the New Braille department that regular-
York City area. Throughout its ly produces Be Watchtower in Sound cars send out public
message
35 years of radio broadcasting Braille. There has also been pro-
the Society never once solicited duced a Braille edition of the
donations. New WmId Translation of the
The 1930's witnessed other Christian Gseek Scriptures, as
means used to spread the King- well as a nurnber of books deal-
dom message. Portable electrical ing with Bible subjects. In addi-
transcription machines were de- tion, a large-print edition of the
veloped to reproduce radio- study articles of The Watchtower
. broadcast recordings at public is published.
and private gatherings. Sound Since 1978 the Watch Tower
cars were used to send forth the Society made use of yet another The Kingdom message
in Braille
Kingdom truth along the streets technological advance to spread
and in public places. And, final- Bible knowledge-tape record-
ly, lightweight, portable phono- ings and cassettes. The Society
graphs were developed to play operates a recording studio and
specially produced 4 1/2 minute has set up tape duplication de-
recorded Bible lectures, and partments in Brooklyn and oth-
these were used by the Witness- er countries, and to date these
es in their house-to-house visits. have produced over 18 million
Reports show that in 1938 there cassettes containing recordings
were a total of 430,000 discs of the Bible and books explain-
with lectures in 16 languages in ing Bible teachings.
Cassette recordings spread
Bible knowledge

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1984

 Watch Tower Society
1s Accomplishing Its Purpose

HE Watch Tower %b%

printed page. Has it carr

lets, magazines, books a

bles that have been pub
and distributed.

Society has maintained an

erated in Brooklyn and th
95 branches around the

the needs connected

rhood o f more than

it has worked to suppo~t*
preaching of the good
has been interested in
up people spiritually.
000 active Witnesses of
ah. There were about
,000 in attendance at the
Mefiorial of Christ's death in
1984 and who are showing in-
terest in God's promises.

1879-1918 419,194,085 (Mags, iqcl ) 10,150,665 429,344,750

1919-1983 2,364,604,245 5,514,682,225 508,660,881 8,387,947,351

TOTALS 2,783,798,330 5,514,682,225 518,811,546 8,817,292,101

The book
to Etern
copie!

WATCH TOWER Centennial

So whereas we have witnessed a
remarkable advancement of
technology of every sort in the
world, the Watch Tower Soci-
ety and al1 associated with it
have freely made use of such
technology to build up the spir-
itual lives of people and to help
men, women and children to
cultivate the fruitage of the spir-
it: love, joy, peace, long-
suffering, kindness, goodness,
faith, mildness, self-control.
-Galatians 5:22,23.
These people are known world-
wide for their high moral stan-
dards, their honesty and truth-
fulness, their respect for and
obedience to the laws of the
land where they reside. Truth-
fully it can be said that the
Watch Tower Society is carry-
ing out its purpose: "to improve
men, women and children men-
tally and morally by Christian
missionary work and by charita-
ble and benevolent instruction
of people on the Bible and inci-
dental scientific, historical and
literary subjects."

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Octqber 6, 1984

Faithfulness to Its Purpose
Ensured by Faithful Men

A CORPORATION is only
a legal instrument, and
what it accomplishes wiil be de-
termined by those persons 7Kho
support it and those who s k
in managing its affairs. When
the Watch Tower Society ,?
incorporated, voting rnembey
ship was opened to anyone m ' h e r shall be prominent char-
had contributed at least $119&
the funds of the Society.
idea was to limit the mendm4
ship to those who had a gen
interest in advancing the p
pose of the Society and who
1 any other publica-
vised the editorial committee of
the Watch Tower that would
continue the work following his
death that if it was necessary to
d e c t any replacements, "purity
of Me, clearness in the truth,
d foi God, love for the breth-
m~and faithfulness to the Re-
aekristics of the one elected."
h h e r urged that neither
. nor members of the
' ommittee be con-
rnanner or degree.

d3 &-a
no interest in persona1 gain. SA& :"As for com-
When selecting traveling r I think it wise to
sentatives (Pilgrims) for the e Society's course of
ciety the qualifications M.. respect to salaries
looked for in these men, - 7- none be paid; that mere-
lined in Zion's Watch F@ .#y rasonable expenses be al-
(September 1, 1894), .&r&{ Gwed [food, shelter and a mod-
9
"unexceptional character, erate allowance] to those who
f .-
ished with the truth; of ni&& serve the Society or its work in
ness-that they might nût any manner." These provisions
puffed up and thus be iajwmd were to ensure that only men of
themselves, while seeking - devotion to the Lord and the
help you; of clear concepticma& purposes of the Society would
the Lord's great plan and eL , #haveinfluence on the Society's
imbued with its spirit; . . operation.
known fi de lit^ '0 the T~ ensure that the rnembers of
of mind whO seek to this corpontjon be men devat-
preach themselvesy but cd to the purpose of the Watch
-net to air their Own hion'- Tower Society, Article V of its
edge, but Word in its sirn- ,..brter was dmended in 1944 to
plicity and power." state: "Its mernbers shall be only
Charles Taze Russell also ad- men who are mature, active and

