1955_Preaching Together In Unity (Kazanie wspólnie w jedności).docx

PREACHING
TOGETHER
IN
UNITY

ISSUED JANUARY 1, 1955, BY THE
WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY
BROOKLYN, N. Y.

Made in the United States of America

To the Minister of Jehovah's Kingdom

This booklet, Preaching Together in Unity, is written for those who are dedicated to the service of the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, Jehovah God. By your study of the Bible and such Bible helps as are distributed by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society you can fully appreciate that Jehovah has a theocratic organization. In times past we have seen that Jehovah has worked with an organization for the accomplishment of his purposes. Today he is doing the same thing. Jehovah's witnesses are his name people and these have been given the responsibility of preaching "this gospel of the kingdom ... in all the world for a witness." To all persons who have taken up the service of God and who have dedicated their lives to God's ministry and symbolized it by water immersion this booklet is issued.
All Jehovah's witnesses do desire to preach together in unity, and so that each one may appreciate the harmonious arrangement of Jehovah's visible organization, every dedicated person should read this booklet carefully, study it and then see to it that he individually works in harmony with these arrangements and this organization. When all of God's ministers understand the various responsibilities of those in the organization the whole organization will run with greater smoothness and all will be able to co-operate better with those who have responsibilities as to the direction of the work. Individually every one of us wants to praise Jehovah's name and bless it every day, and we know that greater accomplishment will come if we do our preaching together in unity, to the honor and glory of Jehovah's name.

From time to time this booklet should be studied in the service meetings of the congregation so that all can review and keep the theocratic organization clearly in mind, for Jehovah is using this organization in this day to fulfill his purpose.
This booklet has been issued to:

___________________________________________________________________
(Name of Kingdom Publisher)
___________________________________________________________________
(Street Address)
___________________________________________________________________
(City and State, or Province)

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PREACHING TOGETHER IN UNITY

ALL men and women who have dedicated themselves to Jehovah God know that over 1900 years ago the Sovereign Ruler of the universe sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that those believing on him might have everlasting life. This Son, Christ Jesus, became Jehovah's chief Minister and Witness and fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1, 2 (AS): "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." This Christ Jesus surely did after his baptism in the river Jordan. It was there that he symbolized his dedication to the service of Jehovah, his Father.

2 Now that we have dedicated our lives we must study the pattern that Christ Jesus set and then walk in his footsteps. Outstanding in his ministry was the proclamation: "The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near." (Matt. 4:17, NW) Jesus knew that his followers must spread this good news of the Kingdom far and wide, to all nations, and he commanded them: "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the consummation of the system of things." (Matt. 28:19, 20, NW) His faithful followers right down to this day have followed out this command.

3 Now at the consummation of the system of things we see Jehovah God raising up a great crowd of people known as Jehovah's witnesses, and these are formed into a New World society. They are commissioned to "preach the word." Christ Jesus has come again and he is on his throne in the kingdom of the heavens. That is why Paul was so sincere in speaking to the young man Timothy, as recorded in 2 Timothy 4:1, 2

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(NW): "I earnestly beg you before God and Christ Jesus, who is destined to judge the living and the dead, and by his manifestation and his kingdom, Preach the word, be at it urgently in favorable season, in troublesome season."

REACHING THOSE WHO WANT TO HEAR

4 No matter what conditions exist throughout the world Jehovah's witnesses continue to go forth preaching together in unity and announcing that Jehovah's kingdom is the only hope for all mankind. Because of their earnest efforts and their fulfilling of Jehovah's command, the "other sheep" that Jesus said would be gathered are being brought together into one flock under one Shepherd in the New World society. All these dedicated servants of Jehovah God are ministers and they want to preach together in unity. — 1 Pet. 2:21; John 18:37.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

5 The world will not like our message, because it is God's message, and Satan "has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through." (2 Cor. 4:4, NW) Therefore persecution and great pressure will be brought to bear on persons who preach this good news of the Kingdom by those who oppose the message. No matter what happens the responsibility is upon us to go forward preaching the good news, because we have dedicated our lives to serve Jehovah. "Now we are not the kind that shrink back to destruction, but the kind that have faith to the preserving alive of the soul." (Heb. 10: 39, NW) We have declared ourselves as Jehovah's witnesses and therefore we must continue to preach as such. Jehovah himself has declared, "Ye are my witnesses." Therefore we will joyfully go forward bearing our own responsibilities within Jehovah's theocratic organization. — Isa. 43:8-12.

GAINING MATURITY

6 There are many things that we must do in order to prove our ministry and be able to carry out our preaching work together in unity with the others of Jehovah's witnesses in the theocratic organization. We must obey the Word of God. We

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must not forsake the gathering of ourselves together, because by so doing we shall be able to incite others to love and right works. (Heb. 10:25, NW) We must press on to maturity (Heb. 6:1, NW) The attendance at meetings of Jehovah's people is essential.

