Finances of the WT corporation

[Innocent as Doves]

After seeing different videos and info about the 'vow of poverty' that Bethelites take and then also seeing how Stephen Lett and his brother own possibly MILLIONS of dollars of personal real estate between them.....I was curious if any of the 9 current GB members were under a 'vow of poverty' or what their financial position was. I typed in "Governing Body Jehovah's Witnesses" (and then google filled in the next word "salary") LOL (So apparently I wasn't the only one who was inquiring about this.)

It came up with this website.

Jehovah Witness Elders Salary - Do they Get Paid?

Do Jehovah's Witness elders get a salary? What are they responsible for? How does it all work? Let's find out...

thefinanceshub.com

About 9/10 of the way down....it had a list of "Jehovah’s Witnesses Company Jobs and Salaries" and then lists about 20 PAID positions! Really? Why was I under the impression that ALL positions were volunteers? Most of the jobs paid over 80k a year. Unless I missed it, the article did NOT mention how much the GB themselves 'make'....but apparently, they themselves are NOT under a vow of poverty from the looks of Lett's real estate holdings. Has anyone else done any research along these lines?

 

[SusanB]

Hi IAD, I don’t know if some people do paid work for the ORG, however, there are people online who hate the Watchtower and hate anyone associated with the Watchtower, which includes Brothers and Sisters. I just would caution that unless you have real world evidence or at least circumstantial evidence, then I would be careful how to describe and share the information. Also, it is entirely possible that some of the GB had money before they went to Bethel or they inherited money or assets and I see nothing wrong with that. Taking a vow of poverty does not mean you relinquish what assets and money you have before taking the vow nor have acquired via personal investments or inheritance.

Here is how they describe their own vow: “Currently, there are some 67,000 members of the Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some perform Bethel service, others engage in construction or in circuit work, serve as field instructors or special pioneers or missionaries or as Assembly Hall or Bible school facility servants. They are all bound by a “Vow of Obedience and Poverty,” with which they agree to do whatever is assigned to them in the advancement of Kingdom interests, to live a simple lifestyle, and to abstain from secular employment without permission. It is not the people but their assignments that are viewed as special. They realize the seriousness of humbly living up to their solemn vow for as long as they remain in special full-time service.”

Now with that said, have some full time workers lived in luxury at the expense of donated money without technically earning a salary? No doubt that is true. I am just pointing out that there could be another side to the story that isn’t covered by your post and my hope is to add some balance. Since you started a thread on the subject, I assume you want opinions from other people.