Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
Until January 1976, the president exercised complete control of doctrines, publications and activities of the Watch Tower Society and the religious denominations with which it was connected—the Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses.
[17] A year later, in an article opposing the democratic election of congregation elders, the magazine said the appointment of such ones was the duty of "a visible governing body under Jehovah God and his Christ".
[22] Three weeks later, on October 20, four additional men joined the seven members of the Society's board of directors on what became known as a separate, expanded Governing Body.
[23] The board of directors had until then met only sporadically, usually to discuss the purchase of property or new equipment, leaving decisions about Watch Tower Society literature to the president and vice-president, Nathan Knorr and Fred Franz.
[22][24] The Watchtower of December 15, 1971, was the first to unambiguously capitalize the term "Governing Body of Jehovah's witnesses" as the defined group leading the denomination, with a series of articles explaining its role and its relationship with the Watch Tower Society.
[27] In 1972, a "Question From Readers" article in The Watchtower further reinforced the concept of the "Governing Body"; the magazine said the term referred to an agency that administers policy and provides organizational direction, guidance and regulation and was therefore "appropriate, fitting and Scriptural".
Franz claims meetings were sometimes as short as seven minutes,[31] to make decisions about branch appointments and conduct that should be considered disfellowshipping offenses.
[34] The Governing Body voted in December 1975 to establish six operating committees to oversee the various administrative requirements of the organization's worldwide activities that formerly had been under the direction of the president.
According to former Witnesses James Penton and Heather and Gary Botting, internal dissatisfaction with official doctrines continued to grow, leading to a series of secret investigations and judicial hearings.
[41] The April 15, 1992, issue of The Watchtower carried an article entitled Jehovah's Provision, the "Given Ones" which drew a parallel between ancient non-Israelites who had been assigned temple duties (the "Nethinim" and "sons of the servants of Solomon") and Witness elders in positions of responsibility immediately under the oversight of the Governing Body who did not profess to be "anointed".
[42] Both that issue of The Watchtower and the 1993 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses carried the same announcement: In view of the tremendous increase worldwide, it seems appropriate at this time to provide the Governing Body with some additional assistance.
[71][72][73] Anointed Witnesses are instructed to remain modest and avoid "wildly speculating about things that are still unclear", instead waiting for God to reveal his purposes[73] in The Watchtower.
"[70] In 2010 the society said that "deep truths" were discerned by "responsible representatives" of the "faithful and discreet slave class" at the group's headquarters, and then considered by the entire Governing Body before making doctrinal decisions.
[76] At the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Society, the "faithful and discreet slave" was redefined as referring to the Governing Body only and the terms are now synonymous.
