New Watch Tower President Elected
JEHOVAH’S work on earth continues to move on grandly under the leadership of the enthroned King, Jesus Christ. With the passing of our beloved Brother Nathan H. Knorr on June 8, 1977, it became necessary to elect a new president for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, the corporation that handles the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses world wide, and also for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., the legal agency for administering the affairs of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States. Acting on a united recommendation by all fifteen members of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the directors of the two corporations held a joint meeting on June 22, 1977, at which Frederick W. Franz was elected president of both corporations by unanimous vote. It is of interest that Brother Franz gave the talk on the occasion of Brother Knorr’s immersion on July 4, 1923, and that, from the following year, Brother Franz served in close association with Brother Knorr at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in Brooklyn, New York. Brother Franz has served as vice-president of the Pennsylvania corporation since 1945. On September 12, 1977, he will be eighty-four years of age. He continues very active in Jehovah’s service, having just returned from a seven-week lecture tour that included eleven countries extending from Ireland to Israel. His outstanding reputation as an eminent Bible scholar and his tireless work in behalf of Kingdom interests has won him the confidence and loyal support of Jehovah’s Witnesses everywhere. He expresses the fervent desire that Jehovah’s people continue to work, to serve and to pray together until the end of this system of things.