Professional Documents
Culture Documents
OF THE
JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES
WEMALEY
STADIUM
LONDON
A U G UST 1-5 1 9 5 1.
...
REPORT
::
OF INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
WEMBLEY STADIUM
LONDON
J. Nathan
P~
Chapman
E. C. Chitty
in my name". D. M. Bradbury of
the London Bethel, under the title of
"At the Same .Place" s_tressed th. e
importance of uniting together at the
Kingdom Halls and the necessity for
keeping our place of worship clean.
T. H. Gibson, . also of the London
Bethel, under "Conduct in God's
Household" exhorted to conduct at
the Kingdom Hall that would be a
credit to the One in whose name we
meet. A. N. Bower, a circuit servant
in Britain, pointedly rounded off this
symposium with "Kindness to Strangers" in which he reminded all of
the .need for extending a warm invitation to the strangers and wel
coming them into the family circle.
Said th~ speaker : " Kindness means
having the feelings natural to those
of the same family; to show consideration to others".
second presence would be invisible, sign given through Isaiah. Jesus Take strength from this and be faithbut discernible by the signs of the healed the sick, perforpied miracles ful now. It is not necessary for the
times, and through the eye of faith. and preached, this was sufficient sign stones to cry out because God's word
;resus said, "Blessed are your eyes for the meek who wanted to be guided shows that he will have his servants
for they see." If you cannot see the in right worship. Not so the religious on earth right now. We will go on
New World's King at the Temple, it clergy. Jesus told them they observed faithfully as a body of God's servants
is not because he is not there, but the weather but not the times. Who is throughout the earth and praise the
because there is something . wrong to guide the people today~ Jehovah's name of Jehovah evermore.
with you. The only remedy is that "sign" people. Should we expect someyou must cleanse yourself and you thing spectacular to convince us of
will see the King. The speaker drew the importance of the times' All
notice to the fact that Isaiah says in who are not satisfied with the sign
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
chapter six, "I see the Lord." Those of Christ's coming as manifest in the
who see the New World's King at the earth today will be sadly mistaken
MEETINGS
temple must continue in the cleansed if they do not act upon what they
For
the
benefit of the many delecan
see
now.
Look
to
Jehovah
and
condition,. singing the glorious song
and turning the people's eyes away his Word, the Bible, to his Great gates from other countries foreign
from this old world rule and aiding Shepherd, Christ Jesus, and to his language sessions were held both at
them to see the New World's King Theocratic organization. Join the the stadium and at two of the nearest
"sign" people in proclaiming the mes- Kingdom Halls. On the mornings of
enthroned in his glory.
This "Life-giving Knowledge" sage from door to door. Don't wait two of the days when the Englishtheme was continued during the even- for something more spectacular but speaking publishers were out in the
field witnessing, at least four different
ing session when it was shown how carry on clean worship.
meetings were in progress at different
this knowledge is received through
Will the Stones Cry Out ?
locations inside the stadium. These
the 'servant' organization. We witUnder this interest-catching title, meetings were addressed, by branch
nessed a demonstration of a meeting
of the servants with the circuit ser- M. G. Henschel then came to the and circuit servants from the respecvant during the 'latter's visit to the microphone. Summarising his re- tive countries and judging from the
company. Herein was stressed the marks, we were reminded that God applause that punctuated the meetings
need of a positive outlook, accepting has purposed that a mighty witness there was much enthusiasm and apthe Society's call for 34 per cent in- must be given world-wide at this end preciation. The highlights of the
crease as a God-directed certainty if of the world. He has purposed it and talks given at the stadium were reworked at with vision and enthusiasm. none can stop it. Jesus said that if lated to the delegates in their own
R. Gough and H. C. Fairfax de- the disciples did not preach, the stones language. Then, too, many had inmonstrated the need for personal would cry out. The increase of the teresting experiences to relate from
organization in helping the newly testimony now brings increased oppo- their own countries as well as while
interested into field service and at- sition. Efforts are now being made in journeying to the convention, and
tendance a,_t all meetings ; also the some countries to stop the Kingdom these contributed to the lively interest
need for \mthusiastic example by work but it will go on. Psalm 91 shows that was manifest. The attendances
the protection that Jehovah has over at these foreign-speaking meetings
mature publishers.
