Announce the Rulership of God's Kingdom

¹ Before Armageddon—this is the most urgent time to talk of the glory of Jehovah’s Kingdom rulership. “About the glory of your kingship they will talk.” Awake! plays an important role in helping Jehovah’s witnesses announce the rulership of God’s kingdom.

- How does A'wake! help us to live up to this month’s theme? Each issue has, besides “Your Word Is Truth,” a short Scriptural article at the front of the magazine followed by a public talk article. The Kingdom and its rulership are usually mentioned. And think of this: Awake! is a journal that you can offer without hesitance to a person who has only a minimum of interest in religious matters. By reading Awake! those with poor spiritual appetites can readily develop an appetite for spiritual things. Householders learn that the New World society educates people in practical things, that the scope of knowledge covered in Awake! is so broad it is like a college education ! Through Awake! householders come in contact with the only group announcing the rulership of God’s kingdom. Awake! may be the very instrument that will begin opening the door for them to the New World society.

• ³ Compelling are the reasons, then, for our placing Awake! in the hands of the people. What good we can do by making the October campaign the biggest and best Awake! campaign ever! Our previous best Awake! campaign was in 1956. Examine these figures :

1956    1957     1958

Pubs.      176,470 190,083 214,825

Subs.       168,286 149,603 144,746

In 1956, with 176,470 publishers, we obtained 168,286 subscriptions. Not as many subscriptions were obtained in 1957 and 1958 even with more publishers. So diligent efforts will be required to make this the biggest and best campaign ever. Individually we should strive to meet our quotas. For congregation publishers it is one subscription, for pioneers five subscriptions, and special pioneers eight. Offer Awake! at every door. Congregations having a supply of the booklet “Look! I Am Making AU Things New” may use it as part of the three-booklet premium. Publishers will remit 90c for each one-year subscription. If persons already subscribe for Awake!, offer The Watchtower. If special pioneers and those working in isolated territories prefer to offer subscriptions to both magazines, with six booklets, on a contribution of $2 they may do so.

• ⁴ Householders need to know why I OFFER FOR OCTOBER^J i’ Subscription for “Awake!” with threes

booklets, for $1.

THEME FOR OCTOBER

Announcing the Rulership of God’s

Kingdom.—Ps. 145:11.

they need Awake! Begin by giving the current sermon; it has proved very effective. See “I’resenting the Good News” for transitions from the sermon into the Awake! offer. Know your magazine well; adapt your presentation to the individual householder. Show him a specific article in the current issue, also mention other kinds that appear from time to time in Awake! Show how Awake! helps one meet the problems of our day. To a woman you might point out that some issues have articles on rearing children, family and marriage problems, etc. Some publishers may find interest is developed by displaying certain previous issues. The articles in the issues of March 22 and April 22, for example, could be used, or the numerous articles on religion. Explain that Awake! is international. It has correspondents in all parts of the world. Recommend Awake! too by your enthusiasm—a powerful recommendation. From your enthusiastic presentation householders will sense that Awake! is important for them.

• ⁵ Here are some aids toward making this the biggest and best Awake! campaign: A chart in the Kingdom Hall will tell the congregation how it is doing in meeting its subscription quota. At service centers put special emphasis on meeting quotas individually. Let study conductors encourage and help those who do not obtain a subscription early in the month. Stress getting a good start by being out the first week of the campaign. Strive for at least two hours from house to house with the offer every week. The more times the magazine is offered, the more likely a subscription will be obtained. Turn magazine routes into subscriptions. Call back on promises and not-at-homes. At service centers on Sunday morning let different publishers comment on what they have said to make Awake! appeal to householders.

• ⁶ Make out subscription slips so they can be easily and correctly read. Too many unreadable slips, even inaccurate ones, come to the Society. Therefore some subscribers do not receive their magazines. Before publishers turn in a slip, let them check it. If there is the slightest possibility of the name or address being misread, make the correction by printing the information. Remember, someone else must read it, not you 1

• ⁷ As announcers of the rulership of God’s kingdom, we must be teachers. To do that well we will want to call back on these sub-

(Continued on page 3, col. 3)

FIRST MEETING IN OCTOBER

Theme: Announcing the Rulership of God’s Kingdom.

5 min: Welcome, text, comments.

6 min: “New World News” and announcements.

10 min: Talk on the theme for the month, ‘‘Announcing the Rulership of God’s Kingdom,” and the role of “Awake!” in accomplishing it. (See “Watchtower,” October 15, 1958, p. 625, and October 1, 1959, p. 603.)

