Editing Jehovah's Witnesses (section)

==Organization==
{{Main|Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses}}
[[File:Watchtower Bible & Tract Society (world headquarters).jpg|thumb|right|Former world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses]]
Jehovah's Witnesses are organized [[Hierarchy|hierarchically]], in what the leadership calls a theocratic organization, reflecting their belief that it is God's visible organization on earth.{{sfn|Penton|1997|page=211}} Jehovah's Witnesses establish branch offices to manage their activities in various countries or regions.{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|page=70}} Each branch office is also referred to as Bethel.<ref name="Chryssides 2008 pages=17–18">{{harvnb|Chryssides|2008|pages=17–18}}</ref> Supporting staff live on these properties where they operate as a religious community and administrative unit.<ref name="Chryssides 2008 pages=17–18"/> Their living expenses and those of other full-time volunteers are covered along with a basic monthly [[stipend]].<ref>{{cite book|first=M. James|last=Penton|edition=3rd|isbn=978-1442616059|pages=326, 460–461 |publisher=University of Toronto Press|title=Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses|year=2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNfTBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA326}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Botting|Botting|1984|page=32}}</ref> These volunteers are called Bethelites and are assigned specific tasks such as printing literature or doing laundry. They are allowed to marry but must leave Bethel if they have children. Bethelites are expected to read the Bible cover-to-cover during their first year of service. Consultants are sometimes hired for specialized tasks such as legal advice. Regular Jehovah's Witness members are encouraged to visit Bethel as a recreational activity.{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|pages=72–73}}

Traveling overseers appoint local elders and ministerial servants, while branch offices may appoint regional committees for matters such as [[Kingdom Hall]] construction or disaster relief.{{sfn|Penton|1997|page=101, 233–235}} Each congregation has a body of appointed unpaid male elders and ministerial servants. Elders maintain general responsibility for congregational governance, setting meeting times, selecting speakers and conducting meetings, directing the public preaching work, and creating judicial committees to investigate and decide disciplinary action for cases involving sexual misconduct or doctrinal breaches.<ref name="alternative">{{Citation|last1=Gallagher |first1=Eugene V.|last2=Ashcraft|first2=W. Michael |title=Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America|place=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press|volume=2|year=2006|page=69 |isbn=978-0-275-98712-1}}</ref> New elders are appointed by a traveling overseer after recommendation by the existing body of elders. Ministerial servants—appointed in a similar manner as elders—fulfill clerical and attendant duties, but may also teach and conduct meetings.<ref name="pentongov">{{harvnb|Penton|1997|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=38SYXalMLeQC&pg=PA175 174–176]}}</ref> Jehovah's Witnesses do not use ''elder'' as a title to signify a formal clergy-laity division,<ref>{{cite book|first=Elizabeth J.|last=Taylor|isbn=978-0-8261-0860-9|page=163 |publisher=Springer Publishing Company|title=Religion: A Clinical Guide for Nurses|year=2012}}</ref> though elders may employ [[ecclesiastical privilege]] regarding confession of sins.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 27, 2015|page=16|title=Case Study 29: Transcript (day 147) |website=Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse |url=https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/Case%20Study%2029%20-%20Transcript%20-%20Jehovahs%20Witnesses%20-%20Day%20147%20-%2027072015.pdf}}</ref>

