Announcements
◼ Literature offer for March: Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life. A special effort will be made to start home Bible studies. April and May: Individual copies of The Watchtower and Awake! Have Require brochure available for interested people, and endeavor to start home Bible studies. June: Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life.
◼ Publishers who wish to serve as auxiliary pioneers in April and May should turn in their application early. This will help the elders to make necessary field service arrangements and have sufficient magazines and other literature on hand.
◼ The presiding overseer or someone designated by him should audit the congregation’s accounts on March 1 or as soon as possible thereafter. When this has been done, make an announcement to the congregation after the next accounts report is read.
◼ The Memorial will be held Thursday, April 1, 1999. If your congregation normally has meetings on Thursday, these are to be switched to another day of the week if the Kingdom Hall is available. If this is not possible and your Service Meeting is affected, the parts that are particularly applicable to your congregation may be incorporated into another Service Meeting.
◼ Those associated with a congregation should send all new and renewal subscriptions for The Watchtower and Awake!, including their personal subscriptions, through the congregation.
◼ The Society does not fill individual publishers’ requests for literature. The presiding overseer should arrange for an announcement to be made each month before the congregation’s monthly request for literature is sent to the Society so that all interested in obtaining personal literature items may advise the brother handling literature. Please keep in mind which publications are special-request items.
◼ It is important that groups of 20 or more persons planning to visit the Society’s facilities first correspond by mail with the Central Tour Desk at 100 Watchtower Drive, Patterson, NY 12563-9204. The Central Tour Desk will care for groups that will be visiting the Society’s facilities at Brooklyn, Wallkill, and Patterson, New York, or the Assembly Hall at Jersey City, New Jersey. Please provide information on the number coming and the dates and times for visiting each location. The Society will provide a description of the tours that are available as well as a map giving directions to each location. Before your visit, please review the October 1, 1998, letter addressed to all congregations in the United States. LODGING INFORMATION HAS BEEN SENT TO THE CONGREGATION ELDERS AND MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE CONGREGATION SECRETARY.
◼ On Wednesday, May 19, 1999, the Society’s facilities in Brooklyn, Patterson, and Wallkill will be closed to visitors. There will be no arrangements for tours or for congregations to pick up literature on that day.
◼ A packet of legal material is available to assist publishers who are involved in lawsuits over child custody and visitation matters in which our religion is under attack. The packet should be requested by the body of elders only in a case in which it is evident that the publisher’s religious beliefs will be at issue. For those facing secular issues on child custody or visitation, helpful information can be found in Awake! of December 8, 1997, pages 3-12, in Awake! of October 22, 1988, pages 2-14, and on the chart found in Awake! of April 22, 1991, page 9.