18 min: Question-and-answer coverage of the article ‘‘Announce the Rulership of God’s Kingdom.”

15 min: Demonstration on ‘‘Presenting the Good News.”

6 min: Concluding comments. (Include remarks on the slogan based on Mark 13: 10, at the bottom of page 1.)

SECOND MEETING IN OCTOBER 5 min: Welcome, text, comments.

10 min: Questions and answers on “Congregation Organization.”

30 min: Demonstration on Proper Handling of Subscriptions.

CHAIRMAN (3 min.) Much time spent preparing sermons and talking points on magazines, arranging affairs to share in service, going to and working in territory. Yet when we reach our goal we can spoil it by a few moments of neglect. How so? Watch.

SCENE I (6 min.) Publisher delivers good brief sermon, obtains “Awake!” subscription. Householder gives name; publisher hastily writes on slip, does not have householder check it for correctness, concludes.

CHAIRMAN (5 min.) Calls publisher over, asks how many subscriptions obtained. Publisher, elated, explains he has finally obtained first. Chairman congratulates, asks to see subscription slip. Puzzled, he asks what the person’s name is. And what is that number in the address? Publisher recognizes that slip is not very legible. Chairman shows that slip is not complete either. No zone number given (in rural areas show no route number given), new or renewal not checked. Publisher counseled: Spent much time to make this subscription possible, but failure to take few moments to fill out slip carefully and accurately may deprive householder of subscription. Publisher does not want that to happen, wants instruction on properly filling out slip. Chairman asks publisher to take seat, fill out slip with entire congregation as they learn how to handle subscriptions properly.

SCENE II (12 min.) Audience participation. (Have one subscription slip passed to each publisher before meeting; ask them to fill out correctly as parts are discussed.) Cover thirteen points on “How to Properly Handle Subscriptions,” taking each point, asking audience how they would properly handle that item, and then reading and discussing Society’s instructions on the item. Emphasize following these instructions strictly.. Get information from householder accurately, print carefully in ink or indelible pencil, and have householder check for correctness.

CHAIRMAN (4 min.) Many subscribers do not receive subscriptions or they are greatly delayed because of illegible, inaccurate and incomplete slips made out and turned in by publishers. Hence this instruction sheet sent to congregations. Do not think, “This is good enough,” or, “This will get by.” Slips so easy to make out, only reason for error is neglect. Make sure it is absolutely right. Doublecheck it yourself and have householder check it. Instruction sheet will be posted on bulletin board for you to study. Accounts servant will carefully check all slips and require publishers to complete or remake faulty ones. Householder wants and needs the spiritual food. Do not waste valuable time and let carelessness deprive him of it.

7 min: Experiences from publishers on “Awake!” subscriptions, especially highlighting how the subscriptions were obtained and favorable comments about the magazine made by goodwill persons. (May use experiences in 1959 “Yearbook,” pp. 207, 209, if there is time.)

8 min: Concluding comments. (Include remarks on the slogan based on 1 Timothy 4: 16, at the bottom of page 4.)

THIRD MEETING IN OCTOBER

5 min: Welcome, text, comments.

10 min: Back-call on new “Awake!” subscriber. Demonstration, using material in “Make Sure of All Things,” page 279, from heading “Mind Must Be Continually Filled with Right Matters” through Hebrews 10: 25, to answer questions raised by person of good will.

10 min: Report from assistant congregation servant on visit with congregation servant.

25 min: Know Your Magazines.

(Advise publishers in advance to bring October 15 “Watchtower” and October 22 “Awake!” and to be prepared to participate.)

CHAIRMAN (2 min.) Talk about the good results that come from magazine distribution and having people regularly receiving magazines through mail. Compare congregation magazine placements with rest of country. Encourage all to make October a record magazine month. Goal for publishers is one new subscription, pioneers 5, and special pioneers 8. For best results, know the magazines.

(6 min.) Divide audience into two groups. Propound a question to first group regarding a point in October 22 “Awake!” If answer is not given promptly, turn to the other group and let them answer. Then give the second group the first chance to answer the next question. Frame questions so they will bring out talking points that can be used in presenting “Awake!” either on Magazine Day or with the subscription offer. It is best to make up questions from three or four articles. Then publishers who have prepared in advance should be called on to give several 30- to 60-second presentations that demonstrate how the points discussed can be effectively used.

