Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organizationPennsylvania Department of State.
/ref> headquartered in Warwick, New York. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, administer and disseminate doctrines for the group and is often referred to by members of the denomination simply as "the Society". It is the parent organization of a number of Watch Tower subsidiaries, including the Watchtower Society of New York and International Bible Students Association. The number of voting shareholders of the corporation is limited to between 300 and 500 "mature, active and faithful" male Jehovah's Witnesses. About 5800 Jehovah's Witnesses provide voluntary unpaid labour, as members of a religious order, in three large Watch Tower Society facilities in New York;"Jehovahs loses comp case: Church may be forced to pay millions", ''New York Daily News'', January 6, 2006.
Retrieved October 3, 2009. nearly 15,000 other members of the order work at the Watch Tower Society's other facilities worldwide.

The organization was formed in 1881 as ''Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society'' for the purpose of distributing religious tracts. The society was incorporated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 15, 1884. In 1896, the society was renamed ''Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society''. Following a leadership dispute in the Bible Student movement, the Watch Tower Society remained associated with the branch of the movement that became known as Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1955, the corporation was renamed ''Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania''. In 1976, all activities of the Watch Tower Society were brought under the supervision of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.

History

On February 16, 1881, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, for the purpose of organizing the printing and distribution of religious tracts. William Henry Conley, a Pittsburgh industrialist and philanthropist, served as president, with Charles Taze Russell serving as secretary-treasurer. The society's primary journal was ''Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence'', first published in 1879 by Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement. Other early writers for the Watch Tower Society included J. H. Paton and W. I. Mann. Formation of the society was announced in the April 1881 issue of ''Zion's Watch Tower''. That year, the society received donations of $35,391.18.

Incorporation

On December 15, 1884, the society was incorporated as Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in Pennsylvania as a non-profit, non-stock corporation with Russell as president. The corporation was located in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In its charter, written by Russell, the society's purpose was stated as "the mental, moral and religious improvement of men and women, by teaching the Bible by means of the publication and distribution of Bibles, books, papers, pamphlets and other Bible literature, and by providing oral lectures free for the people". The charter provided for a board of seven directors, three of whom served as officers—a president, vice-president (initially William I. Mann) and secretary-treasurer (initially Maria Russell). The charter stipulated that the officers be chosen from the directors and be elected annually by ballot. Board members would hold office for life unless removed by a two-thirds vote by shareholders. Vacancies on the board resulting from death, resignation or removal would be filled by a majority vote of the remaining board members within 20 days; if such vacancies were not filled within 30 days an appointment could be made by the president, with the appointments lasting only until the next annual corporation meeting, when vacancies would be filled by election.C.T. Russell, "A Conspiracy Exposed", ''Zion's Watch Tower'' Extra edition, April 25, 1894, page 55-60.
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Anyone subscribing to $10 or more of the society's ''Old Testament Tracts'' or donating $10 or more to the society was deemed a voting member and entitled to one vote per $10 donated. Russell indicated that despite having a board and shareholders, the society would be directed by only two people—him and his wife Maria. Russell said that as of December 1893 he and his wife owned 3705, or 58 percent, of the 6383 voting shares, "and thus control the Society; and this was fully understood by the directors from the first. Their usefulness, it was understood, would come to the front in the event of our death... For this reason, also, formal elections were not held; because it would be a mere farce, a deception, to call together voting shareholders from all over the world, at great expense, to find upon arrival that their coming was useless, Sister Russell and myself having more than a majority over all that could gather. However, no one was hindered from attending such elections." The influx of donations gradually diluted the proportion of the Russells' shares and in 1908 their voting shares constituted less than half the total. Russell emphasized the limitations of the corporation, explaining: "Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society is not a 'religious society' in the ordinary meaning of this term" He also stated, "This is a business association merely... It has no creed or confession. It is merely a business convenience in disseminating the truth." Incorporation of the society meant that it would outlive Russell, so individuals who wished to bequeath their money or property to him would not have to alter their will if he died before they did. On September 19, 1896, the name of the corporation was changed to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

From 1908 Russell required the directors to write out resignations when they were appointed so Russell could dismiss them by simply filling in the date. In 1909, Russell instructed legal counsel Joseph Franklin Rutherford to determine whether the society's headquarters could be moved to Brooklyn, New York. Rutherford reported that because it had been established under Pennsylvania law, the corporation could not be registered in New York state, but suggested that a new corporation be registered there to do the society's work. Rutherford subsequently organized the formation of the People's Pulpit Association, which was incorporated on February 23, 1909, and wrote the charter which gave the president—to be elected for life at the first meeting—"absolute power and control" of its activities in New York. The society sold its buildings in Pittsburgh and moved staff to its new base in Brooklyn. Although all New York property was bought in the name of the New York corporation and all legal affairs of the society done in its name, Russell insisted on the continued use of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society name on all correspondence and publications.