7 Co-operation with the service agency of Jehovah's witnesses, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, is necessary. This Society has been dispensing knowledge to the household of faith for many years and Jehovah's blessing on that arrangement is very manifest. Support the local congregation arrangements for Bible study and field service activity, which is carried on under the supervision of the Society and under the direction of the appointed servants. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is interested in only one thing: the preaching of Jehovah's kingdom world-wide, which is in vindication of Jehovah's name and Word.

8 God's Word tells us: "Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching." (1 Tim. 4:16, NW) A minister teaches and in order to teach it will be each one's responsibility to go from house to house and preach this good news of the Kingdom. On finding interested persons make back-calls on them, and if they are truly delighted with the message of the Kingdom start a home Bible study with them. If you have paid constant attention to yourself by attending all the meetings of the Society's local congregation, you will be a fine, well-qualified teacher and can help these other sheep to see their own responsibility in these last days of the present system of things.

"WITH THE MOUTH ONE MAKES PUBLIC DECLARATION"

9 If we seek first the Kingdom and want to tell other people about it, it will require time in Jehovah's service — time in going from house to house so that we can publicly declare the Word of God by our mouths. It is essential that each one make public declaration for salvation. (Rom. 10:9, 10, NW) In addition to making this public declaration by word of mouth the Society has published printed sermons in book and booklet form and also in the form of two magazines. These, along with God's Word, the Bible, should be presented to the people so that, while the minister is not at the home

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to do the talking, the persons interested in God's Word can read and study on their own.

10 All Jehovah's witnesses are interested in using the same method of teaching and preaching as that employed by Jesus and his disciples 1900 years ago. Jehovah's chief Witness preached the kingdom of God at the homes of the people and publicly. It made no difference to him whether few were in his hearing or many. (Matt. 9:35; Mark 6:32-34; Luke 5:1-3; 8:1) Jesus having set the pattern, the disciples followed him by preaching in the same manner. (Luke 10:1-5; Acts 5:42; 20:20, 21) Jehovah's witnesses today can do no better, for the best way for them to preach this good news is to go directly to the people's homes, call again and again if they show interest and start a free home Bible study. If the persons we find are other sheep and are to be gathered to Jehovah's New World society, then we should continue to call on them, having the same idea in mind that Paul had, namely, a "view to the training of the holy ones for ministerial work." (Eph. 4:12, NW) Thousands upon thousands of persons upon whom we call will appreciate that "this undeserved kindness was given, that [they] should declare to the nations the good news." — Eph. 3:8, NW.

11 It is not our purpose as Jehovah's witnesses to convert the world. Jehovah's witnesses fully realize that it is impossible to do this and that their burden of responsibility is to proclaim the Kingdom message throughout all the inhabited earth for a witness and seek to help persons who are of good will toward God and upright in heart so that they, too, may learn of Jehovah's purposes. (Ps. 64:10; Matt. 24:14) In doing this work Jehovah's witnesses are not salesmen or peddlers of the Word of God but they do use Bibles, books, booklets, magazines, tracts and other printed material, leaving these with interested persons for a small contribution sufficient to cover the cost of printing and handling these publications. Many of the persons met in the witnessing work are unable to contribute, and so millions of copies of booklets, magazines and tracts are given away yearly so that they, too, can be comforted. The work of the Watch Tower Society and Jehovah's witnesses is not a commercial work. The publications are printed so that we can carry out to a fuller extent our responsibility of preaching this good news of the Kingdom in all the world for a witness. — 2 Cor. 2:17, NW.

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12 Having this glorious treasure of service and having the privilege of acting as ambassadors for Jehovah God, Jehovah's witnesses will at all times conduct themselves as ministers in a manner befitting their representation of the Sovereign Ruler of the universe and his kingdom. Therefore their appearance will always be one of neatness and cleanliness. Their words will be gracious and they will speak kindly to the people. They will always have in mind that they are his representatives and will act as such: "In no way are we giving any cause for stumbling, that our ministry might not be found fault with." (2 Cor. 6:3, NW) Our message and deportment will be as "ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us." — 2 Cor. 5:20, NW.

TERRITORY

13 Each congregation of Jehovah's witnesses is assigned a certain section of the country, which we call the congregation's territory. The congregation should see to it that this territory is worked thoroughly as many times through the year as it is possible to do so. An effort should be made to witness to the occupants of every home in the territory.

14 Individuals, that is, congregation publishers and pioneers, may have assignments to cover within the congregation's territory. The congregation should divide its territory into small sections, and if any individual publisher wants one of these sections to work himself he can have it if it is not assigned to someone else.

15 The magazine-territory servant will issue all territory, assigning it either as an individual assignment or to a congregation book study conductor, who will always hold territory convenient to the service center. A service center is a place where a congregation book study is held once each week. Those persons attending a congregation book study and who want to work in group witnessing can receive territory from the study conductor at the service center. The study conductor will be the overseer, the one responsible for seeing that all the territory is properly covered. It is hoped that all territory will be covered once every four months.

