Branch Letter

Dear Kingdom Publishers:

Everyone is keenly interested in what happened in the United States during the 1975 service year. Well, we had a fine new peak of 560,879 publishers, with a monthly average of 534,765.

However, one million fewer bound books were distributed this year, the total being 8,887,673. Another point: while a really marvelous witness was given and 92,925,486 hours were spent in giving the Kingdom proclamation, yet this was 6,725,000 fewer hours than the previous year, even though we had 28,398 more workers in the field each month. Why?

Here is the answer: The monthly average of hours for the special pioneers was one hour less than for the year before. Regular pioneers’ also averaged one hour less, as did the temporary pioneers and the congregation publishers. That totals 6,417,000 fewer hours than for the previous year. Nevertheless, a truly remarkable witness was given. Maybe in 1976 all of us can pay a little more attention to budgeting our time. The apostle Paul said, ‘We must buy out the opportune time.’​—Eph. 5:16.

Another thought-provoking point was the drop of 10,000 in the number of home Bible studies conducted weekly. Interestingly, there were also 10,000 fewer persons baptized. Bible study activity is something that we are going to try to improve by use of the three new study booklets during the Watchtower campaign. These will provide a good basis for return visits. So we hope and pray that the first four months of the 1976 calendar year will see a fine increase in this activity. A vital part of our work is to try to make disciples of Christ Jesus.

By the way, Brother Knorr recently visited five branches in Europe. He spoke to 3,075 in a packed-out new assembly hall in the Netherlands on September 19. Then, on the 23rd, he shared in the dedication of a new Bethel home and remodeled factory in Wiesbaden, Germany. There were 1,009 present for this faith-strengthening occasion. A few days later, in Italy, Brother Knorr spoke to 10,540 in a stadium in Florence, and to 2,045 in Roseto degli Abruzzi.

It has been a good year, and all of our brothers are joyful, full of faith, working hard. We continually pray for His blessing on all His witnesses world wide, as we earnestly try to harmonize our lives with His purpose.

Your brothers,

BROOKLYN BRANCH OFFICE

[Blurb on page 4]

Bring Someone to the Special Public Talks.