The Watchtower—Announcer of Jehovah’s Kingdom for 100 Years
Enthusiastic Assembly in Pittsburgh Marks the Occasion
“The Bible does not give us the record of God’s people as celebrating the 100th year of anything. And this morning I am not celebrating the 100th birthday of any man or of any thing. But I do have in mind the arrangement that God set up in his chosen people of old, the nation of Israel. According to the Mosaic law, he did arrange for sabbath years. And there was to be a succession of seven sabbath years, and this was to be climaxed by a 50th year, which was called the Jubilee year, in which the proclamation was to be made: ‘Proclaim liberty in the land to all its inhabitants.’ On that basis, this year of 1979 is the second Jubilee year of the ‘Watchtower’ magazine. And this month of June is the final month of that second Jubilee year, so that with June 30th this magazine will have been 100 years in circulation.”—Lev. 25:10.
Those were the opening words to an eager audience of 8,153 assembled in the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Civic Arena on June 17, 1979, spoken by Frederick W. Franz, president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The occasion was the climax of two days of special activity in the Pittsburgh area where, 100 years ago, “The Watchtower” was founded. The news media took interest in the event and three television stations sent reporters to cover various features of the weekend’s program. Using “The Watchtower” issue of July 1, 2,593 participated in presenting the magazine to people of the Pittsburgh area on Saturday, June 16. Jehovah’s Witnesses were to be seen offering “The Watchtower” on nearly every street corner in the downtown area.
Fittingly, following a song and prayer, the Sunday program began with a model “Watchtower” study presented entirely by traveling overseers and their wives. Then, interviews were conducted by Ulysses Glass of Brooklyn Bethel with 26 witnesses of Jehovah, several of whom have been reading “The Watchtower” since the days of the first editor and founder of the magazine, Charles T. Russell. One was a sister born two years before “The Watchtower” was first published, she being 102 years old. When she was asked, “How long do you expect to serve Jehovah?” she answered: “As long as the Lord gives me strength.” Others said of “The Watchtower”: “It’s just like a letter from my father; I never miss an article.” “‘The Watchtower’ gives us the truth and the truth makes us free.” “I read each issue within 24 hours.” “It never becomes stale; it is always fresh.” “It is the only magazine that announces or even talks about God’s kingdom, which is what the Bible is all about.” “It’s like a lifeline to us to help pull us out of the sea of destruction.”
Finally, speaking for the first time to the assembled congregation in Pittsburgh as the fourth president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Frederick W. Franz, himself a keen student of “The Watchtower” for over 60 years, addressed the attentive audience on the subject “The Watchtower—Announcer of Jehovah’s Kingdom for 100 Years.” This fascinating doctrinal history presented the beginnings of “The Watchtower” in a pictorially worded setting of the world scene in which it appeared. Its subsequent growth during its 100 years of watchful service to the Christian congregation and the world, likened to the span of two jubilee-year periods, gave its 100th year of publication a proper Scriptural setting. Throughout the talk, eight enlarged facsimiles of different historically significant covers of “The Watchtower” were to be seen on the stage, having been introduced during the interviews preceding the talk. The speaker’s final words fittingly concluded the two-day program:
“And what can we say that is relevant to this occasion? That the ‘Watchtower’ magazine continues to be published! And how long it will carry on we do not know. Whether it will be published in the coming system of things, we do not know. What will be its universal, worldwide name then, we do not know. Whether it will be called by what they call it over there in Israel, by its Hebrew name, we do not know. But we know that this is one of the foremost instruments that Jehovah God has used down through this past century. And it continues to feed God’s people, and it continues to announce to the whole world Jehovah’s kingdom. It is ‘The Watchtower—Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.’ And we are proud, therefore, to be the spreaders of this magazine, doing so from house to house and in street work. . . .
“As we leave this place now, may we go back to the field and disseminate the ‘Watchtower’ magazine as far and wide as we can and cooperate with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania until it has served Jehovah’s purpose. Jehovah’s gracious blessing be upon all in this assembly this morning.”