Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is the formal name of the missionary school of Jehovah's Witnesses,[1] typically referred to simply as "Gilead" or "Gilead School".[2][3] Secular and non-Witness reference works have at times misstated its formal name as:
- Watch Tower Bible Society of Gilead [4]
- Watchtower Missionary School of Gilead [5]
- Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead [6], and
- Gilead Watchtower Bible School [7]
Gilead is the flagship school at the Watchtower Educational Center at Patterson, New York, USA.[8][9][10]
Contents |
History
Based on their understanding of Revelation 17:8, Witnesses anticipated a post-World-War-II period of peace, [11] and saw an opportunity to expand their global preaching efforts. In 1942, at the height of the war, Nathan H. Knorr, then president of the Watchtower Society proposed the establishment of Watchtower Bible School of Gilead.[12] The first class began on February 1, 1943. No tuition was to be charged.[13] Five months later, graduating students began to move out to their assignments in nine Latin-American countries, including Cuba. As early as 1956, graduates were serving "in about a hundred different lands".[14]
Originally founded as a temporary program,[15] Gilead has trained over 120 classes since 1943. More than 8000 missionaries from around the world have graduated.[16][17][18] During its history, Gilead School has held classes at several of the facilities operated by the Watchtower Society: at Kingdom Farm in South Lansing, New York[19] from 1943 to 1960, at Brooklyn Bethel in Brooklyn, New York from 1960 to 1988; at Watchtower Farms in Wallkill, New York from 1988 to 1995,[20] and at Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson, New York since 1995.
Curriculum and Goals
The school is held twice each year and lasts about 5 months.[21] Mostly married couples are invited. These are usually in their thirties and have been involved in missionary work in their home countries for some years before being invited to the school.[22] After graduation they are assigned mainly to Africa, South America, Asia and islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Gilead School's main textbook is the Bible. Lectures and student presentations focus on a verse-by-verse study of each of book of the Bible, alternating between the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, commonly referred to as the Old and New Testaments. The curriculum is designed around the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by the Watchtower Society, although other reference material, including other versions of the Bible are used.[citation needed] Additionally, students are prepared for missionary work in foreign lands and encouraged to develop traits that imitate those manifested by Jesus Christ in the Gospels. They learn how to cope with changes in culture and language as well as techniques for conducting meetings and Bible classes. Some students receive additional practical training at translation and literature production.[23]
Rather than focusing on material needs such as hospitals, refugee centers, and orphanages, their missionary work concentrates on teaching people the Bible. They emphasize their belief that the only true and lasting solution to mankind’s problems is God’s Kingdom under Christ.[24]
Gilead School Extensions
Languages other than English
The entire curriculum at Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is presented in English.[25] Beginning in 1980, occasional extensions to Gilead were established in Germany (called "Gilead Extension School") and in Mexico (called "Gilead Cultural School of Mexico"[26]) to provide training to student missionaries speaking German and Spanish.[27] Occasional extensions to Gilead have also been taught in India.[28][29]
Ministerial Training School
The Ministerial Training School (MTS), established in 1987, is considered an extension of the Gilead School.[30][31] It comprises an 8½ week intense bible-based educational program for single elders and ministerial servants of Jehovah's Witnesses. The school covers many areas including detailed Bible study, public speaking skills, teaching, preaching and organizational arrangements.[32]
The MTS are held in a range of languages[33][34] and in many countries,[33][35] and the course duration is shorter than that of Gilead. From its establishment until 2004, 999 classes of the Ministerial Training School were held, training 22,000 students.[36]
Graduates of MTS are generally assigned back to their home congregations for a time, but are often offered the opportunity to serve in a more needy congregation or area, as and when the need arises. Usually this is in their home country but can sometimes be abroad. They are sometimes used in the capacity of travelling overseers, assigned to help groups of congregations.[37]
References
- ^ Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/636742/Watch-Tower-Bible-School-of-Gilead
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions (1999 edition), page 563
- ^ Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses by George D. Chryssides, ©2008, Rowman & Littlefield, page 136
- ^ Sect, cult, and church in Alberta by William Edward Mann, ©1955, University of Toronto Press, page 109, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "Watch Tower Bible Society of Gilead [sic] in the eastern United States, which gave a five-month training course to leaders selected by the central organization from branches in all parts of the world."
