work that has been accomplished in another year. One of the finest witnesses to the Kingdom ever given by Jehovah’s witnesses was performed during the service year 1956. Throughout the year the Society tried diligently to add more persons to the special pioneer work, to serve needy ones in isolated regions of earth, along with missionaries, and to preach there the good news of the established Kingdom. Special pioneers have increased by 519 over the previous year; 2,637 are now working in isolated territories, organizing new congregations and taking on the responsibility of overseeing when a local group gathers. In years of human life some of these special pioneers may be young, but as to other Christians in their midst they are older or experienced men, able to preside in a right way; and these new ministers who have dedicated themselves to God see that these special pioneers have worked hard in their speaking and in their teaching, and they are pleased to have their helpful shepherding.

14. Quantity and quality increases among Kingdom ministers have included what during the past year?

¹⁴ A fine growth within the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses in the past twelve months is now apparent. In 162 lands throughout the world an average of 591,556 Kingdom publishers has been preaching every month. This is a 3.6-percent increase over the 1955 service year. While this numerical or quantity increase is not so great as in some other years, growth or quality increase within the association of brothers is very healthy, outstanding. Consciousness of the earth-wide forward movement of the united, peaceful New World society members is broadening and deepening among all of them. They see more clearly that their delightful work is a gathering in of the other sheep, which makes our hearts glad. One and a half million more hours were spent in joyful field activity during the past twelve months than during the previous year. That included gathering 136,000 more new subscriptions for The Watchtower and Awake! Not only do Jehovah’s witnesses go from house to house and preach short sermons to the people, interesting them in home Bible study, talking and reading to them directly from the Bible, but they try to leave with willing ones printed sermons so that after the Kingdom minister departs to serve someone else the householder visited may privately consider such sermon or several sermons of greater length. During the service year 19,326,817 books, booklets and Bibles have been placed. Additionally, The Watchtower and Awake!—the two principal journals Jehovah’s witnesses use in helping people in Bible study—were distributed to the number of 55,735,715 copies. Magazine distribution alone, from house to house and on street corners, has increased over 19,000,000 copies. Of course, there are many hundreds of thousands of subscribers for The Watchtower and Awake! This required regular distribution, through the Society’s many branches and printing plants, of millions of copies of these publications. To supply the needs of Jehovah’s witnesses in more than a hundred languages the Society printed 130,992,362 Bibles, books, booklets and magazines, all of which assisted them in proclaiming world-wide the good news of Jehovah’s established kingdom.

“TELL THE GOOD NEWS”

15, 16. (a) Why is ‘telling the good news from day to day’ vitally important now? (b) What other reported results of the past year’s world-wide activities of Jehovah’s witnesses may we now consider, and why?

¹⁵ In all of this we rejoice. It truly makes our hearts glad to have had a share in spreading this comforting message unto the ends of the earth. Always Jehovah’s witnesses have in mind, in their work day by day, the words of Jesus: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.” (Matt. 24:14, NW) That is why they have chosen for this year a very energizing text, one filled with life and responsibility: “From day to day tell the good news of salvation by him.” (Ps. 96:2, NW) The New World society looks forward to 1957 with unusual vim, vigor and vitality, to tell this message of comfort to every willing listener in all the world. Last year God’s kingdom ministers spent 87,353,772 hours going from house to house preaching, telling people about the wonderful hope before them. Not only have they gone from house to house with sermons, but they made many, many a back-call. In fact, during the year they made 27,746,348 back-calls. Out of these they were able to establish 333,330 home Bible studies. What a joy it is to see ministers, not hired to stand on a pulpit but ministers at heart, going out to all the nations of the world and helping people there to see the truth!