his organization and over his people. were: Danish, 475; Finnish, 107;
"'Sign" People
French, 105; German, 310; Hollan"The Guiding Sign". Under this
dish, 103; Norwegian, 100, and Swe-'
title a talk was delivered by G. E.
dish, 360. There can be no doubt
Hannan, of the Brooklyn Bethel, who
about the keen appreciation that was
has been a full-time servant in the
felt by those who were able to gather
Bible and book production fa,.ctory
together and hear the latest inforfor. many years. The speaker asked,
mation about the assembly.
"Would you like to travel at high
One interesting experience was
speed on dark highway that is not
given by the brothers who came by
provided with lights or signs, or a
boat from Helsinki, Finland. They
straight, well lighted highway equipped
applied to use the ship's public adwith plenty of signs~" The answer
dress system but were told that no
is obvious. All mankind are on the
religious services could be held. The
move to some final destination. Jehocaptain told them, however, that they
vah has provided a proper guide and
could make announcements, but that
sign leading the people of good will
there must be no music. As a result,
from disaster to New World salvathe 60 brothers on board were able to
tion. The great guide of all is God's
hold a public meeting on the ship,
Word. Building a boat on dry land
which was followed by an interesting
was the sign provided by Jehovah
Watchtower study-and all this over
before the flood. The rainbow a
the ship's address system I A really
further sign after the flood. The ten
good witness was given to all those
plagues were a sign .to Pharaoh. The
on board.
"'lirgin birth of Jesus was a great
M. G. Henschel
~OD
DAY
The Platform
Seated in the stands it was refreshing to the eyes to look down on to
the beautifully-kept green carpet of
grass, with the platform of lighter
green, situated at the. east end of the
playing pitch, and flanked on either
side by 38 conifers. In front of the
platform and stretching across the
lawn were five artistically-arranged
flower beds composed of 3,000 vivid
red geraniums, together with marigolds, and edged with blue lobelia.
It added to one's pleasure in this
lovely display to know that the flowers
had been grown by the brothers especially for this auspicious occasion.
In white letters, standing out. of the.
grass, were the words "JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES". So striking was the
platform lay-out that press comments
were frequent, and the crowd at the
Thursday evening sporting event applauded the decision of the stadium
officials to allow the flowers to remain
in place. The day before the opening
of the convention busy hands had been
setting the beds in peat, resting upon
tarpaulin sheets to protect the grass.
As the sun shone on the scene it
brought into relief this beautiful
scheme centred around the speaker's
stand. A red carpet was placed along
the approach to the platform used by
the speakers.
Choir
Immediately below the enclosure
and in front of the orchestra the choir
of 150 choristers of various nations
led the singing. Microphones suspended from the roof gave the needed
volume for the vast arena, so vast
that the problem of co-ordinating
orchestra, choir and assembly was a
very real one. This, however, was
overcome in a most ingenious way.
The music was 'canned', that is, it
was confined and set apart from the
assembly and sent to the principal
conductor, who, standing in the centre
Signs
of the vast green pitch, picked up the
On the north and south sides of the orchestra immediately by wearing
arena the words of the yeartext stood earphones during conducting. Both
out in bold red letters on a black the choir conductor and orchestra
background: "Praise J ah, you people, conductor watched the principal conbecause Jehovah our God, the Al- ductor and in this way perfect synmighty, HAS BEGUN TO RULE AS KING", chronisation was achieved.
Rev. 19: 6, NW., the last six words
being high-lighted in bright red lumiSound Equipment
nous paint.