Much of the denomination's funding is donated, primarily by members. There is no [[tithe|tithing]] or collection.<ref name="Hans" >{{cite book|last=Hesse|first=Hans|title=Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah's Witnesses During the Nazi-Regime |publisher=Edition Temmen c/o|year=2001|location=Chicago|pages=296, 298 |isbn=978-3-861-08750-2}}</ref> In 2001 ''[[Newsday]]'' listed the Watch Tower Society as one of [[New York City|New York]]'s 40 richest corporations, with revenues exceeding $950&nbsp;million.<ref name="pub_titans"/><ref>{{cite web|title=At the Top / NYC Company Profiles / NYC 40|url=https://www.newsday.com/business/technology/at-the-top-nyc-company-profiles-nyc-40-1.365255|website=Newsday|access-date=July 30, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112025603/https://www.newsday.com/business/technology/at-the-top-nyc-company-profiles-nyc-40-1.365255|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2016, it ranked eighteenth for donations received by registered charities in Canada at $80 million.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Derek |title=9 things you likely didn't know about Jehovah's Witnesses |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/9-things-you-likely-didn-t-know-about-jehovah-s-witnesses-1.3839669 |website=CTV News |date=March 24, 2018 |access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref> From 1969 until 2015, the denomination's headquarters were housed in [[Brooklyn]], with plans to completely move its operations to [[Warwick, New York|Warwick]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Matthews |first1=Karen |title=Jehovah's Witnesses to sell Brooklyn properties, may get $1 billion U.S. |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/jehovah-s-witnesses-to-sell-brooklyn-properties-may-get-1-billion-u-s/article_714bf567-93be-5e8d-a7c3-a5c0a2b1f42d.html |website=Toronto Star |date=December 13, 2015 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=11 June 2024}}</ref> The property was sold to [[Kushner Companies]] for $340 million in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levitt |first1=David |title=A Bad Sign for Owners of Brooklyn's Famed Watchtower Building |url=https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/a-bad-sign-for-owners-of-brooklyn-s-famed-watchtower-building-1.1122013 |website=BNN Bloomberg |access-date=11 June 2024}}</ref>

=== Governing Body ===
{{main|Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses}}
The denomination is led by the Governing Body—an all-male group that varies in size. The Governing Body directs several committees that are responsible for administrative functions, including publishing, assembly programs and evangelizing activities.<ref name="pentongov" /> [[Doctrine]]s of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Governing Body, which assumes responsibility for [[exegesis|interpreting]] and applying scripture.{{sfn|Penton|1997|pages=58, 61–62}} The Governing Body does not issue a single, comprehensive statement of faith, but expresses its doctrinal positions in a variety of ways through publications published by the Watch Tower Society.<ref>{{harvnb|Beckford|1975|page=119}}</ref> The publications teach that doctrinal changes and refinements result from a process of progressive [[revelation]], in which God gradually reveals his will and purpose,{{sfn|Penton|1997|pages=165–171}} and that such enlightenment or "new light" results from the application of reason and study.{{sfn|Penton|1997|page=165}} 

Sociologist Andrew Holden's [[Ethnography|ethnographic]] study of the group concluded that pronouncements of the Governing Body, through Watch Tower Society publications, carry almost as much weight as the Bible.<ref>{{harvnb|Holden|2002|page=67}}.</ref> The organization makes no provision for members to criticize or contribute to its teachings.<ref>{{harvnb|Beckford|1975|pages=84, 89, 92, 119–120}}</ref> Witness publications strongly discourage followers from questioning doctrine and counsel received from the Governing Body, reasoning that it is to be trusted as part of "God's organization".{{sfn|Beckford|1975|pages=89, 95, 103, 120, 204, 221}} The denomination does not tolerate dissent over doctrines and practices;{{sfn|Beckford|1975|pages=89, 95, 103, 120, 204, 221}} members who openly disagree with the group's teachings are expelled and shunned.<ref name="Muramoto">{{cite journal|author=Muramoto, O.|title=Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 1. Should bioethical deliberation consider dissidents' views?|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|date=August 1998|volume=24|issue=4|pages=223–230|pmc=1377670 |pmid=9752623|doi=10.1136/jme.24.4.223}}</ref>

===Gender roles===
Jehovah's Witnesses have a [[complementarianism|complementarian]] view of women. Only men may hold positions of authority, such as ministerial servant or elder. Women may actively participate in the [[#Evangelism|public preaching work]], serve at [[Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses#Branch offices|Bethel]],{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|p=67}} and profess to be members of the [[#Life after death|144,000]].{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|p=68}} They are not typically allowed to address the congregation directly.{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|p=13}} In rare circumstances, women can substitute in certain capacities if there are no eligible men. In these situations, women must wear a [[Christian head covering|head covering]] if they are performing a teaching role.{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|p=67}} Jehovah's Witnesses believe that [[transgender]] people should live as the gender they were assigned at birth and view [[gender-affirming surgery]] as mutilation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sharzer |first1=Leonard |last2=Jones |first2=David |last3=Alipour |first3=Mehrdad |last4=Pacha |first4=Kesley |title=Gender Confirmation Surgery: Principles and Techniques for an Emerging Field |date=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-29093-1 |pages=237–257|publisher=Springer }}</ref> Modesty in dress and grooming is frequently emphasized for both men and women.{{sfn|Penton|1997|pages=152, 180}}