16 All the territory assigned to a congregation, towns, cities, rurals and the business sections within cities, should be worked in the most practical and systematic manner. It is

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the responsibility of the congregation servant and the magazine-territory servant to see that all persons within that territory are given the opportunity to hear the message of the Kingdom.

GROUP WITNESSING

17 If individuals do not want to take out an individual territory but prefer working with groups, this group witnessing should be done from the service center, the Kingdom Hall or some other convenient location selected for field service on week ends, during the week and evenings. Group witnessing is encouraging for those who are newly interested, as it gives them the opportunity of going with someone else until they are thoroughly trained.

18 When the time for assembly arrives all should be on hand, should co-operate with the one in charge and leave promptly for the field service. If the assembly is in the service center or the Kingdom Hall it would be good to have a brief discussion on the daily text, maybe some comments on the presentation for the month and some short experiences. This entire discussion should not last for more than fifteen minutes. Sufficient territory or houses should be assigned to the individuals working them, to keep them busy for the hours set aside for service. If an area can be properly worked with two or three publishers, then no more should be sent to that particular section. Larger groups can always be assigned to the more densely populated areas.

19 Local conditions will govern the time you should begin service on weekdays or on Sunday mornings. Each congregation servant is acquainted with the general routine of the inhabitants of the territory and he can decide when it is best to start witnessing from door to door. Every minister of God should devote as much time every week as he can possibly arrange. It is a good thing for individuals to have some territory assigned to them near their homes so they can work, as they have opportunity, from house to house, with the most recent publications or magazines. The congregation should do everything it can to make things convenient for the members of the congregation to get out into the field, for that is our principal method of spreading this good news of the Kingdom.

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HOUSE-TO-HOUSE PREACHING

20 There are many methods of doing service work, but the most effective way of preaching the good news is for each dedicated person to go from house to house and talk to the people living in their own homes. It is here that one receives the greatest joy and contentment in Kingdom service and is brought on to maturity. Every minister should be equipped to give several three- to eight-minute sermons and particularly have one in mind when he preaches at the door.

21 Those who are experienced house-to-house publishers have the privilege of assisting others who are new in the truth, or others who wish to observe someone else's method of preaching, and of taking them along in the service until such time as they wish to go alone. The congregation servant has a responsibility in seeing to it that the newer ones are properly trained to present the truth in a pleasing, clear manner, and he will arrange for them to go out with the more mature publishers in the work. The study conductor can also arrange for the less experienced publishers to be accompanied by the more mature ones, who have greater experience. Being companions in the service in this manner, we shall be able to help one another go on to maturity and, when we are able to present the message without difficulty, then, at every opportunity, we should go alone from house to house. When the circuit or district servant visits the congregation he, too, will be pleased to go with you, to help you improve your house-to-house activity. Every publisher should be able to learn something through this experience. All dedicated servants of Jehovah should strive to do the work just as Jesus did it, going from house to house preaching the gospel.

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE RECORD SHEET

22 It is recommended that each publisher keep a house-to-house record and make notation on these sheets. It will aid him to know on whom to make return calls and it will assist him to cover his territory thoroughly by calling later on the persons who were not at home.

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BACK-CALLS

23 When one finds interest in the house-to-house work and places literature with the interested person it is the part of wisdom to follow up this placement and see how the person is getting along. Making a back-call on this individual may help to develop it into a home Bible study. It is our responsibility to feed the other sheep. If each publisher keeps a record of the literature placed with interested persons it will be easy to make the return call. It is better for the person making the initial visit to make the return call within a week or two. It is recommended that on these return calls the publisher have a ten- to fifteen-minute sermon prepared on the subject that was of greatest interest on the first visit.

24 Back-calls may be made on persons who have not obtained literature, or maybe who received only a tract, but who have shown interest. Our purpose is to find the other sheep, and the back-call and Bible study work will accomplish this. Back-calls should be made on the placements of all books, booklets, magazines, subscriptions for The Watchtower and Awake! or on any person whose name is turned in to the congregation with a request that a call be made on the individual.

25 The evening is a good time to make these return calls. Groups can meet at the service center and go out from there to the territory worked in previous weeks or, if you are holding your own territory, you can make your calls evenings or at any time during the day. If persons are working in the same territory week after week they will find it very convenient to make back-calls without too much extra effort, because they will be in the location of these persons witnessed to. Plan your back-call work. Having newly interested ones go with you is a fine way to help them get further experience in preaching the good news.

26 When a subscription for The Watchtower or Awake! is obtained, the publisher will find it advantageous to call back and deliver the current issue and talk a little more concerning the kingdom of God. This may help it to develop into a home Bible study.

27 When a subscription expires at the end of a year and it is not renewed by the subscriber, the Society sends to the congregation a back-call slip on this expired subscription. These calls should be made immediately, and the publisher

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getting the subscriber to take The Watchtower or Awake! may count it as a new subscription and should be sure to make back-calls and this time endeavor to start a Bible study.

HOME BIBLE STUDIES

28 Each publisher should endeavor to conduct at least one home Bible study every week. It may require a...