WATCH TOWER Centennial

faithful witnesses of Jehovah." corporations that have been
There are at present 439 mem- formed.
bers from al1 states of the United This is not mentioned to eulo-
States and 78 other countries gize or to praise anyone, but it
around the world. Al1 of these is appropriate to acknowledge
are faithfully advancing the the indebtedness of the Watch
purposes of the Watch Tower Tower Society to al1 those loyal
Society, many full time. dedicated brothers and sisters
A testimony to the caliber of who, in connection with their
faithful men who have served service to the Most High God,
with the Watch Tower Society Jehovah, have cooperated with
can be seen in the fact that dur- the Watch Tower Society in car-
ing a period of 100 years only rying out its purposes from
four different men have served those early days in Pittsburgh
in the responsible position of until now. Jehovah has used
president of the Society. The men and women of faith to car-
first three presidents of the So- ry out his work in modern times
ciety, Charles Taze Russell, Jo- just as he did centuries ago.
seph Franklin Rutherford and Jehovah has surely proved to be
Nathan Homer Knorr, served with his peaple during the past
many years faithfully until their 100 years-and in this connec-
death and never deviated from tion has made good use of the
their devotion to Jehovah and Watch Tower Bible and Tract
his purposes. The president now Society of Pennsylvania. We
serving, a nonagenarian, Freder- can be confident that he will
ick William Franz, has a record continue to make good use of
of 71 years of faithful and loyal this legal instrument in carrying
service to Jehovah and in full on the preaching of the good
support of the purposes of the news of the Kingdom through-
Watch Tower Society. out al1 the world as a witness to
The other six brothers currently al1 nations right down to the end
serving on the Society's board of the present system of things.
of directors, plus the additional -Matthew 24:14.
seven brothers who together
make up the 14 members of the
Governing Body of Jehovah's A few of the many faithful brotlhers who
have cooperated closely with the! Watch
Witnesses, each have a record of Tower Society in carrying out its purposes
more than 40 years of faithful,
dedicated service to Jehovah.
These preside over the world-
wide activities ofJehovah3sWit- W. E. Van Amburgh
nesses and the various nonprofit

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6 , 1984

 Tour Sheet of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Places Related to Activities of the
Watch Tower Society and Jehovah's Witnesses.
1. JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ASSEMBLY
HALL OF PITTSBURGH, Located in
Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, four miles
north of Greater Pittsburgh Internation-
al Airport. Completed April 10, 1976.
2. MAR^^^ BUILDING, 1 1 9 ~
Street. The second floor was nsed as tem-
porary headquarters for the Watch Tow-
er Society in 1918-19when the Brooklyn
office was closed down.
3. STORE BUILDING, 200 Federal Street,
formerly numbered according to the side
street as 151 Robinson Street. This was
the location of the haberdashery store of
joseph L. ~ ~and charles
~ ~T. R ~~ ~ l - upstairs.
sell. It also became the first office of
zionls w a t c h T~~~~and ~~~~t society
when it was formed in 1881 and later
incorporated in 1884.
4. WATCHTOWER AUDITORIUM, cor-
ner of Suismon and Middle Streets. Now
a Catholic Church. The brothers from
the Pittsburgh area met here from 1932
to 1941.
5. CARNEGIE LIBRARY-MUSIC HALL
BUILDING, formerly addressed on Fed-
eral Street and still standing, though
,,
now addressed as located in the North
Commons just north of Allegheny Cen-
ter complex. Outstanding special meet-
~ d ings conducted
~ ~ by Brother
~ Russell
l were
held here.
.' THE was located at
610 Arch Street, Allegheny, now demol-
ished. Headquarters of the Watch Tow-
er Society from 1889 until 1909 when
the Society's offices were moved to
Brooklyn, New York. The Allegheny
congregation met here in the large hall
l This former building was locat-
about in the middle of the present
Town Houses that are part of the Alle-
gheny Center complex.
7' GARDEN THEATRE' l0 W. North
enue' Meeting placc of the Allegheny
congregation and Pittsburgh brothers
from 1920 to 1932.
8. KINGDOM HALL, 1046 South Side Av-
enue. New meeting place of the Alleghc-
ny congregation, the first congregation
of Bible Students (Jehovah's Witnesscs)
in the United States.
9. UNITED CEMETERY. Jehovah's Wit-
nesses do not revere burial places, but
some desire to visit the Watch Tower
Society's burial plot where C. T. Russell
was buried. Turn right off Perrysville
Avenue on to Cemetery Lane. The Unit-
ed Cemetery is the last cemetery on this
road. A few yards beyond the replica of
a pyramid is a driveway that takes one
near the Society's plot.
THE WATCH TOWER
4100 Bigc1ow B1vd'3 Pittsburgh' Offi-
cial address of the Watch Tower Bible
and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. The
is the Kingd0m
Hall where four of the present Pitts-
burgh congregations regularly meet.
11. CIVIC ARENA, downtown. Special an-
nual corporation meetings of the Society
were held here in 1967 and 19,2.
12. THREE RIVERS STADIUM has bcen
used for district conventions.
13. MT. WASHINGTON, elevation 1,100
feet. Scenic Point overlooking the great-
er Pittsburgh area.
WATCH TOWER Centennial