Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses

A number of corporations are in use by Jehovah's Witnesses. They publish literature and perform other operational and administrative functions, representing the interests of the religious organization. "The Society" has been used as a collective term for these corporations.

The oldest and most prominent of their corporation names, "Watch Tower Society", has also been used synonymously with the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, even in their own literature.^[1] Particularly since 2000, Jehovah's Witnesses have maintained a distinction between their corporations and their religious organization, though differences had also been explained decades earlier.^[2][3][4]

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization^[5] headquartered in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses, often referred to as "The Society". It holds the copyrights of most literature published by Jehovah's Witnesses. The Society was founded in 1881 with William Henry Conley, a Pittsburgh businessman, as the first president and Charles Taze Russell as secretary-treasurer.^[6] The society was incorporated as Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in Pennsylvania as a non-profit, non-stock corporation on December 15, 1884, with Russell as president.^[7] The corporation was officially renamed Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1896; similar names had been in unofficial use since at least 1892.^[8]

Personnel (as of September 1, 2005)

• President: Don A. Adams
• Vice Presidents: Robert W. Wallen, William F. Malenfant
• Secretary/Treasurer: Richard E. Abrahamson
• Directors: Danny L. Bland, Philip D. Wilcox, John N. Wischuk

Name changes

• Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society (1881-1896)
• Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (1896-1955)
• Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (since 1955)

Presidents

United States corporations

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. is a corporation used by Jehovah's Witnesses, which is responsible for administrative matters, such as real estate, especially within the United States. This corporation is typically cited as the publisher of Jehovah's Witnesses publications, though other publishers are sometimes cited. The corporation's stated purposes are: “Charitable, benevolent, scientific, historical, literary and religious purposes; the moral and mental improvement of men and women, the dissemination of Bible truths in various languages by means of the publication of tracts, pamphlets, papers and other religious documents, and for religious missionary work.”^[9]

Originally known as the Peoples Pulpit Association, the organization was incorporated in 1909 when the Society's principal offices moved to Brooklyn, New York. In 1939, it was renamed Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc., and in 1956 the name was changed to Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.^[10] Until 2000, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses was president of both the Watch Tower (Pennsylvania) and Watchtower (New York) corporations, as well as Britain's International Bible Students Association (IBSA) corporation; in 2001, it was decided that the corporations' directors need not be members of the Governing Body.^[3]

Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses

Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc. was established to organize and administer the congregational affairs of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States.^[11][12] It filed for incorporation on August 21, 2000 in New York State as a “domestic non-profit corporation” in Putnam County, New York.^[13] An incorporation record was also filed with the State of Florida on March 3, 2006, as a "foreign non profit corporation" with agency in Collier County, Florida.^[14]

As announced to congregations in January 2001, the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses is a corporation used by their United States Branch Committee, which oversees the preaching work of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States, Bermuda, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.^[15] All Branch Committee members are appointed by and report to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.^[16][17]

As with other agencies of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses may correspond directly with any district overseer, circuit overseer, local body of elders, or individual, or it may assign someone else to communicate on its behalf. Any of these persons or groups may function as an agency acting at the explicit direction of the Governing Body^[18][19].

Other US corporations

Reorganization in 2000 resulted in the creation of several additional corporate entities to serve the needs of the United States branch of Jehovah's Witnesses. Since then, most written communication with congregations and individuals in the United States involves the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc; other corporations include, for example,

• Religious Order of Jehovah's Witnesses, New York. Incorporated in 2000 to give particular attention to those in special full-time service: Bethel volunteers, missionaries, traveling overseers, special pioneers; and assembly halls.
• Kingdom Support Services, Inc., New York. Incorporated in 2000 to deal with construction of Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls, other engineering needs, and vehicles.

Corporations outside the United States

International Bible Students Association

International Bible Students Association is a corporate not-for-profit organization used by Jehovah's Witnesses in the United Kingdom. A Jehovah's Witnesses publication may cite this corporation as its publisher or co-publisher; other editions of the same work may cite different corporate publishers.

It was founded in 1914 by Charles Taze Russell in London, England, and was the first legal corporation representing Russell's ministry in Europe. Along with their Pennsylvania and New York based corporations, Watch Tower publications since 1914 have maintained: "All three of these corporations were organized for identical purposes and they harmoniously work together."^[20]

Later corporations, such as in Canada, were similarly named and referred to by the initialism, IBSA. The name continues to be used for corporate entities, but in 1931 the religion formally changed its global name from International Bible Students Association to Jehovah's witnesses.

Other corporations

Since the formation of the International Bible Students Association, many other legal entities sanctioned by the Governing Body have been used throughout the world to further the interests of Jehovah's Witnesses.^[21] Typically these are synonymous with the branch offices in various countries, such as:

• Wachtturm-Gesellschaft, Selters/Taunus, Germany;
• Jehovas vittnen - Bibelsällskapet Vakttornet, Sweden;
• Watchtower Bible & Tract Society Of Australia, Inc., Australia;
• Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Britain, Inc., England;
• Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada, Inc., Ontario.

There are currently branch offices in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world.

Jehovah's Witnesses sometimes use the corporation name Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in countries other than the United States, or a similar name translated into the local language. In 2005, their branch in Canada began using this name for a separate Canadian entity for most correspondence, while retaining Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada for other matters. In Mexico the corporation, Congregación Cristiana de los Testigos de Jehová, is used. In the decades prior to the corporation’s formation, and since then, Jehovah’s Witnesses have referred to themselves globally as the “Christian congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses”.^[22] Even in their own recent publications, use of the term has not been restricted to the formal legal entities.^[23][24]

Revenue

Until the early 1990s, all Jehovah's Witnesses' literature was sold around the world at cost price. These are now distributed for free, though donations are accepted. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York was as of 2001 one of the 40 largest revenue-generating companies in New York City, reporting an annual revenue of about $951 million US dollars. These funds are used in the production of literature, funding missionary and traveling overseers travel expenses and vehicles, the construction and maintenance of Kingdom Halls worldwide, and for the hire of stadiums or assembly halls in which they conduct annual conventions.^[25] The corporation is now officially headquartered in Patterson, New York.^[26] Its yearly report is different from a Wall Street company as the company's employees are volunteers who live and work in the Brooklyn complex. A small portion of the funds contribute towards the living expenses of these full time volunteers.

References

See also

• Organizational Structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
• Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
• List of Watchtower publications

External links

• Jehovah's Witnesses: Watchtower Society Official Web Site
• Jehovah's Witnesses: Authorized Site of the Office of Public Information