- ^ A History of Jehovah's Witnesses: from a Black American Perspective by Firpo W. Carr, ©1993, Scholar Technological Institute of Research, page 48
- ^ Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions by Wendy Doniger (editor), ©2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, page 563, "Knorr established the Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead (South Lansing, N.Y.) to train missionaries and leaders, decreed that all the society's books and articles be published anonymously, and set up adult education programs to train Witnesses to deliver their own apologetical talks. Under Knorr's direction a group of Witnesses produced a new translation of the Bible."
- ^ Exploring New Religions by George D. Chryssides, ©2001, Continuum International Publishing Group, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "Knorr improved the Society's training programme, establishing the Gilead Watchtower Bible School [sic] in South Lansing, New York, and organizing the 'theocratic ministry schools' in each congregation. Knorr expanded the work of the Witnesses abroad"
- ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, December 1990, page 10
- ^ 1993 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 25
- ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1999, pages 8-9
- ^ "Postwar Enlargement of the Theocratic Organization", The Watchtower, July 15, 1950, page 219; "Despite wartime difficulties a New World Theocratic convention was held that following summer in Cleveland, Ohio, September 18-20 [1942] ... Brother Knorr gave the address “Peace—Can It Last?” ... this public address showed a peace period would follow World War II ... In the mind of Brother Knorr the idea of a missionary-training school formed. ... The Watch Tower board of directors was enthusiastically in favor of it, and thus what was first called the Watchtower Bible College of Gilead was arranged for."
- ^ The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 20, ©2000 Grolier Incorporated, page 13, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "[Knorr] established congregational Theocratic Ministry schools and the society's missionary college, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead."
- ^ “Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom” –1993, chap. 23 p. 522 | “Missionaries Push Worldwide Expansion” | . © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
- ^ Interpretation, Volume 10, ©1956 Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, page 329, "The graduates of the Gilead School are busy spreading the truth in about a hundred different lands"
- ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2001, page 26
- ^ The Watchtower, August 15, 2008, page 30
- ^ Chairman's comments, 124th Gilead Graduation, March 8, 2008, New Jersey Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
- ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 2001, page 23
- ^ Religion in the Twentieth Century by Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm, ©1948, Philosophical Library, page 387, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "Rutherford has been succeeded in the Society's presidency by N. H. Knorr, early in 1942, due to Rutherford's death. Since then the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead has been established in South Lansing, N.Y."
- ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1995, page 24
- ^ Sect, cult, and church in Alberta by William Edward Mann, ©1955, University of Toronto Press, page 109, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "Watch Tower Bible Society of Gilead [sic] in the eastern United States, which gave a five-month training course to leaders selected by the central organization from branches in all parts of the world."
- ^ “Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom” –1993, chap. 23 p. 523
- ^ Andover Newton Quarterly, Volume 3, ©1962 Andover Newton Theological School, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, page 16, "[Students] work for half a day at the factory and attend the Gilead School for half a day. The work at the factory is on-the-job training, intended to fit them to operate printing establishments in their own countries."
- ^ “Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom” –1993, chap. 23 p. 523
- ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 1982, page 31
- ^ 1982 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 22
- ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 1982, page 8
- ^ 1992 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 255
- ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pages 544-545
- ^ Awake!, September 8, 1993, page 18
- ^ 1996 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 16
- ^ "A School Whose Graduates Benefit People Worldwide". (2006-Nov-15). The Watchtower, p. 10
- ^ a b The Watchtower, November 15, 2006, page 10
- ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, June 1999, page 1
- ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, page 300
- ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2004, page 3
- ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom p. 20 "Traveling Overseers—Fellow Workers in the Truth " © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 1993
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