The move from Pennsylvania to New York occurred during court proceedings over the breakdown of Russells' marriage. His wife Maria had been granted a "limited divorce" on March 4, 1908, but in 1909 returned to court in Pittsburgh to request an increase in alimony, which her former husband refused. Authors Barbara Grizzuti Harrison and Edmond C. Gruss have claimed Russell's move to Brooklyn was motivated by his desire to transfer from the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania courts. They claim he transferred all his assets to the Watch Tower Society so he could declare himself bankrupt and avoid being jailed for failure to pay alimony.

In 1914, the International Bible Students Association was incorporated in Britain to administer affairs in that country. Like the People's Pulpit Association, it was subsidiary to the Pennsylvania parent organization and all work done through both subsidiaries was described as the work of the Watch Tower Society. ''The Watchtower'' noted: "The editor of ''The Watchtower'' is the President of all three of these Societies. All financial responsibility connected with the work proceeds from he Pennsylvania corporation From it the other Societies and all the branches of the work receive their financial support... we use sometimes the one name and sometimes the other in various parts of our work—yet they all in the end mean the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, to which all donations should be made."

Leadership dispute

Russell died on October 31, 1916, in Pampa, Texas during a cross-country preaching trip. On January 6, 1917, board member and society legal counsel Joseph Franklin Rutherford, aged 47, was elected president of the Watch Tower Society, unopposed, at the Pittsburgh convention. Under his presidency, the role of the society underwent a major change. By-laws passed by both the Pittsburgh convention and the board of directors stated that the president would be the executive officer and general manager of the society, giving him full charge of its affairs worldwide.

By June 1917, four of the seven Watch Tower Society directors, Robert H. Hirsh, Alfred I. Ritchie, Isaac F. Hoskins and James D. Wright, had decided they had erred in endorsing Rutherford's expanded powers of management, claiming Rutherford had become autocratic. Hirsch attempted to rescind the new by-laws and reclaim the powers of management from the president, but Rutherford later claimed he had by then detected a conspiracy among the directors to seize control of the society. In July, Rutherford gained a legal opinion from a Philadelphia corporation lawyer that none of his opposers were legally directors of the society.

On July 12, 1917, Rutherford filled what he claimed were four vacancies on the board, appointing A. H. Macmillan and Pennsylvania Bible Students W. E. Spill, J. A. Bohnet, and George H. Fisher as directors. Between August and November the society and the four ousted directors published a series of pamphlets, with each side accusing the other of ambitious and reckless behavior. The former directors also claimed Rutherford had required all headquarters workers to sign a petition supporting him and threatened dismissal for any who refused to sign. The former directors left the Brooklyn headquarters on August 8, 1917. On January 5, 1918, Rutherford was returned to office.

In May 1918, Rutherford and seven other Watch Tower directors and officers were arrested on charges of sedition under the federal Espionage Act. On June 21, 1918, they were sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. Rutherford feared his opponents would gain control of the Society in his absence, but on January 2, 1919, he learned he had been re-elected president at the Pittsburgh convention the day before. However, by mid-1919 about one in seven Bible Students had chosen to leave rather than accept Rutherford's leadership, forming groups such as The Stand Fast Movement, Paul Johnson Movement, Dawn Bible Students Association, Pastoral Bible Institute of Brooklyn, Elijah Voice Movement, and Eagle Society.

Although formed as a "business convenience" with the purpose of publishing and distributing Bible-based literature and managing the funds necessary for that task, the corporation from the 1920s began its transformation into the "religious society" Russell had insisted it was not, introducing centralized control and regulation of Bible Student congregations worldwide. In 1938, Rutherford introduced the term "theocracy" to describe the hierarchical leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses, with ''Consolation'' explaining: "The Theocracy is at present administered by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, of which Judge Rutherford is the president and general manager." The society appointed "zone servants" to supervise congregations and in a ''Watchtower'' article Rutherford declared the need for congregations to "get in line" with the changed structure.

Amendments to charter