The stadium's public address system,
Lifting one's gaze from the arena amplified by the Society's system gave
and above the stands the eye lingered exceptionally clear reception throughon the two artistic banners, one at out the stadium and grounds. A press
each end of the stadium, exhibiting reporter, enquiring as to the reason
the title "CLEA~ WORSHIP.ASSEMBLY". for this said that never before had
The tote, which might accord ill with he heard such clear and adequate
a clean worship assembly, was covered reception.
effectively with khaki canvas, relieved
Moving about the stadium and
with a huge white circle bearing the grounds the throng of conventioners
initials "J \V" in red.
completed the colourful scene; the
bright summer dresses of the sisters
Orchestra
and holiday attire of the brothers
Along the north interspersed here .and there with picside of the sta- turesque national costumes from other
dium, over the lands. Between sessions one could
Royal Box, runs see happy conventioners picnicking in
a spacious glass- the warm sunshine, and enjoying ice
fronted gallery, cream and. refreshments which. were
beautifully fur- obtainable,,in abundance. Old.acquainnished, and com- tances 'vere rene\ved and new. 1-imes
manding a full made, and .. everywhere was see~. the
view of the arena. joy in worship and fellowship which
A part of this gal- causes the bystander. to remark that
lery was. devoted a .spirit pervades among Jehovah's
to the orchestra, witnesses that is not to be found
a well-balanced else\vhere.
blessings
in . t.he
righteou~Il.ess." .
New
World
of
10
SOUTH AFRICA:
Twenty-six
years ago there was only a small com-
11
Young Witnesses
Experiences related by these young
publishers from the platform brought
a warm response from the audience.
One lively boy said he had been a
regular publisher since he was seven
years old. while vacation pioneering
he met a lady and witnessed to her
for an hour, arranged for his mother
to back-call her and she is now a regufar publisher. He also conducts a
Bible study with another boy on
\Vednesday evenings.
Another young girl publisher said
she had been going to the aoors on
her own for three years and she also
takes other young publishers and
trains them. She obtained four subscriptions during the Wat ch tower
campaign and a sister started a Bible
study vvith one subscriber as a result.
Two young children whose parents
are pioneers then related their experiences. The boy said he had been
a publisher since he was quite young
and once he placed a booklet which
was tl ,e means of bringing a whole
family into the truth. They study
The Watchtower with their mother
every day.
One young publisher aged nine was
handing out handbills in Piccadilly
Relating Experiences
thrilling experiences and happenings
from afar were discussed, . but the
children only listened and learned.
Home in Biblical times was the basic
centre for training the children.
Three times a year parents took their
children to the temple at Jerusalem.
Parents must make every effort to
rear their children in the hope of
getting life in the New World. Give
that hope of everlasting life in the
New World. to your children. Give
them the New World culture which
is wholesome, practical and leads to
everlasting life. Let us all stand as
one big international family ever
praising Jehovah's name.
A. D. Schroeder at Microphone
12
F. W. Franz
of the assembly speakers emphasized
the parallel between Noah's days and
the presence of the Son of man, and
Brother Franz brought to our attention this parallel by revealing how
Christ Jesus was foreshadowed by
Noah. The ark built by Noah pictures
a new system of things created by
the Greater Noah. The seven who
went into the ark with Noah had to
have confidence in him as Jehovah's
prophet. They had to be attached to
him and walk with him as he walked
with God. In this way they were
baptized into Noah the ark builder.
It was pointed out how this symbolized the baptism into the Greater
Noah of those who come into the ark
of safety, the new system of things.
This led on to a discussion of the
occupants of the ark, and for the first
time in dealing with this prophetic
drama, .. special mention was made .of
Noah's wife. It was with joy that
13
-Counsels President
Continuing to show how the t.rans- take a certain way. We must think
forining of a Christian takes place: lovingly toward Jehovah God, and
Brother Knorr stressed that being that means thinking to please him by
made a new personality which stands obeying him and taking a faithful
out from this world results from course that honours his name and
knowledge, accurate knowledge, of furthers his Kingdom.