(6 min.) Propound questions to the audience on articles in the October 15 “Watchtower,” in the same manner as was done with “Awake!” The chairman might include among his questions one that asks for the points in the magazine that would appeal to a busy housewife or a workingman, or he might ask how certain local objections often encountered on Magazine Day may be overcome. Have two publishers demonstrate brief Magazine Day presentations using these points. While one magazine is featured, both “The Watchtower” and “Awake!” should be offered together for 10c.

(4 min.) Have two model demonstrations showing how to present the “Awake!” subscription offer on conclusion of the current sermon. Keep in mind the fine suggestions contained in “Presenting the Good News.”

(5 min.) Interview local publishers who have done well in obtaining “Awake!” subscriptions during the campaign. Ask them in what feature of service they obtained the subscriptions, what they pointed out in the magazine, what they said that roused interest, etc.

(2 min.) Chairman reviews some of the practical suggestions given during the demonstration and encourages the publishers to use them in the field. He reminds them to fill out all subscription slips carefully, and to make return calls on all subscription promises as well as on expiration notices. Make the current “Awake!” campaign the biggest and best ever by wholehearted activity on the part of all.

10 min: Concluding comments, including points in the article “1959—a Full Year of Spiritual Growth.”

FOURTH MEETING IN OCTOBER

5 min: Welcome, text, comments.

10 min: Talk: “Using ‘Awake!’ to Good Advantage in Our Territory.”

17 mih: Talk and questions and answers on the article “Be a Teacher from House to House.”

18 min: Demonstration arranged by school servant showing how to apply principles of teaching in house-to-house ministry. Include suggestions on how to overcome objections met in territory and how to create in householder desire for “Awake!” subscription.                                              '

10 min: Concluding comments.

FIFTH MEETING IN OCTOBER

(Arrange locally, using the last report left by the circuit servant as a guide.)

Announce the Kingdom (Cont’d) scribers. Teach them by starting a study in one of the booklets. Start it right on your initial visit or when you call back to make certain their magazines are coming through the mail.

⁸ Let not just the servants and study conductors but all publishers be out each week during the campaign. Let us. exert ourselves as announcers of Jehovah’s rulership, knowing the satisfaction of having met the quota congregationally and individually.

Be a Teacher from House to House

,* As Jehovah’s witnesses we have been commissioned to be both preachers and teachers, performing this ministry from house to house. We must preach the good news of the Kingdom to all persons, whether they hear or whether they forbear, in order to find those who respond to the voice of the Right Shepherd and are willing to be taught.

• ² In January, 1953, the Informant urged every publisher to become a house-to-house preacher. By August of that year 73 percent of the publishers had met that standard; now it has gone up to 87 percent—a wonderful increase I This includes all who talk to the public about the good news of the Kingdom, whether in magazine distribution, giving door-to-door sermons, or making back-calls and conducting home Bible studies. Each one should strive to share regularly in each feature of the house-to-house ministry, and, more than that, to be an effective teacher.

• ³ When calling at the doors, you must first win the interest of the people. As a matter of habit they may try to put you off by saying they are busy. Perhaps you could respond by saying: “Then I’ll be brief. What I wanted to tell you was this . . And then briefly present one interest-rousing point from your sermon. If they are still listening, read the scripture from your sermon that supports what you have said. Now try to draw them into the conversation. That may be as far as you can go with some, but you are fulfilling your mission as a preacher. However, if you have won their interest and they want to hear more, you have the opportunity to teach.

• ⁴ In teaching it is important to build on things your hearer already knows, and to explain the truth in terms he can grasp. This means that you should encourage him to express himself. Use questions that call for him to reason on the information you have presented, to see if he gets the sense of it. Clarify ideas that are new to him with illustrations from his everyday experiences. Watch his reactions and be guided by them.

• ⁵ Effective teachers prepare and constantly analyze their teaching, seeking ways to improve. They express points simply and use repetition to impress them. They are enthusiastic, speak clearly and with sufficient volume, use sense stress and pausing to good effect, and have proper poise. In teaching they show love, patience, sincerity and tact.

CONGREGATION

Public Talks at Service Centers

• ¹ The congregations are finding more and more ways to expand the public meeting campaign, and one of the best ways is to have public lectures regularly at the service centers. Think of it! Since 1948 the total public lectures have increased in the United States from 45,44(5 to the amazing figure of 176,632, or an average of close to one each week for the nearly 4,000 congregations. Having public lectures frequently at the service centers has done much to increase the number and effectiveness of the public lectures. Are they regularly held at your service centers?