¹⁶ Jehovah’s witnesses fully appreciate that there still are many things to be done, many places to be visited, many hearts to comfort. They know, too, that many more persons have to be helped to grow to maturity, to gain accurate knowledge and a clear understanding of the Bible. Last year at the Memorial service of Jehovah’s witnesses there were 919,994 persons in attendance. Only 16,302 of these professed to be of the anointed, striving for the position of being joint heirs with Christ Jesus in heavenly glory. All of the other hundreds of thousands are, we believe, eager to live here on earth in the new world of righteousness, according to the will of Jehovah. But they need help. Not all of these 919,994 are ministers—only 591,556 have identified themselves as ministers, and they have much work to do. For some reason they conducted 4,000 fewer Bible studies in the homes of the people than during the preceding year. Not quite as many of them went out in the preaching work during the year. There were only 640,347. But even though 2,582 fewer publishers report having worked sometime during the year, this does not disturb Jehovah’s witnesses. They are determined to take care of the other sheep. And having in mind the texts considered in this review, and having specially in mind Jesus’ words, “Feed my little sheep,” every one of Jehovah’s witnesses, not only overseers but every minister of every congregation, by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness will put forth greater effort than ever before to tell this good news from day to day. Why will they do this? Because they see that some are not taking on the responsibility that was placed upon Peter. Such ones do not feel the seriousness of it. Therefore it will be necessary for all of Jehovah’s witnesses to call on more people, spend more time with those in the truth and those not yet in the truth, so that they might be brought on to maturity.

17, 18. How does considering now the past seven years’ record of baptisms enable us to see other opportunities and responsibility for the year ahead?

¹⁷ Here is another interesting thing: During the past seven years 394,024 were baptized. Every one of these has declared himself before Jehovah God that he has chosen to do Jehovah’s will. Today His will is that His servants preach the good news of His kingdom. But when we go back in our reports seven years we find that at the end of the service year 1949 there were only 279,421 regular ministers in the field. Add that to those baptized during the past seven years and you have 673,445 people that should be publishers of the Kingdom. But the record shows that there are only 591,556 working ministers. Very easily the question can be asked: Where are the other 80,000? Have they died? No, not all of them; at least not physically. They are not in their graves. But some have become sick spiritually and they need the help of those who have come on to maturity.

¹⁸ Remember what Jesus said: “Feed my little sheep.” The responsibility falls upon every one of Jehovah’s witnesses worldwide to do that very thing. Are you doing it? Will you do it? Will the year 1957 be outstanding as far as you are concerned in doing the will of Jehovah God? Do you hear Jesus saying to you, “Feed my little sheep”? And will it bring real joy to your heart to have in mind and to live the text Jehovah’s witnesses will keep before them during 1957: “From day to day tell the good news of salvation by him”? Do you appreciate your responsibility as an overseer, as a ministerial servant, as a minister in the great congregation of God? Jesus’ words, “Feed my little sheep,” apply to you, the Christian.

Christendom’s Plight

Spiritual Famine Spreads as Churches Boom

Churches may be overflowing with new members, but the hunger for spiritual food has not been satisfied. Ravaging Christendom is a spiritual famine; it spreads and intensifies in spite of increased church attendance. This ought to start some people thinking. It has. An enlightening article by Louis Bromfield in the Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal of September 18, 1955, had the heading “Famed Mansfield Author Takes Look at Churches, Religion.” Said the writer:

“One of the extraordinary reactions of our time, it seems to me, is the growing hunger of great numbers of people, not only here in the U.S. but all over certain parts of the world, for something to live by. . . . Oddly enough, the churches do not seem to be supplying what is needed. . . . Occasionally I get absurd or preposterous letters of protest from clerics. . . . The burden of these letters is, oddly enough, almost unanimous. The writers assume that because they are preachers or priests they have a special status and know more about God than any decent, kindly citizen. This, I doubt very much. Judging from a few of the letters, some of the writers are not only deficient intellectually and spiritually, but are apparently downright wicked. Certainly they could give comfort and assurance to none but the most terrified and ignorant. . . . All this is a most interesting phenomenon, which is increasing rather than diminishing in force.”

Babylonian Captivity Admitted

Suburban churches in America are thriving, financially and numerically speaking. As a result, according to cleric Gibson Winter of Brighton, Michigan, “suburbia has introduced its concept of success into the very center of church life.” What has the suburban “concept of success” done for the people? Declares Episcopalian Winter, as reported in Time magazine for October 10, 1955: “The Biblical faith is rarely met with in suburbia despite growing church membership and activity. . . . Despite a nominal church background, this is an unconverted, untrained mass of people who make the problem of church membership comparable to what it was in the time of Constantine, when Christianity became a recognized institution of Roman society. . . . The task of the churches as witnesses to Christ’s lordship . . . has been submerged. . . . The test of every parish enterprise is whether it will bring monetary and numerical progress. . . . The captivity of the church is a national tragedy of the first order. . . . [It] may well be God’s word of judgment upon us as his church. For our trespasses and complacency, we have been delivered to Babylon.”