\Ve were further counselled to keep
the Creator. His Word reveals him,
what he thinks and what his rules of our thoughts on the obligations ahead,
action are. We can be made new, and how we are going to meet them.
becoming like him-in his image-by This includes the preparation of talks,
conducting ourselves, thinking and demonstrations for service meetings
expressing ourselves like him, and and many other things which .God has
meeting his requirements for us. This in reservation for his servants. Havnew mind dictates a new rule of ac- ing acquired a new mind, Brother
Knorr exhorted, "Let us keep that
tion but since w:i have a new life h
an old body and brain, conflict arises. mind renewed by faithfully doing his
Our mind's desire finds it easy to will, and live now as blessed proclaimgravitate to sin and selfishness. To ers of God's kingdom, as inhabitants
supplant this we need to have our of that glorious New World. Then
minds made over with knowledge. after surviving the battle of Arma"With our superior knowledge from geddon and we enter into that New
God's Word we must train our minds World alive we shall have new bodies,
in right ways of thinking. What we and we shall have new minds wholly
think on habitually greatly affects in tune with the righteous New
and influences us and induces us to World."
Between Sessions
'14
15
;1
16
Presid~nt .Knon
FACING THE
17
''
IE PLATFORM IN FOREGROUND
PLATFORM
16
17
''
36,315 AttenQ Public Lecture by Presid~nt .Knorr, entitled "Will Religion Meet the World Crisis?"
OF _JEHOVAWS
WITNESSES
'19
20
The release of the booklet containing mu:p_ist onrush. Outside Russia, Comthe full text of the talk enabled all munism has its largest parties in the
to reassimilate the evidence given and Roman Catholic lands of Italy and
check the scriptural proof so amply France. If the pope could not keep
proffered.
Communism out of his own backyard
Time and . again the audience ap- how can he be relied upon to halt the
plauded the statements made regard- onrush of anti-Christian Communism
ing the failure. of the clergy of this throughout the rest of the wor Id~"
world. They had no real outstanding
"Have no part with the religious
message, because they had forsaken clergy a~d the Communists and other
God's Word. Instead they looked. for worldly people in persecuting Jehothe .political rulers and economic vah's witnesses who preach the Kingplanners, backed by military. might, dom of God and that alone", said
material wealth and industrial organi- the speaker.
,
zation, to point out the way. "They
The unstinted applause which foldepend on bullets more than Bibles; lowed Brother Knorr's closing remarks
on bombing missions more than on showed the deep appreciation for
gospel-preaching missions".
Thun- their release from stupifying mental
derous applause greeted this and the bondage that many had experienced.
following statement, "The pope is A note of sanity had been sounded i;n
now advertised widely as the world's a mad wor Id of confused thinking.
greatest bulwark against the Com- Praise J ah yet again!
Happy Conve111tioners with the Booklet, Will Religion Meet the World Crisis?
21
Convention Servant
and Platform Photographer
The conventioners applauded the
expression of gratitude to the stadium officials for their co-operation
throughout all the, convention arrangements. "We have never experienced officials so ready and so willing
to help us", he said.
We were finally encouraged to show
our thanks to Jehovah for all his
goodness by making his praises re-
sound throughout the land so that
his name might be magnified more
and more.
22
Rapt Attention of
Audie~ce
New Releases
/f~'I '
,:lli.
;1~
I I'!~
A New
-=~==-
-------=-~- ---
Boo~! What a surprise! But that was not all; there were the
four new tracts, just what we need and filling a long,felt want. But a
new boo~let, too! What an abundance of divine blessings which brought
prolonged applause from conventioners.
Convention Activities
Much pre-convention activity is
necessary in preparation for an assembly such as the Clean Worship
Assembly at Wembley Stadium. The.
fact that there were delegates coming
to the assembly from distant lands
necessitated a good deal of preparation for their reception and accommodation, as well as the feeding of
large numbers in the limited time
available between sessions. It is always a source of amazement to those
on the outside that so much can be
accomplished in a short time by willing workers recruited from inside
our own ranks.
Rooming Accommodations
One of the chief undertakings was
the finding of rooms within reach of
the stadium for the thousands of witnesses that would attend the assembly.
The headquarters for this activity
was at the Kingdom Hall, Craven
Terrace, and the actual visiting of
the people in their homes, seeking the
rooms was done by the London company publishers. Four Kingdom Halls
located in North London served as
bases of operation. The response
from the territory covered was heartcheering, and as an interesting sidelight, no less than twenty homes were
offered for our use while the occupants were on vacation ; the keys
being left with the publisher securing
the accommodation. One thousand
free accommodations were provided
by Jehovah's witnesses themselves for
delegates from overseas.