• ² The Society has suggested that the regular public talks be scheduled, and, for variety, subjects based on chapters of “iet God Be True" or “This Means Everlasting Life" may be chosen. Several related chapters might be combined under one subject if advisable. The public speakers can be given assignments and then they can rotate in giving their talks at the respective service centers. Most congregations will find it convenient to have a talk at each service center each month, at least one every two months. The congregation servant should make up a schedule and post this for the information of all, having in mind that it is not advisable for study conductors to be away from their groups more than once a month to give talks. The congregation will count each of these meetings as a public lecture on the report to the Society and the speakers may count

  Announcements

  
  

Early in October the congregation servant will meet with the assistant congregation servant to discuss how better to apply the Society’s counsel in the congregation. During the month the congregation servant should arrange to work with him in each feature of the service, giving particular attention to his teaching ability.

Worldly “Thanksgiving Day,” November 26, will be a special magazine day. Congregations should order their extra magazines by October 15.

O All congregations are encouraged to follow the suggestion in the October 8, 1959, Awake!, page 26, relative to writing letters to Jordanian officials. Use business letterheads where possible.

New publication available:

You May Survive Armageddon into

God’s New World      —Danish

⁶ Our desire is to help sheeplike ones to learn the Bible truth. If it is possible to do so, as house-to-house teachers we will start a home Bible study right there on the first call. Indeed, teaching is an art— one that we all should cultivate I

ORGANIZATION

the time spent delivering them.

• ³ A smaller audience makes it possible for the speaker to be more conversational. If the group is very small, he may find it better to sit down and talk to the group less formally; however, all should be able to hear and see the speaker. The study conductor or another mature brother (or the speaker himself, if necessary) who has previously prepared to serve as chairman should briefly introduce the speaker and the subject. Following the talk a 15-minute model study in the publication currently being considered by the group will be conducted. This will serve to introduce the newly interested ones to our method of study. General questions may be answered after the meeting is dismissed. While the meeting will not be opened with prayer, the first part being a public meeting, it will be closed with prayer, following the brief study and announcements.

• ⁴ These talks provide a fine opportunity to get new ones acquainted with the nearby study. A personal invitation, accompanied by an offer to stop by and take them to the meeting, will do much to create a responsive spirit. Many persons who seem reluctant at first to attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall are glad to come to a neighbor’s home to hear a Bible talk. Handbills are not necessary, but publishers should invite all interested persons in the neighborhood. Give full support to these home lectures by being present yourself and by bringing others.

These items out of stock:

Weymouth Bible (pocket edition)

—English

God’s Way Is Love       —Italian

“This Good News of the Kingdom”

—Italian

After Armageddon—God’s New

World               —Japanese

Evolution versus The New World

—Japanese

These items available again:

Will Religion Meet the World Crisis?

—Italian

God’s Way Is Love       —Russian

Learn to Read and Write—Spanish

The Trinity—Divine Mystery or

Pagan Myth? (T6) —Spanish

AUGUST SERVICE REPORT

Public Meetings Held: 17,558

UNITED STATES QUOTA FOR 1959 222,355 Publishers

NEW WORLD NEWS

♦ Newfoundland Witnesses enjoyed N.H. Knorr’s visit to Corner Brook. 611 at public meeting; 21 baptized.

With the “Awake!” Subscription Offer

• ¹ By experience in using tlie current sermon we are now able to paint for the householder a beautiful view of what God’s will for earth is. On concluding the sermon we want to present Awake!, not as a mere news magazine, but as a practical instrument for aiding persons of good will to do God’s will and grasp the precious new-world promises. To do this, we must connect Awake! logically with the sermon. We must present the subscription offer enthusiastically. Here are a few suggestions for transitional comments.

• ² “In this time when God’s will is about to be done by all who will live on earth, it is important for us to be awake to developments that the prophecies foretold, so as to be guided aright in doing God’s will. We can thus assure ourselves and our families of living in that wonderful time. Awake! is a magazine that is devoted to this very thing.” (Turn to an interesting sentence or two in the current issue or to “The

19S9-A Full Year

• ³ Growth is not something that depends upon us as individuals. I’aul stated : “I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow.” So, then, growth belongs to God. He is responsible for the vast spiritual growth in the New World society during the 19-59 service year, and to him all credit and praise must go.—1 Cor. 3: 6, 7.

