IT IS a pleasure to welcome you to the Britainbranch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We hopethat your visit will be a pleasant one. Our branchcomplex is called Bethel, which means “Houseof God.” This Biblical name is fitting becauseall those who serve here are ordained minis-ters, dedicated to Jehovah God. They devotethemselves full-time to supporting the Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work.—Matthew24:14; 28:19, 20.To organize this work, there are over 90 branchoffices worldwide—all working under the direc-tion of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Wit-nesses.

Welcome!

DID YOU KNOW?

˛ The very first branch office of Jehovah’s Wit-nesses was established in London in 1900.˛ Our family members come from 35 differentcountries.

& Gipsy Lane,1900

,Eversholt Street,

1903

Craven Terrace,1911 /

Welcome to theBritain Branch Officeof Jehovah’s Witnesses

WE SINCERELY hope that your visit to Bethelhas been a rewarding one. No doubt it hashelped you to become better acquainted withthe work that Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing toaid people in their quest for a better futurethrough God’s Kingdom. May your visit with usbe an encouragement to you in your efforts tolearn more about our loving Creator and to liveby his righteous standards.

V IS IT ING HOURSVisitors are welcome to take a guided tour ofour facilities. Tours are available from Monday toFriday from 8:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m., and from1:00 p.m. till 4:00 p.m.

˘ 2013 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvaniafo-E Bi

A good spiritual routine is vital for Bethellife. Each workday morning, the Bethel familycome together to consider a Bible text from thebooklet Examining the Scriptures Daily. A chair-man presides over this 15-minute discussion,in which members of the family are assigned tocomment on the text. After a prayer a heartybreakfast is served.On Monday evenings the entire Bethel familygathers to study the Bible with the help of TheWatchtower. At times, there are special pro-grammes after the Watchtower study.Each member of the family also makes time forpersonal Bible study and regularly shares in theKingdom-preaching work.

Bethel family members are furnished with roomand board and a small monthly allowance to as-sist with their personal expenses. They can trulybe called a family because of their unity in serv-ing their heavenly Father, Jehovah God. As afamily they work together, enjoy meals together,and study the Bible together.A number of necessary tasks are performedat Bethel. For example, some family membersserve in the kitchen, where they prepare nutri-tious meals that are served in our comfortabledining rooms. Thus, the family benefits from awell-balanced diet in a wholesome environment.Others do cleaning, housekeeping, or laundry.Well-kept buildings, rooms, and clothing all dig-nify our holy God, Jehovah.—1 Peter 1:16.

Members of our Maintenance Department in-clude skilled tradesmen, such as electricians,plumbers, carpenters, and engineers. Routinemaintenance prevents equipment from break-ing down and saves money on costly repairs.

Spiritual Programmes

Bethel Home

Maintenance

D I D Y O U K N O W ?

˛ Bethel family members attend some 80 differ-ent congregations. Many learn a foreign language,such as Bengali, Mandarin, Romanian, or Turkish.˛ The Bethel Entrants’ School trains new arrivals.They are required to read the entire Bible duringtheir first year.

D I D Y O U K N O W ?

˛ In one year, the laundry washes some300 tonnes of clothes, linen, and cleaning cloths.That is equivalent to about 66,000 wash loads athome!

D I D Y O U K N O W ?

˛ Annually, the Maintenance Department per-forms over 1,800 maintenance checks.

Great care is exercised when using donatedfunds to purchase needed items. From jams togenerators, the Purchasing Department strivesfor high quality at low cost.

Literature translated into people’s mother tonguesreaches hearts. This department translates theWatchtower and Awake! magazines and other publi-cations. World headquarters sends English text manymonths in advance. Translators work in teams ofthree to ensure the translation is understandableand accurate.

This department supports the preaching activityof Jehovah’s Witnesses in Britain. It handlescorrespondence from circuit overseers, congre-gation elders, pioneers, and others. Conven-tions and assemblies are scheduled here. TheService Department also processes field ser-vice reports from the Britain branch territoryand provides specific direction as well as en-couragement to Jehovah’s people in the branchterritory.

OfficesPurchasing Department

Translation Department

Service Department

DID YOU KNOW?˛ Each year Britain branch hosts negotiations forpurchasing tens of thousands of tonnes of paperused by printing branches globally.

DID YOU KNOW?˛ The Britain branch supervises the translation of Bi-ble literature into 11 languages, including Irish, ScottishGaelic, Welsh, and British Sign Language.

DID YOU KNOW?˛ You can search for Kingdom Hall addressesand meeting times on the website jw.org.

& Translators work in teams of three

This is where literature is printed, packed, anddispatched. The printery prints and distributesmillions of magazines and brochures each year.

The Graphics Department combines artwork, photo-graphs, and composed text, using the MultilanguageElectronic Publishing System (MEPS). Completedpages are processed to form a set of electronic filesin four basic colour components. This information isinscribed by laser on four separate plates for printingthe colours cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to formthe full-colour images.

The pressroom has one web offsetpress and a number of sheetfed off-set presses. The web offset presshas an automatic splicer that makespaper-roll changes without slowing orstopping the printing. It can print upto 188,000 magazines an hour.Sheetfed presses print handbills,forms, letterhead stationery, and en-velopes.

The Shipping Department processes congrega-tion literature requests from Britain and Ireland,along with requests from other branches. Beth-el lorries deliver these items throughout Britainand Europe.

The Printery

Graphics DepartmentPressroom

Shipping Department

D I D Y O U K N O W ?

˛ Our production record for one week is8,096,450 magazines and brochures.˛ Annually, we import more than 1,200 tonnes ofBibles and books from other branches for distribu-tion.