Advertising by Bus, Placard
and Poster
Advertising
The advertising of the public lecture
on Sunday, August 5, entitled "Will
Cafeteria
To meet the material needs of such
a large gathering it becomes necesj:lary to set up an efficient cafeteria
organization and this was arranged
for by the erection of six large tents
Sound Equipment
The stadium is equipped with loud
speakers, but while these meet the
need of the stadium for announcements, they were found to be inadequate for our purposes and it was
found necessary to install additional
speakers all around the stadium. These
had to be placed on the girders high
up over the stands by the sound
technicians in advance of the opening
day.
Volunteer Service
Transportation
The transportation department was
kept busy with the receiving of the
many delegates from abroad. Air
travellers were arriving at all times
25
Pioneer Registration
Will you be one~ There could have
been but one answer if you had witnessed the smiling faces of some
2,200 full-time ministers as they converged on this Clean vVorship Assembly. Over 800 came from overseas,
representing 30 countries or more.
From Australia, Egypt, India, and
other far-flung corners of the earth
they came, distance being no barrier
to them, and throughout vVednesday
morning they lined up in hundreds to
register their presence at the assembly
and to express, in thei.r different lan~
guages, their appreciation for the
provisions made for them. Others were
stirred to sign up for pioneer service.
Much can be said regarding the
work done by the many otber departments, including Installation, First
Aid, Information, Lost and Found,
Cleaning, etc. All did their part well
and while the deepest appreciation is
felt to all who volunteered their services, all credit and honour is due to
Jehovah, who has made all these
things possible by his spirit outpoured
upon creatures who love righteousness,
motivating them to use their time,
strength and faculties to the honour
of his nl:Lme and for the comfort and
help of their fellow Christians.
26
More Smiles!
Public Press
Comments
.
.
.
'
..
Christ Jesus
Christ .Jesus is .Jehovah's chief instrument. Being "the beginning of
the creation of God'', he had a pre'human existence. (Revelation 3: 14)
Not that he was at any time equal
to God, "Who, although he was
existing in God's form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that
he should be equal to God. No, but
he emptied himself and took a slave's
.form and came to be in the likeness
:of men." (Philippians 2: 6, 7, Nrew
World Translation) He said he was
dispatched by God to the earth, and
that "the Father is greater than I
:am". (.John 14: 28, New World Translation) .Jesus' own words disprove the
pagan doctrine of trinity.
The life of this only-begotten Son
of God was transferred to the womb
of a virgin, and he was born and grew
up as a man; he was made flesh. On
earth he proved his integrity to
.Jehovah- his Father down to his very
-death on the torture stake. He always
pleased his Father.
Thus .Jesus qualified to be the King
of God's kingdom. He is the "Seed"
that will bruise Satan's head. (Genesis 3 : 15) God's undeserved kindness
also provided through Jesus Christ's
death another thing necessary for his
purpose: a ransom from the sin and
death brought on by the rebellion of
Adam, the father of the human race.
lt is the Kingdom under Christ that
Armageddon
Armageddon marks the accomplished end. In this great battle God's
heavenly forces will attack the Devil's
organization, destroyi:rig first the visible. part, the elements of false religion, politics and commerce with
their fascist and communist ideologies, then will proceed to slaughter
the Devil and his wicked demons, who
influence the course of wicked men
today. Jehovah says regarding this
fight: "For .Jehovah hath indignation
against all the nations, and wrath
against all their host: he hath utterly
destroyed them, he hath delivered
them to the slaughter. Their slain
also shall be cast out, and the stench
of their dead bodies shall come up;
and the mountains shall be melted
with their blood. And all the host of
heaven shall be dissolved, and the
heavens shall be rolled together as a
scroll; and all their host shall fade
Hell
:so'
ID
Expansion
The active publishers of the Kingdom message have grown with the
years. Looking back over many years
of Kingdom activity by Jehovah's
31
Work Accomplished by
Jehovah's Spirit
The work accomplished over the
years could never have been done by
human creatures alone, rather it has
been made possible by Jehovah
through his outpoured spirit upon his
consecrated witnesses, as recorded at
32