• ² It is a happy experience to glance back over the year and measure the extent of our blessings. We started with 209,910 publishers in the field. Soon this number increased to 223,600, when, in December, we realized a 10.6-percent increase.

• ³ No halting here, however. January began our twenty-first annual Watchtower campaign, which reaped 439,108 new subscriptions. Special effort was made to bring new ones to meetings and train them to preach, with the result that 354,983 attended the Memorial celebration (an increase of 29,877 over the previous year’s attendance) and April saw 18,347 new ministers Mission of This Journal,” p. 2, par. 3; then offer the subscription.)

³ “Really, a happy home life, undisturbed by want or even sickness, is what almost everyone desires. Something that would help us be as near to this as possible -now would be practical. Atvake! directs you to the practical principles of God’s Word. Living by these principles is God’s will for us now and also in the righteous new world. For example, . . .” (Turn to Awake! article, briefly explaining how Awake! gives attention to all members of the family, aiding each one to find his place in doing the divine will, and the wonderful blessings to be gained.)

I OFFER FOR NOVEMBER 3 i “Your Will Be Done on Earth” and?

1 “From Paradise Lost to Paradise Re-i I gained,” with two booklets, for $1.25. | ? THEME FOR NOVEMBER ' { Seeking to Do the Divine Will J Lon Earth.—Heb. 13:20, 21.    )

of Spiritual Growth

♦ Witnesses in Puerto Rico and Haiti appreciated visit by F. W. Franz. At district assembly in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, 1,620 attended English and Spanish public lectures; 82 baptized, in Haiti, 944 attended district assembly; 25 immersed.

♦ Auckland, New Zealand, court declared Jehovah’s witnesses entitled to use Mt. Roskill War Memorial Hall for Bible lectures, despite opposition by Returned Servicemen’s Association. The decision stated: "It cannot be disputed that the citizens of the borough who are Jehovah's Witnesses comprise a lawful section of the community, and, although in a relative minority, they must . . . enjoy the same legal rights and bear the same legal obligations as members of the Returned Servicemen’s Association."

♦ New peaks: Portugal, eleventh straight peak, 643 publishers. Turkey, 311 publishers; 37 baptized in two months. Cameroon, 29-percent increase, 4,300 publishers, averaged 22.1 hours. Chile, eighth peak this year, 1,872 publishers and 2,810 Bible studies. Japan, fifth consecutive peak, 1,387 publishers.

“THE WATCHTOWER'* and “AWAKE!"

Order extra distributor's copies now.

October 1 5

“When God Speaks Peace to All Nations" and "Concern for Man’s Survival into Peace."

God’s Ways or Man’s?

Be a Man—Shoulder the Responsibility. ♦ Prophetic Temple Rebuilding.

October 22

.♦ A World Without Tears.

- + Where Communism Thrives.

♦ They Walk on Fire.

♦ How to Get the Job You Want.

+ Should Christians Employ Hypnosis?

November 1

♦ "Innocence by Respect for Sacredness of Blood" and “Keeping 'Clean from the Blood of All Men.’ ’’

The Bible Still Without Peer.

November 8

■0^{1 2 3 4 5} Do You Want to Serve Mankind?

♦ Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Faith.

♦ Here Come the Small Cars.

♦ Germany’s Economic Recovery.

+ Why Not a Religious Washing of Feet?

*          Paul said: ‘Pay attention to your teaching.’ Do I?          >

Published monthly by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 117 Adams St., Brooklyn 1, N.Y. Second-class postage paid at Brooklyn, N.Y. Printed in U.S.A.

4

¹

preaching, swelling the number of

²

publishers to 239,418, for an 18.4-percent increase. The average number of publishers for the service

³

year was 221,240, or an increase of 9.4 percent.

⁴

Perhaps most encouraging of all were the exceptional increases in back-calls made and home Bible studies conducted. Over a million back-calls were made every month, 13,16.7,115 for the year, which is a 25-pereent increase over 1958’s report! We have increased from 1-59,904 studies to 192,765 in a year’s time—a 21-percent increase. These Bible studies and back-calis represent new growth, new praisers of Jehovah’s name.

⁵

Let us, then, look ahead with full faith. December’s 10-percent goal is 243,364 publishers and April’s 20-percent prospect will mean 265,488 ministers in the field. But, remember, 354,983 met with us Memorial night last March. So plant and water in faith, and praise Jehovah for making it grow.