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Theocratic Assemblies in Bible TimesThe Watchtower—1952 | December 15
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the theocratic assemblies of Bible times brought praise to Jehovah, knowledge and instruction to his people, and invariably gave them much cause for rejoicing. The same is true of theocratic assemblies held in modern times.
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District Assemblies During 1952The Watchtower—1952 | December 15
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District Assemblies During 1952
THE expansion of true worship in the earth has been shown in the increase in the size of modern theocratic assemblies. Back in 1893, 360 were in attendance; in 1919, at the Cedar Point, Ohio, international assembly, some 7,000 heard the president of the Watch Tower Society, J. F. Rutherford, speak; while 123,707 heard the president of that Society, N. H. Knorr, give the public lecture at the Yankee Stadium, New York city, in 1950.
In 1952, instead of one international assembly, some 70 district assemblies were held during the months of August and September alone in upward of twenty different lands, with a combined peak attendance of 313,751 persons. Of these assemblies, 35 were held in the United States, 11 in Canada, 8 in Germany and 6 in England and Wales. The programs of these assemblies were identical.
Growing to maturity by making good use of Jehovah’s undeserved kindness was the theme of these assemblies. The outstanding feature was the public discourse “World Unity, Is It Just a Dream?”
ADVERTISING THE PUBLIC LECTURE
Every conceivable and possible means of advertising, ancient and modern, was used to invite the people to come to hear the public discourse Sunday afternoon. Among the ancient means used were those of going from house to house and standing on the streets, particularly on Friday and Saturday mornings, as well as by the witnesses’ making use of every contact with the public to give the invitation. By such methods millions of handbills also were distributed and much Bible literature was placed.
Signs were also extensively used. Many of the witnesses had one or more signs on their cars; bumper signs, signs on the sides and rear and some signs even attached to the tops of their cars. Motorcades toured the streets advertising the lecture. Large signs were put up along the highways, across streets, on the sides of buildings and on hotel marquees. Thousands of signs were placed in store windows. At Galveston, Texas, the request by one of the witnesses to be permitted to put a sign in a certain window resulted in a heated argument between two business partners, one a Jew, the other a Catholic; the Jew was in favor of having the sign placed in the window, the Catholic was opposed thereto. Thinking it futile to wait, the witness left them arguing and proceeded to the next store. However, before reaching it the Jewish businessman called, “Hey, you, come back here and put one of those signs in my window. We won!”
News releases were given to all the newspapers in each area, and very favorable response was given in many cities. In the Syracuse, New York, area some 70 different papers carried items regarding the assembly. Some welcomed the witnesses in
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